Introduction
This
post deals with talking about the past
in general, and saying what
you did
when you were in
Barcelona last year
in particular.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to
a relative, a friend or colleague. You are talking about past
activities. You visited Barcelona last
year
and the other person wants to know what you did whilst there and
says to you: "what
did you do in Barcelona?"
In
Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Qué
hiciste en Barcelona?
Alternatively,
he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Qué
hizo (usted) en Barcelona?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to say what you did when you were in Barcelona
last year. When you say what you have done, 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 año pasado en Barcelona hice turismo (last year in Barcelona I did some tourism)
- El año pasado en Barcelona fui al parque Güell (last year in Barcelona I went to Park Güell)
- El año pasado en Barcelona fui al teatro (last year in Barcelona I went to the theatre)
- El año pasado en Barcelona vi un partido de fútbol (last year in Barcelona I watched a football game)
- El año pasado en Barcelona fui de compras (last year in Barcelona I went shopping)
- El año pasado en Barcelona tomé un buen vino (last year in Barcelona I drank a good wine)
- El año pasado en Barcelona fui a la playa (last year in Barcelona I went to the beach)
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 in the examples above were completed, i.e. last year,
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 de compras en Barcelona (today I have been shopping in the Barcelona)
- Esta semana he ido al teatro en Barcelona (this week I have been to the theatre in Barcelona)
- Este año no he ido a la playa en Barcelona (this year I have not gone to the beach in Barcelona)
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿Qué
hiciste en Barcelona?
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Copyright 2012 Love-Spanish.com
by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.
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