English present tense conveys it better?

David M.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

English present tense conveys it better?

Probably better [in the English original] to say "If you ever travel to Bogotá ..." - [rather than "... traveled ..."].

Asked 1 week ago
SilviaKwiziq Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola David M.

You're absolutely right that "If you ever travel to Bogotá..." sounds more natural in English. However, in this case, we deliberately used the past tense "traveled" to mirror the use of the imperfecto de subjuntivo in the Spanish sentence, which is part of a second conditional structure. Our goal was to keep the English version closely aligned with the Spanish grammar for learners to better grasp the equivalence between the two languages.

So while present tense might be more idiomatic in everyday English, the past was a pedagogical choice to support the grammar point.

Saludos

Silvia

David M.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Thank you Silvia ... "If you were to travel to Bogotá ..." would also imply an Imperfect Subjuntive, [and would also prevent students from using the preterite].

Saludos,

David M

David M. asked:

English present tense conveys it better?

Probably better [in the English original] to say "If you ever travel to Bogotá ..." - [rather than "... traveled ..."].

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