Notes on the simple past

Yesterday's conjugation of the simple past gives a way to express the past. Harder than learning the verb forms though, is learning when to use it. The good news is that if you use the wrong past tense you will nearly always be understood, in the same way that a foreign person speaking English will often make mistakes but still be understood. The simple past is used to represent a single event, a point in the past, never for something that is ongoing.

Therefore 'tiré' can translate 'I threw', but never 'I was throwing' or 'I used to throw'  which would be translated using the imperfect tense - more on that in future posts. However, 'I threw' is not necesarily translated as 'tiré'. 'I threw a ball every day' would also be translated using the imperfect tense because it refers to a repeating, ongoing event. Practise of reading and listening is the best way to learn when Spanish people would use each tense.

There are another couple of points which are important to note. Firstly the pronuncuation - it is important to stress the accented sylable, otherwise the words will be heard as the present tense. The stress in the simple past falls nearer to the end of the word in most cases.

Secondly, the first person plural ('tiramos' / 'we throw') is the same in the present and simple past tenses, so the context has to be relied on to indicate which is meant.

Despedirse - to dismiss oneself

Reading the Spanish news coverage (above on www.rtve.es) of the recent demise of the News Of The World, an interesting phrase I came across was 'News Of The World se despide'. This is a good opportunity to mention reflexive verbs, as well as the verb 'despedir', which has a few related meanings.

Basically 'despedir' means 'to dismiss'. Depending on the context this can mean anything from 'to say goodbye' to 'to sack/fire somebody'. A 'fiesta de despedido' is a leaving party for example. Used reflexively (when the verb refers to itself - me despido, se despide etc.) it means to dismiss oneself. Usually this means to quit, leave or resign. In this case of course it means the newspaper is closing itself down.

If I were...

I promised to share some examples of the complicated sounding imperfect subjunctive. One common, and not particularly difficult usage is in sentences of the type 'if I were ... I would ...'.

In Spanish, the imperfect subjunctive is used for the first verb (were) and the conditional tense is used for the second verb (after the 'would').

A few examples to clarify:-

Si yo fuera tu, hablaría con ellos. - If I were you I would speak with them.
Si fuera un hombre rico, lo compraría. - If I were a rich man I would buy it.
Si fuéramos mas joven, iríamos a la fiesta. - If we were younger we would go to the party.
Si fueras mas listo, ya sabría - if you were smarter you would already know

The first verb does not have to be 'were'. 'If I had...' phrases are also common, such as this example from Mario Benedetti's 'Esta Mañana'

Si yo hubiera tenido padre et madre, todo habría sido diferente. - If I had had a father and mother, everything would have been different.

Notice that the two 'hads' in the English translation represent diferent verbs in Spanish - 'haber' to indicate the past (perfect) tense and 'tener' to show posession.

Ir and Ser

Yesterday's post covered the complicated sounding 'imperfect subjunctive' form of the verb 'ser' ('to be'). In fact this is also the imperfect subjunctive tense of 'ir' ('to go'). The verbs 'ser' and 'ir' share two other tenses as well - the preterite, or simple past, and the less commonly used future subjunctive. I like to think of this being similar to 'been' in English. 'I have been eating' or 'I have been a waiter' express the past tense of 'to be' but 'I have been to Spain' expresses the past tense of 'to go'.

More on imperfect subjunctives tomorrow. I just wanted to share that idiosyncracy of the language which I rediscovered whilst writing yesterday's post.

Conditional tense examples

The conditional tense shows how Spanish often changes the endings to verbs to form a phrase which would use extra words instead in English. In this case the conditional tense ending is equivalent to putting 'would' before a word in English.

me gustaría = I would like
nos hablarían = they would speak to us
lo haríamos pero... = we would do it but...
iría allí = he would go there

Regular -er verbs

Following yesterday's conjugation, here are a few of the many regular -er verbs which follow the same pattern.

aprender = to learn
beber = to drink
comer = to eat
comprender = to understand
correr = to run
deber = to owe, to have to (do something)
esconder = to hide
meter = to put in
prometer = to promise
romper = to break
vender = to sell

Present Participles

If you start to learn Spanish grammar it isn't long before  you come across participles, past and present. Whilst using big grammar terms like past participle and present participle can be daunting, they are not really that difficult to understand. Hopefully if I keep using the words enough times they will get less intimidating through repetition. They are words you will generally find at the top of verb tables in the dictionary.

The present participle is the one I find simpler. In English it always ends in 'ing'. In Spanish it usually ends in 'ando' for -ar verbs and 'iendo' for -ir or -er verbs. Here are a few examples (with the full Spanish verb in brackets).

talking = hablando (hablar)
eating = comiendo (comer)
running = corriendo (correr)
going = yendo (ir)
walking = andando (andar)
raining = lloviendo (llover)

These verb forms can often be used in the same way as in English.

estoy comiendo = I am eating
estaba hablando = I was talking
está lloviendo = it is raining

In English, 'ing' words are also used as adjectives and nouns, but these uses don't generally use the present participle in Spanish.

the walking man = el hombre que anda (literally 'the man that walks')
I like skiing = me gusta esqíar (lit. 'I like to ski')
all the living things = todas las cosas vivientes

Watch out for past participles in a future post.

Regular -ir verbs

Just a quick post today to give a few examples of regular -ir verbs which are all conjugated the same way as 'insistir' in yesterday's post.

abrir = to open
admitir = to admit
añadir = to add, join, increase
asistir = to attend
confundir = to confuse
cumplir = to complete, achieve, to have a birthday
decidir = to decide
escribir = to write
insistir = to insist
ocurrir = to occur
permitir = to permit, allow
recibir = to receive
subir = to go up, ascend
vivir = to live

Following on from recent posts on 'ser' and 'estar', I thought I would add to the confusion by throwing in an example which completely threw me when I first heard it. I was standing at the bottom of a ski slope (a common place for me to be as readers of my other blog will know) talking to a Spanish friend who was trying to explain to me when to use 'ser' and when to use 'estar'.

He explained that 'ser' is for permanent things, and gave an example -

la nieve es blanca = the snow is white

He then explained that 'estar' is for more temporary things. The example was -

la nieve está fria = the snow is cold


Now this just added to my confusion, because I have seen snow that is pink from the sunset, red or orange with sand blown from the Sahara to Europe, brown from mud close to the surface, blue on a cold shady morning or grey on cloudy days. But I have never once come across snow that is not cold. I still don't understand why the above examples are correct, other than colours generally use 'ser' and temperatures 'estar'.

More on haber

I have already written a couple of posts about 'tener', whish is the verb for 'to have' in the sense of possessing something. There is another word for 'to have' though - 'haber'.

Haber is used in forming compound tenses in the same way that 'have' is in English.

he hecho = I have done
ha comido = he/she has eaten
han llamado = they have called

Using different tenses of 'haber' allows more complicated expressions

había llegado = I/he/she had arrived
habiamos puesto = we had put
habría dicho = I/he/she would have said
habrán ido = they will have gone

Note that all the phrases above use the past participle of the second verb, both in Spanish and English.

Haber used alone means 'there is' or 'there are'.

hay mucho viento hoy = there is a lot of wind today
hay una buena tienda allí = there is a good shop there
¿hay pan? = is there (any) bread?
hay tres arboles = there are three trees
había una casa = there was a house
había cuatro gatos = there were four cats
habrá dos sillas = there will be two chairs

Finally for today, like 'tener', 'haber' can be used to say 'have to' or 'must'. In this case it is used with 'de' for a specific person and 'que' in an impersonal sense.

haber de = to have to
ha de = he/she has to, he/she must
hay que = one has to, one must (this is much more common than in English)

Most useful verbs

In learning any language there are certain verbs (almost always irregular and difficult ones) that are essential to learn early on. The most important are the words for 'to be', 'to go' and 'to have'. This is because those verbs are used so often both individually, but also because they can be combined with other verbs to make different tenses - past, present or future.

For example, using the verb 'comer' ('to eat') -

I am eating (present, using 'to be') - estoy comiendo
I was eating (past, using 'to be') - estaba comiendo
I am going to eat (future, using ' to go') - voy a comer
I have eaten (past, using 'to have') - he comido

These compound forms are not the only ways to express the past present or future, but they are extremely useful. It is also useful to learn the past participle (e.g eaten/comido) and present participle (e.g. eating/comiendo), but that is something I will cover in another post.

In Spanish there are five verbs to learn, as there are two words for 'to be' and two words for 'to have'.

ir = to go
ser = to be
estar = to be
tener = to have
haber = to have

I have recently covered some of the differences between ser and estar. Over the next few days I will cover some of the differences between haber and tener.

Ser / Estar - Exceptions?

As I said yesterday, ser and estar can be really tricky to get to grips with for English speakers, as we use 'to be' for both. I get this wrong plenty of times, as do many much more fluent Spanish speakers. Some examples that really confuse me are where 'estar' is used for pretty permanent situations which I would expect to use 'ser' for, whilst some more transient things use 'ser'.

For example -

Está casado = He is married
Estoy vivo = I am alive

Both of these are generally considered to be pretty long term situations, if not totally permanent. But on the other hand

La comida es muy rica = The food is very good (the chances are it won't be for long though as it will be eaten)

So the rule that 'ser' is for permanent and 'estar' for transient can't be relied on. One final example

Está muerto = He is dead

This is about as permanent as anything gets, but despite this 'estar' is the correct verb to use. I still have no idea why.

Ser / Estar

Using ser and estar correctly is one of the hardest things for an English speaker to get right in Spanish. Even pretty fluent speakers of the language can get it wrong now and again if Spanish is not their first language. Generally, 'ser' is used for permanent or long term things, whilst 'estar' is used for more transient things.

soy alto = I am tall
soy inglés = I am English

because if I am these things today, I was yesterday, will be tomorrow and probably will be in ten years time. On the other hand

estoy cansado = I am tired
estoy feliz = I am happy

Because these are things I am right now, not necessarily at another time.

For saying where someone or something is, 'estar' is always used, even for pretty permanent locations like cities.

Estoy en Londres = I am in London
Londres está en Inglaterra = London is in England

But

Soy de Manchester = I am from Manchester

So 'ser' is used with 'from a place' and 'estar' with 'in a place'.

Finally for today, the choice of which verb is used can change the meaning of the adjective it is used with.

Estoy aburrido = I am bored
Soy aburrido = I am boring
Está listo = He is ready
Es listo = He is smart/clever

More on 'ser

Yesterday's conjugation of 'ser' ('to be') was only half the story. You don't have to study Spanish for long before you realise that there are two words for 'to be' in Spanish, and figuring out which one to use in a given situation can be pretty tricky for an English speaker. The other verb for 'to be' is 'estar' which we will cover in more detail next week. In general, 'ser' is used for more pernanent things and characteristics whilst 'estar' is used for more transient things, as well as for locations.

I will give a few examples here, and a few more with next week's post to help give you the idea.

soy inglés = I am English
es rubia = she is blonde
es alto = he is tall
las montañas son altas = the mountains are tall
somos profesores = we are teachers
eres muy inteligente = you are very clever

More on ir (to go)

Like in English, the verb 'to go' - 'ir' can be used in several ways, so it is important to be familiar with it. It can be used in the sense of 'going somewere', as in a place, or to indicate something happening in the future - 'going to happen'. In both these uses, 'ir' is followed by 'a', meaning 'to'. For example:-

voy a Londres = I go to London (or I am going to London)
va a Madrid = he/she goes to Madrid
van al restaurante = they go to the restaurant (note 'a' + 'el' becomes 'al')

va a nevar = it is going to snow
vamos a hablar = we are going to talk
voy a correr = I am going to run

It can also be used by itself e.g.

 ¿Vamos? = Shall we go?

'Ir' can also be used in the sense of 'to go away', or 'to leave'. In this case it is used reflexively, so I can say 'I go myself', to mean 'I leave'.

me voy = I am leaving
me voy a ir = I am going to leave
se va = he leaves
¡Vayate! = Go away!

Usted/ustedes - Why third person?

I often wondered why the 'usted' form of a verb is the same as the 'el' or 'ella' form, and likewise for the 'ustedes' and 'ellos' or 'ellas' forms. So the formal version of 'you' is referred to in the third person. This can be confusing to a student of Spanish because the pronoun (el, ella, usted etc.) is usually omitted, so it may be difficult to see who is doing the action. For example -

el habla = he talks
usted habla = you talk (formal, singular)
habla = he/she talks, you talk

ellas corren = they (female) run
ustedes corren = you run
corren = they/you run

This seemed a little strange to me until someone pointed out that 'usted' can be loosely translated as 'your honour'. Admittedly it wouldn't ever be translated that way in reality - the dictionary definition is 'you', but it helps to understand why the third person form is used. Imagine talking to a judge, or anyone else you might call 'your honour', compared to speaking to anyone else -

Your honour is too kind.
You are too kind
He is too kind

Your honour does well
You do well
She does well

Your honour talks
You talk
He talks

Notice that in each example the 'your honour' form is the same as the 'he/she' form, rather than the 'you' form. The 'usted' forms in Spanish work in just the same way.

More slightly irregular -ar verbs

Yesterday's post looked at the conjugation of cerrar - another -ar verb that is slightly irregular, but in a pattern followed by many other -ar verbs. It is similar to last weeks verb, contar. In Spanish pronunciation, the stress falls on the last sylable, unless it ends in an 'n', an 's' or a vowel, or unless an accent changes the stress. A stressed 'e' or 'o' often does not sound good in Spanish, so these sounds often collapse to 'ie' and 'ue' respectively. This means that verbs with an 'e' in the second last sylable often follow a similar pattern where in the present tense only the 'nosotros' and 'vosotros' forms are regular and the rest add an 'i' before the 'e' in the stressed sylable.

A few verbs which follow this pattern are -

calentar = to heat up / to warm up
confesar = to confess
despertar = to wake
encerrar = to lock / to shut up / to contain
enterrar = to bury
gobernar = to govern / to rule
helar = to freeze
nevar = to snow
pensar = to think
recomendar = to recommend
sentar = to sit
temblar = to shake/to shiver/to tremble

And some examples -

siento aquí = I sit here
piensa demasiado = he/she thinks too much
¿lo recomiendas? = do you recommend it?
le enterramos = we bury him
nieve ahora = it is snowing now

What's with the question marks?

There are a couple of punctuation marks used in Spanish which are not seen in English, namely the upside down question mark and exclamation mark '¿' and '¡'. They can look a little confusing at first, but are simply used to begin the question or exclamation. Often they come at the beginning of the sentence, but this is not necessarily the case. The upside down symbol appears at the start of the actual question or exclamation even if this is mid-sentence.

A few examples -

¿Como estás? - How are you?
Y la restuarante, ¿donde está? - And the restaurant, where is it?
¡Qué lástima! - What a shame!

Slightly irregular -ar verbs

Yesterday's conjugation of the week was 'contar' - 'to count' or 'to tell'. Like most Spanish verbs with an 'o' in the second to last sylable it is conjugated slightly irregularly. In verb forms where the 'o' is stressed it becomes 'ue', with the 'u' being pronounced a bit like a 'w' in English.

There are many verbs which follow this pattern. Here are a few of them -

costar - to cost
descontar - to discount
recontar - to recount
probar - to prove, to test, to try
aprobar - to approve, to pass (an exam or a law)
acordar - to agree, to remind
acordarse - to remember (using the reflexive form of acordar which is something for another post)
recordar - to remember
mostrar - to show
rodar - to roll
sonar - to sound
soñar - to dream
soltar - to release, to let go of

Correction - Andar

Just a quick correction - or note - to the Conjugation of the Week post on Andar. Andar isn't actually a completely regular verb as I said it was in the post. It is regular in the present tense though, which is the only one I posted, so all regular -ar verbs are conjugated this way in the present tense. It is irregular in some other tenses though (the preterite past for example) so I probably should have used a different verb as an example of a perfectly regular verb.

A big D'oh from me. And a mental note to check more carefully what I write, especially when there are hundreds of regular verbs to choose from.

Apologies to all the readers.