14
votes
estuve vs estaba: When do I use imperfect versus preterite for "estar"?
This is an informal comment, a set of examples to visualize the way that a native Spanish speaker thinks about the verb estar. The rules may appear in common bibliography.
Estar is so different for ...
- 141
13
votes
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What type of construction is verb+"se", like in the word "veíase"?
En el español literario, es algo más frecuente encontrar enclisis, o el posicionamiento de un pronombre átono después del verbo (y en tal caso, se escribe junto al verbo, tildando si es necesario). ...
- 29.9k
9
votes
How does "nunca éramos amigos" imply that we used to be friends, but no longer are?
The answers to Ambiguity with respect to "tuvo" and "tenía" may shed some light. It is true that the differences between éramos and fuimos are subtle, but they are the same as ...
- 77.2k
8
votes
Preterito Indefinido or Imperfecto when talking about experiences in the past
Both questions seem strange to me, because they sound as if the person growing up in Argentina could have affected the country in any way, which is absurd.
Actually, a more suitable question would ...
- 28.3k
7
votes
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estuve vs estaba: When do I use imperfect versus preterite for "estar"?
Use pretérito imperfecto for actions that used to happen, and pretérito perfecto simple for actions that happened in special conditions.
So
Cuando estaba en Nueva York tomaba el metro.
means
When I ...
- 146
7
votes
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The use of 'imperfecto' vs. 'indefinido' in two specific sentences
The imperfect here would mean something like "action that was taking place while suddenly something interrupted it".
Félix era un escritor austriaco, pero todo eso cambió.
Indefinido (or preterite)...
- 4,814
6
votes
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Tense changed in mid-stream, why?
You are right: the pretérito perfecto simple (indefinido) could have been used there.
However, pretérito imperfecto is used because it's indicating/describing the circumstance in which all the other ...
- 2,337
5
votes
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Indefinido o imperfecto: acción que sucede en mitad de otra en el pasado
El uso de los dos (o tres) verbos en pretérito imperfecto hace que las acciones parezcan simultáneas o paralelas, y ambas dotadas del aspecto durativo del imperfecto:
Cuando sucedía A, sucedía B. (B ...
- 28.3k
5
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How does "nunca éramos amigos" imply that we used to be friends, but no longer are?
Nunca éramos sounds very weird in Spanish, I'd say that it is not correct (I don't know the exact rule in this case), you could say, however, with a similar meaning:
No éramos lo que se puede llamar ...
- 520
5
votes
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Use pretérito imperfecto or pretérito indefinido?
If you say
Los invitados llamaban a la puerta y les abrió una joven, era una muchacha.
it sounds like the door was opened while the guests were knocking at the door. You get the same meaning with
...
- 77.2k
5
votes
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¿Tienen o han tenido algún nombre concreto las dos formas del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo?
Preguntada a la RAE en Twitter (qué gran recurso), me responden con lo siguiente:
No, que sepamos. Se suelen utilizar denominaciones como «variante en “-ra”» y «variante en “-se”».
Yo tampoco he ...
- 77.2k
5
votes
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Use of imperfect tense to mean conditional
It is always safer to use the conditional:
Si pudiera elegir, me casaría con ésta. (present counterfactual)
The imperfect past sounds colloquial and is not always safe to use:
Si pudiera elegir, me ...
- 28.3k
5
votes
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Indicative imperfect passive reflexive verb for "... is used..."
I don't agree with your analysis of your English sentence. In the phrase "mostly used in literary contexts", the word "used" is not a past tense. It is present tense, passive ...
- 2,734
4
votes
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"Tuvo" vs "tenía"
Both are correct (although, if you are using Pretérito perfecto for ir, why wouldn't you use te same for tener?).
Mi mamá fue a la tienda porque tuvo que comprar leche. (Pretérito perfecto simple)
Mi ...
- 47.9k
4
votes
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Pretérito indefinido vs pretérito imperfecto: ¿"estaba" or "estuve un poco enfermo el fin de semana pasado"?
As you noted estuve indicates the action is over. estaba indicates the action is over or not.
In this context is totally irrelevant which form you use.
I personally would use estaba which is a much ...
- 316
4
votes
How does "nunca éramos amigos" imply that we used to be friends, but no longer are?
From my personal understanding, the difference between the word choices is very subtle and is not literal but depends more on the connotaion of the words.
In either case, "Fuimos" and "Éramos" ...
- 141
4
votes
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How does "nunca éramos amigos" imply that we used to be friends, but no longer are?
(Note: On the basis of a comment I made on greuze's post, I've decided to expand it into a real answer which I hope may help to further clarify the question.)
The reason why "Nunca éramos amigos" ...
- 28.3k
4
votes
Is there any case in which the subjunctive mood can be used in simple sentences?
Tal vez / Quizás / Acaso can usually be used with either the subjuntive or the indicative to indicate the speaker's mood / belief about likelihood while involving no other verbs. The subjunctive ...
- 628
4
votes
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Is there any case in which the subjunctive mood can be used in simple sentences?
Creo que el caso más habitual del subjuntivo como modo del verbo principal de la oración (sin conjunciones que lo introduzcan) se da en las expresiones de deseo (donde el verbo "desear", "querer", "...
- 28.3k
4
votes
Can I always use present perfect for all past actions instead of memorizing verb conjugations in the simple past?
This question would ideally be answered by someone with a working knowledge of language teaching, based on studies about best practices. I haven't been able to find something like that, so I'll just ...
- 39.2k
4
votes
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Difference between imperfect indicative and imperfect progressive
In this sentence, and many of the kind, there is no difference between the imperfect and the progressive. I would personally use the progressive, but the form with the imperfect is grammatically ...
- 39.2k
4
votes
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Difference between poder imperfect and preterite
The difference between preterite and imperfect has to do with the manner of describing a situation, either from the point of view of the end result or the process. As Guifa says in his answer, poder ...
- 39.2k
4
votes
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Uso del imperfecto con el imperfecto del subjuntivo
El Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas tiene una entrada sobre el uso de los tiempos en oraciones condicionales. Para tu caso, considero relevante el siguiente fragmento de la entrada:
Si la ...
- 1,628
4
votes
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Imperfect subjunctive with things we know happened
No, you cannot.
You base things off of whether something has already happened at the particular moment in the narrative sequence. He taught them at moment X so that they would learn at some point ...
- 29.9k
4
votes
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How does this phrase choose between the imperfective and the preterite?
En los textos narrativos suele usarse el pretérito imperfecto para describir el fondo, ambientación y contexto en un determinado período de tiempo, mientras que los hechos específicos, particulares y ...
- 526
3
votes
Is it correct to say "todo tiempo pasado 'fue' mejor" instead of "todo tiempo pasado 'era' mejor"?
The phrase is taken from one of the earliest classics in Spanish literature, Jorge Manrique's Coplas a la muerte de su padre. The first copla goes:
Recuerde el alma dormida
Avive el seso e despierte
...
- 10k
3
votes
Ambiguity with respect to "tuvo" and "tenía"
The decision to choose one tense of another does not have anything to do with the fact that the problem was solved or not, but with the fact that the problem was something that happened in a given ...
- 77.2k
3
votes
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Problem with pretérito indefinido vs pretérito imperfecto and 'ser'
Absent other context, both sentences are perfectly acceptable and virtually interchangeable. However, they will change meaning substantially if you provide additional context.
An imperfect sentence ...
- 29.9k
3
votes
Should we say "Muestra Paul cuando 'fue' más joven" or 'era' for "It shows when Paul was younger"?
» Muestra a Paul cuando fue más joven.
(At some definite point in the past, it shows when Paul was younger.)
» Muestra a Paul cuando era más joven.
(During a period of time -unknown- in the ...
- 5,590
3
votes
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Tiempos pasados para expresar deseos futuros
Comenta la RAE en su Nueva Gramática en el párrafo 23.11l que la asimilación entre el pretérito imperfecto y el condicional viene dada por la evolución histórica de este último (como se vio en una ...
- 77.2k
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