Introduction
This
post deals with talking about the past
in general, and saying where
you went
for your holidays
last summer in particular.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to
a relative, a friend or colleague. You are each talking about things
you did in the past. Perhaps you are talking about what you did last
summer.
At some point, the other person
says to you: "where
did you go for your holidays?"
In
Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Adónde
fuiste de vacaciones?
Alternatively,
he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Adónde
fue (usted) de vacaciones?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to say where you went for your holidays last
summer. When you say what you are doing or did in the past,
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 verano pasado fui de vacaciones a España (last summer I went to Spain for my holidays)
- El verano pasado fui de vacaciones a Galicia (last summer I went to Galicia for my holidays)
- El verano pasado fui de vacaciones a la playa (last summer I went to the beach for my holidays)
- El verano pasado fui de vacaciones a la montaña (last summer I went to the hills for my holidays)
- El verano pasado fui de vacaciones al campo (last summer I went to the countryside for my holidays)
- El verano pasado fui de vacaciones a mi pueblo (last summer I went back to my home town for my holidays)
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 summer,
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 clase de español (today I have gone to my Spanish class)
- Este mes he ido a España dos veces (this month I have gone to Spain twice)
- Este año no he ido a la playa (this year I have not gone to the beach)
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿Adónde
fuiste de vacaciones?
Spanish
lessons online
Skype/
Google+ Hangout/ Facetime
Great
lessons
©
Copyright 2012 Love-Spanish.com
by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment