Introduction
This
post deals with talking about the past
in general, and saying what
you did
yesterday
in particular.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to
a relative, a friend or colleague. You are talking about recent
events/ activities. The other person wants to know more about your
activities yesterday
and
says to you: "what
did you do yesterday?"
In
Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Qué
hiciste ayer?
Alternatively,
he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Qué
hizo (usted) ayer?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to say what you did at some time in the past.
When you say what you did, you DO NOT need to be
concerned about the level of formality in the other person's
question. Perhaps you want to mention:
- Day to day activities
- Travel/ trips
- Visits
- Sport activities
- Leisure activities
Here are some
examples of how you could reply:
- Ayer me levanté tarde (yesterday I got up late)
- Ayer fui a Madrid (yesterday I went to Madrid)
- Ayer fui a ver a mis padres (yesterday I visited my parents)
- Ayer fui al cine (yesterday I went to the cinema)
- Ayer fui de compras (yesterday I went shopping)
- Ayer jugué al tenis (yesterday I played tennis)
- Ayer vi una película de ciencia ficción (yesterday I watched a sci-fi film)
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. yesterday,
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 me he levantado tarde (today I have got up late)
- Este mes he ido al cine dos veces (this month I have gone to the cinema twice)
- Esta semana no he jugado al tenis (this week I have not played tennis)
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿Qué
hiciste ayer?
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Copyright 2012 Love-Spanish.com
by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.
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