Friday, 12 October 2012

Where Did You Go For Your Holidays?

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?

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