Hot answers tagged preterito
8
The reason traces back to the Latin forms (and possibly farther back than that). In Latin, duco/ducere "to lead" changes "c" to "x" (c+s = x) to form the perfect tense: duxi, duxisti, duxit, ...
This verb is the root of traducir, conducir, etc. Latin "x" normally corresponds with Spanish "j", hence conduje, condujiste, condujo, ....
Although most Spanish ...
8
"Traducir" is an irregular verb that follows the conjugation model of "conducir". In Spanish there are a few irregular verbs, some of them are completely irregular and others just partially.
At the conjugation site of Instituto de Verbología Hispánica you can find the 101 conjugation models in Spanish with the list of irregulars; and this data base allows ...
8
Before your question, I never heard nor read about Spanish verbs that change their meaning when used in some preterite verbal tense. So I read about it, and I found out that:
This issue is mainly a way to teach Spanish verbs to English speaking students.
This issue is not formally stated in Spanish grammar.
For example, when you analyse the verb saber, ...
7
Para responder esta pregunta primero es necesario entender el tiempo verbal copretérito. Este tiempo indica:
Una acción pasada que sucedió al mismo tiempo que otra.
Una acción pasada que no se sabe cuando terminó o que no ha terminado.
Basándome en el ejemplo y en el título de la pregunta, infiero que estamos en el primer caso. El primer ...
5
As you say "Supo" means "found out" and "Sabía" means "Knew" which are not the same. But, answering your question, it's about if the action has a stated timeframe.
María lo supo ayer. = Maria found out yesterday.
This means a completed action.
Juan sabía que María venía. = Juan knew that Maria was coming.
This doesn't provide definite beginning ...
5
If you check RAE you'll find the answer here and in this othe link with more details. Depending on the different grammars published there are different names.
There are 2 simple tenses for past
Pretérito imperfecto /Copretérito [de indicativo/ subjuntivo]
(Pretérito imperfecto is the most used)
E.g. En indicativo, amaba, temía, vivía; en ...
5
Imperfect, always.
That is the correct tense to use whenever you have an habitual action in the past.
Edit:
As César mentioned, a possible literal translation of your example would be
Ellos solían viajar todos los días
Whether you use solían, and cada día vs. todos los días will depend on how the sentence continues and what is the main point you ...
4
Es un vulgarismo que debe ser evitado:
por analogía con el resto de los tiempos verbales (dices, decías,
dirás...), a la segunda persona (tú) se le añade como vulgarismo una
–s final, y así encontramos el vulgarismo:
Tú dijistes*
En España, es común encontrar esto en la mitad norte, como dice aquí:
En el habla de las tierras donde nació ...
3
La respuesta de Sergio es muy exhaustiva. Aun asi, doy mi opinión sobre "uso habitual":
No vi nada mientras estaba corriendo : Me suena perfecto. El "mientras" indica una acción de una cierta duración, así que el "estaba corriendo", que indica una acción que quizá aún no hubiera terminado, suena perfectamente.
No vi nada mientras corrí : Suena muy forzado, ...
3
Pretérito simply means past. RAE has an excellent explanation of all of them, but here's a very simplified summary.
There are 3 different forms:
Pretérito Perfecto (preterite perfect)
Pretérito Imperfecto (preterite imperfect)
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto (pluperfect)
In turn, preterite perfect subdivides in:
a. Preterite [perfect] simple - Ex: ...
3
Pensé/Pensaba and Creí/Creía are just different conjugations of the verbs Pensar/Creer. The first form (pensé/creí) is preterite simple and the second form (pensaba/creía) is preterite imperfect.
Here's a link that explains it well.
Pensé que me amaba (I thought you loved me) is as valid and has the same meaning as saying Pensaba que me amaba, for ...
2
To me, as Randolf and Martin have pointed out in their answers, there is a slight difference in the timeframe. "No supo la respuesta" sounds to me like "no supo qué responder en ese momento".
So for example, about an exam, you could say, "me preguntaron X, y no supe la respuesta". It doesn't mean I didn't have the knowledge, but I was unable to give a ...
2
In Spanish you may omit the subject (in this case, ustedes) when the verb hints at it (sujeto tácito), so the commonly used form is the following:
¿Hicieron su tarea de hoy?
Why not ¿Hicieron su tarea para hoy??. Let me explain the difference with another example:
¿Construyeron el muro para María?
means to ask if the wall ...
2
As to why people use it being incorrect, I guess it has to do with the second person plural being similar, but ended in s (-asteis, -isteis), mixed with what they hear around them and a certain illiteracy or carelessness about language.
And about where it is used, I can´t really tell. I know in Spain there are regions where it is more prevalent (e.g. the ...
2
La forma “hubo + participio” (llamada pretérito anterior o antepretérito) sigue vigente en el español escrito en su registro culto y se usa en literatura y en el buen periodismo.
La búsqueda con Google de “cuando hubo terminado” recupera 1.400.000 páginas.
Es verdad que el pretérito anterior se usa muy poco en el habla, pero se oye a veces, en un registro ...
1
Hay cinco pasados en español y los cuatro están en uso.
Pretérito indefinido: hubo
Pretérito imperfecto: había
Pasado perfecto: ha habido
Pretérito anterior: hubo habido
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto: había habido
Este último, que supongo que es al que te refieres, se sule usar en en frases subordinadas o coordinadas en pasado.
1
No creo que sea eliminado del español moderno. "Que Hubo" es un saludo informal y jergal. Una busqueda por el internet me dio unos articulos que usan el pretérito de haber. Artículo1 Artículo2 Libro1 Libro de gramática
En el libro de gramática usa haber como un verbo auxiliar:
En cuanto hube acabado de limpiar toda la casa, finalicé de cocinar el ...
1
At first, the comparison has to be between "creí + pensé" versus "creía + pensaba".
As for regular and daily usage, creía and pensaba are more common when you are talking about the past.
And for the difference:
Creí and Pensé define a very specific moment: Aquel día, pensé que me moría.
Creía and Pensaba refer to a belief/thought you had, but changed ...
1
Simple answer: all mean the same, "I had this idea in the past".
Long answer: In the context of "I had this idea in the past" in English happens the same, you can choose between "believe" and "think". In Spanish, just use the translation of what you would use in English for that context, it's the same, I guess from indo-european roots. So, for "believe" use ...
1
I believe that the preterite refers to the IMMINENCE of the verb. For instance, puedo and podía refer to "could have done it" in the present and past respectively, which represent POTENTIAL. Pudo (the preterite) means she just DID it, not she could have done it, and of course no pudo means the opposite.
In the other example, Sé and Sabía means know and ...
1
I guess one possible explanation in this particular case would be:
sabía, is used when the the person, actually, didn't know the answer.
supo is used when he knows the answer, but somehow is hidden from his mind
at that moment.
If you give him enough time he could have figured out the answer by himself.
So he knew (somehow), but he ...
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