Había vs HuboWe are taught that El Pretérito Imperfecto is used for past actions that were ongoing with no clear end that describes what was happening or what things were like. Also El Pretérito Imperfecto is used for past habitual action, repeated / regularly occuring past actions, and actions that used to happen in the past.
We are also taught El Pretérito Indefinido is used to describe past actions in a way that conveys the sense that were completed / finished, this can be one off actions / events, series of actions, actions that happened a specific number of times, actions that happened at a specific point in time, and actions that interrupt an ongoing past action.
However most of the time these two past tenses translate to the same in English which can cause us problems with which one to use.
So after studying these two tenses a lot, I think that I have a trick that helps me most of the time choose the right tense. (although with some verbs, I need to study the nuances just a little more)
So if I want to describe a past action, as in setting a scene or convey the action was ongoing without showing an ending etc. Then I use El Pretérito Imperfecto, Había, comía, hablaba, pensaba.
Now with El Pretérito Indefinido hubo, comió, habló, pensó, I have started to think of it as a fact (100%) to help me know that the action has happened and finished / completed. (or didn't happen if we use NO infront of the verb)
When it comes to había and hubo (from the verb Haber to exist in this use) they translate the same in English as '’there was'’ and our English thinking part of the brain doesn't know what to do with the word hubo.
Therefore to help with this, I asked myself '’is this a descriptive '’there was'’ (había) or is this a '’there was'’(hubo) that is stating a fact (100%)'’.
Había mucha comida en la fiesta. (descriptive)
Hubo mucha comida en la fiesta. (fact)
There was a lot of food at the party.
Había una reunión importante el sábado. (descriptive)
Hubo una reunión importante el sábado. (fact)
There was an important meeting on Saturday.
I hope I am on the right path of choosing the right tense when talking about the past, I think it's all down to what you want to convey to the listener, description or fact.
I got confused with the explanation as you highlighted that ninguno is an ind pronoun which cant be used with a noun but gave no examples of the use of the ninguno whereas the actual test question 20 is all about the correct indefinite adjective ie ninguna playa which I got wrong. As a beginner one would naturally be forgiven thinking that there is a family of masculine and feminine indefinite adjectives but this appears wrong as the "apparent masc version is ninguno BUT it is an indefinte pronoun so would one look at a text grammar book as I could not resolve this/ Why mix up the tip on the same page??
un carro = car
el auto = car
un autobús escolar = school bus
un bus escolar = school bus
la avioneta = light aircraft
el jet = jet
el uber = uber
la lancha = boat
la canoa = canoe
el ferry = ferry
la moto de agua = jet ski
la patineta = skateboard
el monopatín = scooter
el monociclo = unicycle
el paracaídas = parachute
el parapente = paragliding
El velero = sailboat
la limosina = limosine
el crusero = cruise ship
Hello. I'm a bit confused on the optional placements of "le" in sentences. For example, if i want to say "I don't want to ask my brother for money". Would both sentences below be correct? And if so, is one construction more commonly used in Mexico and Latin America?
No le quiero pedir dinero a mi hermano vs. No quiero pedirle dinero a mi hermano.
Thank you!
I am referring to Latin American Spanish vs. Castilian:
Is "Hasta ahora" used for the same purpose? If so, is it common/ colloquial to use it?
How would it be written? Hasta ahora pinté 2 cuartos? (He pintado / pintados ??)
Thank you
Hello,
There have been a number of questions in different topic areas along the lines of “Why don’t we use the present progressive tense for such and such an example in Spanish when the English translation is in the present progressive tense?” An example might be “Compro unas playeras” being translated as “I am buying some t-shirts”.
The answer that the instructors give is usually along the lines of, the Spanish present tense can often be translated as the present progressive tense in English.
In addition, I rarely hear the present progressive tense being used from day to day here in Mexico. Google AI agrees with me:
"In Mexican Spanish, the present indicative (voy) is significantly more common for everyday use than the present progressive (estoy yendo). While both can describe actions happening in the moment, the simple present is the "default" choice in most social contexts."
In the kwiz questions I keep answering using the present tense, just out of habit. It's not that I don't know how to use the present progressive tense, it's just that I'm not used to hearing it. This habiit is so strong that sometimes I even miss the instructions.
So maybe the present tense answers shouldn't always be marked wrong, and trigger words such as "en este momento" should be used more often? Also, maybe this idea could be added to the above lesson.
PS You may wonder why I'm studying level A1 if I already speak Spanish daily. It is because I want to strengthen my foundation and in general Kwiziq has been invaluable with this.
la rodilla = the knee
los ojos = the eyes
tengo fiebre = I have a fever
la receta médica = the presciption
la enfermera = the nurse
el consultorio médico = the doctor's office
la medicina = the medicine
la farmacia = the farmacy
el farmacéutico = the farmacist (m)
la farmacéutica - the farmacist (f)
fiebre = fever
la ambulancia = the ambulance
el hospital = the hospital
me duele = It hurts...
I need to have my eyes tested. The correct answer is "Me necesitan hacer una revisión de ojos." But for some reason that just sounds odd to me. I could understand "Me revisáron los ojos" as meaning "I got my eyes checked" -- something that got done to me by some un-named third party. But it just sounds weird to say "me necesitan" something. I guess because the other examples deal with having something done to me, and this example relates to the third party have a state of mind or need. Is this format with necesitar common?
We are taught that El Pretérito Imperfecto is used for past actions that were ongoing with no clear end that describes what was happening or what things were like. Also El Pretérito Imperfecto is used for past habitual action, repeated / regularly occuring past actions, and actions that used to happen in the past.
We are also taught El Pretérito Indefinido is used to describe past actions in a way that conveys the sense that were completed / finished, this can be one off actions / events, series of actions, actions that happened a specific number of times, actions that happened at a specific point in time, and actions that interrupt an ongoing past action.
However most of the time these two past tenses translate to the same in English which can cause us problems with which one to use.
So after studying these two tenses a lot, I think that I have a trick that helps me most of the time choose the right tense. (although with some verbs, I need to study the nuances just a little more)
So if I want to describe a past action, as in setting a scene or convey the action was ongoing without showing an ending etc. Then I use El Pretérito Imperfecto, Había, comía, hablaba, pensaba.
Now with El Pretérito Indefinido hubo, comió, habló, pensó, I have started to think of it as a fact (100%) to help me know that the action has happened and finished / completed. (or didn't happen if we use NO infront of the verb)
When it comes to había and hubo (from the verb Haber to exist in this use) they translate the same in English as '’there was'’ and our English thinking part of the brain doesn't know what to do with the word hubo.
Therefore to help with this, I asked myself '’is this a descriptive '’there was'’ (había) or is this a '’there was'’(hubo) that is stating a fact (100%)'’.
Había mucha comida en la fiesta. (descriptive)
Hubo mucha comida en la fiesta. (fact)
There was a lot of food at the party.
Había una reunión importante el sábado. (descriptive)
Hubo una reunión importante el sábado. (fact)
There was an important meeting on Saturday.
I hope I am on the right path of choosing the right tense when talking about the past, I think it's all down to what you want to convey to the listener, description or fact.
Hola! Necesito un poco de ayuda con una frase. No entiendo porque en esta frases ''A continuación, agregue tomates triturados, alcaparras, aceitunas, una hoja de laurel y el bacalao desmenuzado a la sartén'' decimos ''a la sartén'' en lugar de ''en la sartén''. Gracias! :-)
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