SCENARIO
Imagine
you are with a relative, a friend or a colleague. You are talking
about past activities. Maybe you are reminiscing. At some
point, the other person says to you something like: "tell me,
where did you use to go to on Sundays?".
In
Spanish, he/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:
Dime,
¿adónde solías ir los domingos?
On the
other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:
Dígame,
¿adónde solía ir (usted) los domingos?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to talk about things you used to do habitually in
the past. When you say what you used to do in the past, you do
not need to be concerned about the level of formality in
the other person's question. Your main concern should be about saying
what you did use to do.
Here
are some examples of how you could reply:
Los
domingos
solía* ir
al cine (on
Sundays I used to go to the cinema);
Había*
veces que iba*
a pasear por la sierra
(there were times when I used to go walking in the hills);
Otras
veces iba*
a ver a mis padres
(other times, I used to go to visit my parents);
Algunas
veces me
quedaba*
en casa y descanasaba*
(sometimes
I stayed at home and had a rest);
Now you should
practise replying to someone who says to you:
Dime,
¿adónde solías ir los domingos?
*Please
see grammar below
Grammar-The
Imperfect
When
talking about actions or events in the past in English you would use
the simple past or past continuous tense, in Spanish you must choose
between using the imperfect or using the preterite.
In
this post we look at a number of situations in which the imperfect
is commonly used. The imperfect is commonly used in the
following cases:
1.
Describing What Was Happening
In Spanish, we
commonly use the imperfect to describe what was happening* at
the time when a particular event or action occurred.
*NB
It should be noted that, although a continuous past tense would be
used in English in these cases, the ordinary imperfect or the
imperfect continuous could be used in Spanish (see examples above).
2.
Ongoing Actions In The Past
In Spanish, we
commonly use the imperfect for ongoing actions/ events in the
past*. These are actions which were ongoing (completion not clear)
and refer to a period of time in the past which is not clearly
specified.
(Yo)
tomaba
el sol (I
was sunbathing);
(Yo)
estaba
tomando el sol (I
was sunbathing);
Caminabas
por
la calle, ¿verdad? (you
were walking about the street, weren't you?);
Estabas
caminando por
la calle, ¿verdad? (you
were walking about the street, weren't you?);
Pedro
comía
un
bocadillo (Pedro
was eating a sandwich);
Pedro
estaba
comiendo un
bocadillo (Pedro
was eating a sandwich);
Llovía
a cántaros
(it was raining cats and dogs);
Estaba
lloviendo
a cántaros
(it was raining cats and dogs);
Hablábamos
por
teléfono (we
were talking on the phone);
Estábamos
hablando por
teléfono (we
were talking on the phone);
Salíais
del
aeropuerto (you
were coming out of the airport);
Estabais
saliendo del
aeropuerto (you
were coming out of the airport);
John
y Ann vivían
juntos
(John and Ann were living together);
John
y Ann estaban
viviendo
juntos
(John and Ann were living together);
*NB
It should be noted that, although a continuous past tense would be
used in English in these cases, the ordinary imperfect or the
imperfect continuous could be used in Spanish (see examples above).
3.
Setting The Scene (Past)
In Spanish, we
commonly use the imperfect for setting the scene and
describing situations in the past*. Again, these are situations in
which actions/ events are ongoing (completion not clear) and refer to
an period of time in the past which is not clearly specified.
Hacía
calor y tenía
sed (it
was hot and I was thirsty);
Llovía
y
tenías
frío. (it
was raining and you were feeling cold);
Pedro
no soñaba,
tenía
una pesadilla
(Pedro wasn't dreaming, he was having a nightmare);
Queríamos
descansar y no había
donde
(we
were wanting to have a rest and there was nowhere suitable);
Teníais
sed y
no
había
agua
(you
were feeling thirsty and there was no water);
John
y Ann caminaban
juntos, no querían
separarse
(John and Ann were walking together, they didn't want to be
separated);
*NB
It should be noted that, although a continuous past tense would often
be used in English in these cases, the ordinary imperfect would often
be used in Spanish (see examples above).
4.
Habitual/ Repeated Actions In The Past
In Spanish, we
commonly use the imperfect for habitual or repeated actions
in the past. These actions or events correspond to English
expressions such as used to, often, seldom or
similar, when used in reference to the past.
Los
fines de semana casi nunca
tenía que trabajar
(I
seldom had to work weekends);
Los
lunes
entrabas a
trabajar a las siete de la mañana, ¿no?
(on
Mondays you used to start work at 7:00 AM, didn't you);
Pedro
iba
a
ver a sus padres casi todos los días
(Pedro used to visit his parents almost everyday);
En
enero antes hacía
más frío
(in
the past, in January it used to be colder);
Solíamos
ir a la playa los fines de semana
(we often used to go to the beach at weekends);
En
el verano ibais
a España, ¿verdad?
(in the summer you- plural used to go to Spain, didn't you?);
John
y Ann casi nunca iban
de paseo
(John and Ann almost never went for a walk);
5.
Polite Requests
In Spanish, we
commonly use the imperfect in expressions referring to polite
requests (expressions which often involve the Spanish verb “querer”).
Quería
un
café con leche
(I
would like a white coffee);
¿Qué
querías?
(what
would you like?- informal);
¿Qué
quería
(usted)?
(what
would you like?- formal);
¿Qué
quería
Pedro?
(what
would Pedro like?);
Pedro
quería un
café con leche
(Pedro
would like a white coffee);
Queríamos
dos cafés con leche
(we
would like two white coffees);
¿Qué
queríais?
(what
would you- plural like?- informal);
¿Qué
querían
(ustedes)?
(what
would you- plural like?- formal);
John
y Ann querían
dos cafés con leche
(John
and Ann would like two white coffees);
6.
Time Expressions
In Spanish, we
commonly use the imperfect in time expressions whereas in
English the tense used would be the pluperfect.
Esperaba
que me llamases desde hace unos días (For
several days I had been hoping that you would call me);
¿Desde
cuando esperabas
esa carta?
(how
long had you been waiting for that letter?);
Pedro
quería
que le llamases hace horas (Pedro
had wanted you to call hours ago);
Teníamos
ganas de ir a España hace años
(we
had wanted to visit Spain years ago);
¿Desde
cuando esperabais
esa carta? (how
long had you- plural been waiting for that letter?);
John
y Ann tenían
pensado salir desde que llegaron (John and Ann had
planned to go out since the minute they arrived);
Now
you should practise the uses of the imperfect with some
examples of your own.
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