Introduction
This
post deals with talking about the past
in general, and saying when
was
your birthday in particular.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to
a relative, a friend or colleague. You are talking about birthday
celebrations. The other person does not know when your birthday is,
but realising that your birthday has been some time ago,
says to you: "when
was your birthday?"
In
Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Cuándo
fue tu cumpleaños?
Alternatively,
he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Cuándo
fue su cumpleaños?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to say when your birthday was. When you say when
your birthday has been, 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:
- Mi cumpleaños fue el martes (my birthday was on Tuesday)
- Mi cumpleaños fue ayer (my birthday was yesterday)
- Mi cumpleaños fue anteayer (my birthday was the day before yesterday)
- Mi cumpleaños fue en enero (my birthday was in January)
- Mi cumpleaños fue el dos de enero (my birthday was on January second)
- Mi cumpleaños fue el lunes dos de enero (my birthday was on Monday January second)
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 periods of time in which the
actions in the examples above were completed, i.e. last Tuesday/
yesterday/ the day before yesterday, are 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:
- Mi cumpleaños ha sido hoy (my birthday has been today)
- Mi cumpleaños ha sido esta semana (my birthday has been this week)
- Mi cumpleaños ha sido este mes (my birthday has been this month)
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿Cuándo
fue tu cumpleaños?
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lessons
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Copyright 2012 Love-Spanish.com
by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.
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