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Spanish Tenses

The Tenses in Spanish being mostly used as in English, we shall only call attention to such of the principal differences between the two languages as have not yet been treated.

Present

The English emphatic Present, "I do say," must be expressed by "Lo digo en efecto," "lo digo de veras," "lo digo sí."

"I do" with a verb understood after, as "Do you understand? I do" is translated by "Sí," "Sí, señor," or "Sí entiendo."

"Are you an engineer? Yes, I am"; "He is generous with me, and I am with him"; "He is my surety, and I am his"; must be translated by "Es V. ingeniero? Sí, lo soy"; "Es generoso conmigo y yo lo soy con él"; "Él es mi fiador y yo lo soy suyo."

Past

The English language has one form of Simple Past: I wrote.

In Spanish this is translated by: Yo escribía (Imperf. Indic.) or Yo escribí (Past Definite), according to sense.

It is most important to learn the difference between the Imperfect Indicative and the Past Definite (or Preterite), because these two tenses admit of no compromise in Spanish.

The Imperfect Indicative[1] describes an action or state which was present when another past action took place, or another past state existed.

Footnote 1: Or Descriptive Past.

The Preterite [2] narrates an event.[3]

Footnote 2: Or Narrating Past (this is why it is often called the Historical Past).

Footnote 3: "Napoleon I died in 1821" is an event. "I fell" is grammatically also an event.

Consequently, it will be understood that whilst the Past Def. refers to "one point of time" or "several separate points of time," the Imperfect embraces a whole indefinite period.

The following examples will show clearly the different functions of these two tenses:

Le escribí una vez (or dos o tres veces) mientras él viajaba en Argentina: I wrote to him once (or two or three times) whilst he travelled[4] in Argentina.

Footnote 4: Travelled--was travelling, but notice that in Spanish we would also have the progressive form--"estaba viajando."

Encontré á Luis, quien llevaba levita negra: I met Louis, who wore[5] a black frock-coat.

Footnote 5: Wore--was wearing. Here in Spanish the progressive form "estaba llevando" would not be admissible because there is no real progressive action.

Hacía grandes negocios cuando residía en Chile: I had a large business when I resided in Chile.
Los Cartagineses eran un pueblo comercial y emprendedor: The Carthagenians were a commercial and enterprising people.
Él estaba allí cuando yo llegué: He was there when I arrived.
Él leía al entrar yo en el bufete del abogado: He was reading when Ientered the lawyer's office.
En Inglaterra trabajaba[6] ocho horas cada día: In England I worked(used to work) eight hours a day.

Footnote 6: As will be seen, the English "was" followed by a pres.part. or the expression "used to be" may always be rendered by the Spanish Imperfect, but the Spanish progressive form also exists:"Estaba leyendo" (he was reading), and "used to" has its equivalent"solía":--"Solía trabajar 8 horas" (he used to work 8 hours).]

Cada mes recibiamos nuestro sueldo: Each month we received (used to receive) our pay.
Ayer cerré el contrato: Yesterday I signed the contract.
Las pipas de vino resultaron averiadas: The casks of wine were damaged.
Trabajé en Inglaterra 5 años[7]; Viví dos años en Londres y tres en Manchester: I worked 5 years in England; I lived two years in London and three in Manchester.

Footnote 7: This is "a period of time," but it is definite.

As will be seen in all the examples of the Imperfect, the action or state is described as "existing in the past."

Category: General Spanish

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