Saturday, 27 October 2012

How Did You Go To Your Home Town?

Introduction


This post deals with talking about the past in general, and saying how you travelled to your home town in particular.





SCENARIO


Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or colleague. You are talking about past travel. The other person knows you travelled to your home town last Monday and says to you: "how did you travel to your home town?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Cómo fuiste a tu pueblo?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Cómo fue (usted) a su pueblo?


OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say how you went to your home town. When you say how you did something, you DO NOT need to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's question. 

Here are some examples of how you could reply:
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo en avión (on Monday I flew/ went by plane to my home town)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo en barco (on Monday I went to my home town by boat)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo en tren (on Monday I went to my home town by train)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo en autobús (on Monday I went to my home town by bus)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo en taxi (on Monday I went to my home town by taxi)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo en coche* (on Monday I went to my home town by car)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo a pie (on Monday I went to my home town on foot)
  • El lunes fui a mi pueblo a caballo (on Monday I went to my home town on horseback)

Notes
Talking about the past
Please note that the all the examples above refer to past actions which were completed at a time which also belongs in the past. In other words, the period of time in which the actions the actions in the examples were completed, i.e. last Monday, is also in the past.

However, sometimes you may wish to talk about past actions which were completed at a time which in Spanish belongs in the present. In other words, the period of time in which the actions were completed is still ongoing. Examples of periods of time which in Spanish belong in the present are: today/ this week/ this month/ this year/ etc. In such cases, it is common to use an alternative form of referring to completed actions, as follows:
  • Hoy he ido a mi pueblo en taxi (today I went to my home town by taxi)
  • Esta semana he ido a mi pueblo en autobús (this week I went to my home town by bus)
  • Este mes no he ido a mi pueblo en tren (this month I didn't go to my home town on the train)

*In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, the terms “carro” or “auto” may be used instead.


Now you should practise answering the question:
¿Cómo fuiste a tu pueblo?

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