There used to be... vs There was... Hi. As I have been learning the difference between imperfecto and indefinido, I have come to understand that imperfecto could be expressed as "used to " and indefinido as "-ed". So comer would be comia hongos (I used to eat mushrooms, imperfecto) or comi (I ate mushrooms, indefinido).
This description of habia vs hubo seems to be the opposite: habia (imperfecto) is what I would think of as "There used to be... ", whereas hubo (indefinido) would be "There was". So I would think it'd be something like this:
Habia muchos ninos en el parque - shouldn't this be like "There used to be a lot of kids at the park"? Definately a completed thing.
Hubo muchos ninos en el parque - shouldn't this be like "There were a lot of kids at the park"? Who knows if it's a completed thing.
But this lesson has it backwards, like "Habia" is - "There were..." and "Hubo" is "There used to be..."
So I'm confused. I'm understanding the completed actions vs incomplete actions, but this lesson feels backwards. Can you please help me understand where I have it wrong? I've read many of your responses, and I'm not understanding where I'm off.
Thanks.
Jeff
So, Juan was supplying both sides of the Revolution with his harina tortillas and also took them across the Rio Grande? I always wondered where Taco John's restaurants came from! Or was that Taco Bell's?
How to I remove Latin America lessons from Dashboard?
How would you answer these questions?
¿Conoce Ud. nuestros productos gourmets? No, solamente alguno. or No solamente algunos. ¿Prefiero Ud. todos los quesos de la caja? No, solamente alguno. or No, solamente algunos. ¿Desea Ud. estas frutas frescas? No, solamente algunas. or No, solamente alguna.
Hi. As I have been learning the difference between imperfecto and indefinido, I have come to understand that imperfecto could be expressed as "used to " and indefinido as "-ed". So comer would be comia hongos (I used to eat mushrooms, imperfecto) or comi (I ate mushrooms, indefinido).
This description of habia vs hubo seems to be the opposite: habia (imperfecto) is what I would think of as "There used to be... ", whereas hubo (indefinido) would be "There was". So I would think it'd be something like this:
Habia muchos ninos en el parque - shouldn't this be like "There used to be a lot of kids at the park"? Definately a completed thing.
Hubo muchos ninos en el parque - shouldn't this be like "There were a lot of kids at the park"? Who knows if it's a completed thing.
But this lesson has it backwards, like "Habia" is - "There were..." and "Hubo" is "There used to be..."
So I'm confused. I'm understanding the completed actions vs incomplete actions, but this lesson feels backwards. Can you please help me understand where I have it wrong? I've read many of your responses, and I'm not understanding where I'm off.
Thanks.
Jeff
Correct answer: Lo que.
I entered: La cosa que.
I can't understand why la cosa que can't be used in this instance?
Is the preposition "a" used for other cases in Spanish besides expressing a part of the day?
Hola Inma,
Is there a reason why the construction “llegar a conocerse” doesn’t work in this context?
I felt that the text “get to know each other” required something that would capture the process over time [llegar a], rather than simply the reflexive verb [conocerse], or is it simpler than that? Saludos. John
Que son los deportes officiales en paraguay?
wouldn't "on the other hand" be a better translation for: por otro lado?
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