Use of verbs

Contrasting simple and continuous forms

There is no strict distinction between simple and continuous forms in Spanish as
there is in English.
In English, "I do" is one thing (a habit) and "I am doing" is another (current activity).
In Spanish, hago can be either of the two, and estoy haciendo stresses the latter.
Although not as strict as English, Spanish is stricter than French or German, which
have no systematic distinction between the two concepts at all.
This optionally continuous meaning that can be underlined by using the continuous
form as a feature of the present and imperfect. The preterite never has this meaning,
even in the continuous form, and the future has it only when it is in the continuous
form.

Present
Qu haces? could be either:
"What do you do?" or "What are you doing?"
Qu ests haciendo? is only
"What are you doing?"
Imperfect
Qu hacas? could be either
"What did you used to do?" or "What were you doing?"
Qu estabas haciendo? is only
"What were you doing?"
Preterite
Qu hiciste?
"What did you do?"
Qu estuviste haciendo?
"What were you doing (all of that time)?"
Note that since the preterite by nature refers to an event seen as having a beginning
and an end, and not as a context, the use of the continuous form of the verb only
adds a feeling for the length of time spent on the action.
The future has two main forms in Spanish, the imperfect (compound) future and the
simple one.
The difference between them is one of aspect. The compound future is done with
the conjugated ir (which means "to go," but may also mean "will" in this case) plus
the infinitive and, sometimes, with a present progressive verb added as well.

Future
Qu vas a hacer?
"What are you going to do?" (implies that it will be done again, as in a routine)
Qu vas a estar haciendo?
"What are you going to be doing?" (does not necessarily imply that it will be done)
Qu hars?
"What will you do?" (will be completed immediately, or done just once)
Qu estars haciendo?
"What will you be doing?"











Contrasting the present and the future
Both the present and the future can express future actions, the latter more explicitly
so. There are also expressions that convey the future.

Mi padre llega maana
"My father arrives tomorrow"
(out of context, llega could mean both "he is arriving now" or "he usually arrives")
Mi padre estar llegando maana
"My father will be arriving tomorrow"
Mi padre va a llegar maana
"My father is going to arrive tomorrow" (future with ir)
Mi padre llegar maana
"My father will arrive tomorrow" (future tense)
Mi padre est a punto de llegar
"My father is about to arrive" (immediate future with estar a punto)

The future tense can also simply express guesses about the present and immediate
future:
Qu hora es? Sern las tres
"What time is it?" "It is about three (but I have not checked)"
Quin llama a la puerta? Ser Jos
"Who is at the door? It must be Jos"
The same is applied to imperfect and conditional:
Qu hora era? Seran las tres
"What time was it?" "It was about three (but I had not checked)"
Quin llamaba a la puerta? Sera Jos
"Who was at the door? It must have been Jos"
Studies have shown that Spanish-speaking children learn this use of the future
tense before they learn to use it to express future events (the English future with
"will" can also sometimes be used with this meaning).

(The other constructions detailed above are used instead. Indeed, in some areas,
such as Argentina and Uruguay, speakers hardly use the future tense to refer to the
future).


Contrasting the preterite and the imperfect

Fundamental meanings of the preterite and the imperfect

Preterite
Yo jugaba
("I used to play")
Yo lea
("I used to read")
Yo escriba
("I used to write").

Imperfect
Yo jugu
("I played")
Yo le
("I read")
Yo escrib
("I wrote").








Key words and phrases that tend to co-occur with the preterite tense:

ayer ("yesterday")
anteayer ("the day before yesterday")
anoche ("last night")
durante dos siglos ("for two centuries")
por un rato ("for a while")
el otro da ("the other day")
entonces ("then")
luego ("then"); (y luego ="and then")
esta maana ("this morning")
esta tarde ("this afternoon")
la semana pasada ("last week")
el mes pasado ("last month")
el ao pasado ("last year")
hace dos das/aos ("two days/years
ago")
de repente ("suddenly")
en 1954, etc. (years)
el 25 de enero, etc. (dates)
durante ("during")
muchas veces ("many times")
dos/tres veces ("twice"/"three times")
tantas veces ("so many times")
varias veces ("several times")
nunca ("never")
tan pronto como ("as soon as")
despus de que ("after")
desde que ("since")


Esta maana com huevos y pan tostado.
("This morning I ate eggs and toast.")








Key words and phrases that tend to co-occur with the imperfect tense:

a menudo ("often")
a veces ("sometimes")
cada da ("every day")
cada semana ("every week")
cada mes ("every month")
cada ao ("every year")
con frecuencia frequently
de vez en cuando from time to time
en aquella poca at that time
frecuentemente ("frequently")
generalmente ("usually")
todas las semanas ("every week")
todos los das ("every day")
todo el tiempo ("all the time")
constantemente ("constantly")
mientras ("while")
regularmente ("regularly")
por lo general ("generally")
todava ("still")
ya ("already")


Eran las tres, etc.
("It was three o'clock," etc.)
Estaba nublado, etc.
("It was cloudy," etc.)
Cada ao mi familia iba a Puerto Rico.
("Each year my family went to Puerto Rico.")







Comparison with English usage
The English simple past can express either of these concepts. However, there are
devices that allow us to be more specific.
Consider, for example, the phrase "the sun shone" in the following contexts:

"The sun shone through his window; John knew that it was going to be a fine
day."
"The sun was shining through his window; John knew that it was going to be a
fine day."
"The sun shone through his window back in those days."
"The sun used to shine through his window back in those days."
"The sun shone through his window the moment that John pulled back the
curtain."
In the first two, it is clear that the shining refers to the background to the events that
are about to unfold in the story. It is talking about what was happening. We have a
choice between making this explicit with the past continuous, as in (2), or using the
simple past and allowing the context to make it clear what we mean, as in (1).
In Spanish, these would be in the imperfect, optionally in the imperfect continuous.

In (3) and (4), it is clear that the shining refers to a regular, general, habitual event. It
is talking about what used to happen.
We have a choice between making this explicit with the expression "used to," as in
(4), or using the simple past and allowing the context to make it clear what we mean,
as in (3).
In Spanish, these would be in the imperfect, optionally with the auxiliary verb soler.

In (5), only the simple past is possible. It is talking about a single event presented as
occurring at a specific point in time (the moment John pulled back the curtain). The
action starts and ends with this sentence.
In Spanish, this would be in the preterite (or alternatively in the perfect, if the event
has only just happened).
Further examples
Cuando tena quince aos, me atropell un coche
"When I was fifteen years old, a car ran over me"
The imperfect is used for "was" in Spanish because it forms the background to the
specific event expressed by "was run over", which is in the preterite.

Mientras cruzaba / estaba cruzando la calle, me atropell un coche
"While I crossed / was crossing the road, a car ran over me"
In both languages, the continuous form for action in progress is optional, but
Spanish requires the verb in either case to be in the imperfect, because it is the
background to the specific event expressed by "was run over", in the preterite.
Siempre tena cuidado cuando cruzaba la calle
"I was always / always used to be careful when I crossed / used to cross the road"
The imperfect is used for both verbs since they refer to habits in the past. Either
verb could optionally use the expression "used to" in English.
Me ba
"I took a bath"
The preterite is used if this refers to a single action or eventthat is, the person took
a bath last night.
Me baaba
"I took baths"
The imperfect is used if this refers to any sort of habitual actionthat is, the person
took a bath every morning. Optionally, sola baarme can specifically express "I
used to take baths".
Tuvo una hija
"She had a daughter"
The preterite is used if this refers to an eventhere, a birth.


Tena una hija
"She had a/one daughter"

The imperfect is used if this refers to the number of children by a certain point, as in
"She had one daughter when I met her ten years ago; she may have more now". A
description.

Note that when describing the life of someone who is now dead, the distinction
between the two tenses blurs. One might describe the person's life saying tena una
hija, but tuvo una hija is very common because the person's whole life is viewed as
a whole, with a beginning and an end. The same goes for viva/vivi en... "he lived
in...".

Perhaps the verb that English speakers find most difficult to translate properly is "to
be" in the past tense ("was"). Apart from the choice between the verbs ser and estar
(see below), it is often very hard for English speakers to distinguish between
contextual and narrative uses.

Alguien cogi mis CD. Quin fue?
"Someone took my CDs. Who was it?"
Here the preterite is used because it is an event. A good clue is the tense in which
cogi is.

Haba una persona que miraba los CD. Quin era?
"There was a person who was looking at the CDs. Who was it?"
Here the imperfect is used because it is a description (the start and end of the action
is not presented; it is something that was in progress at a certain time). Again, a
good clue is the tense of the other verbs.



Contrasting the preterite and the perfect
The preterite and the perfect are distinguished in a similar way as the equivalent
English tenses. Generally, whenever the present perfect ("I have done") is used in
English, the perfect is also used in Spanish. In addition, there are cases in which
English uses a simple past ("I did") but Spanish requires a perfect.
In the remaining cases, both languages use a simple past.

As in English, the perfect expresses past actions that have some link to the present.
The preterite expresses past actions as being past, complete and done with. In both
languages, there are dialectal variations.

Frame of reference includes the present: perfect
If it is implicitly or explicitly communicated that the frame of reference for the event
includes the present and the event or events may therefore continue occurring, then
both languages strongly prefer the perfect.

With references including "this" including the present
Este ao me he ido de vacaciones dos veces
"This year I have gone on vacation twice"
Esta semana ha sido muy interesante
"This week has been very interesting"
With other references to recent periods including the present
No he hecho mucho hoy
"I have not done much today"
No ha pasado nada hasta la fecha
"Nothing has happened to date"
Hasta ahora no se me ha ocurrido
"Until now it has not occurred to me"

With reference to someone's life experience (his/her life not being over)
Alguna vez has estado en frica?
"Have you ever been in Africa?"
Mi vida no ha sido muy interesante
"My life has not been very interesting"
Jams he robado nada
"Never have I stolen anything"

Frame of reference superficially includes the present: perfect
Sometimes we say "today", "this year", and the like, but we mean to express these
periods as finished. This requires the simple past in English.
For example, in December we might speak of the year in the simple past because
we are assuming that all of that year's important events have occurred and we can
talk as though it were over.
Other expressionssuch as "this weekend," if today is Mondayrefer to a period
which is definitely over; the word "this" just distinguishes it from other weekends.
There is a tendency in Spanish to use the perfect even for this type of time
reference, even though the preterite is possible and seems more logical.

Este fin de semana hemos ido al zoo
"This weekend we went to the zoo"
Hoy he tenido una jornada muy aburrida
"Today I had a boring day's work"






Consequences continue into the present: perfect
As in English, the perfect is used when the consequences of which an event are
referred.

Alguien ha roto esta ventana
"Someone has broken this window" (the window is currently in a broken state)
Nadie me ha dicho qu pas aquel da
"Nobody has told me what happened that day" (therefore, I still do not know)

These same sentences in the preterite would purely refer to the past actions, without
any implication that they have repercussions now.
In English, this type of perfect is not possible if a precise time frame is added or
even implied. One cannot say "I have been born in 1978," because the date requires
"I was born," despite the fact there is arguably a present consequence in the fact
that the person is still alive.
Spanish sporadically uses the perfect in these cases.
He nacido en 1978 (usually Nac en 1978)
"I was born in 1978"
Me he criado en Madrid (usually Me cri en Madrid)
"I grew up in Madrid"

The event itself continues into the present: perfect or present
If the event itself has been happening recently and is also happening right now or
expected to continue happening soon, then the preterite is impossible in both
languages.
English requires the perfect, or better yet the perfect continuous. Spanish requires
the perfect, or better yet the present simple:

ltimamente ha llovido mucho / ltimamente llueve mucho
"It has rained / It has been raining a lot recently"
Dialectal variation
In the Canary Islands and across Latin America, there is a colloquial tendency to
replace most uses of the perfect with the preterite.
This use varies according to region, register, and education.

Y vos alguna vez estuviste all? = Y t alguna vez has estado all?
"And have you ever been there?"

The one use of the perfect that does seem to be normal in Latin America is the
perfect for actions that continue into the present (not just the time frame, but the
action itself).
Therefore, "I have read a lot in my life" and "I read a lot this morning" would both be
expressed with le instead of he ledo, but "I have been reading" is expressed by he
ledo.

Contrasting the subjunctive and the imperative
The subjunctive mood expresses wishes and hypothetical events.
It is often employed together with a conditional verb:

Deseara que estuvieses aqu.
"I wish that you were here."

Me alegrara mucho si volvieras maana.
"I would be very glad if you came back tomorrow."




The imperative mood shows commands given to the hearer (the second person).
There is no imperative form in the third person, so the subjunctive is used.

The expression takes the form of a command or wish directed at the hearer, but
referring to the third person.
The difference between a command and a wish is subtle, mostly conveyed by the
absence of a wishing verb:

Que venga el gerente.
"Let the manager come.", "Have the manager come."
Que se cierren las puertas.
"Let the doors be closed.", "Have the doors closed."

With a verb that expresses wishing, the above sentences become plain subjunctive
instead of direct commands:

Deseo que venga el gerente.
"I wish for the manager to come."
Quiero que se cierren las puertas.
"I want the doors (to be) closed."








Contrasting the present and the future subjunctive
The future tense of the subjunctive is found mostly in old literature or legalese and is
even misused in conversation by confusing it with the past tense (often due to the
similarity of its characteristic suffix, -ere, as opposed to the suffixes of the past tense,
-era and -ese).
Many Spanish speakers live their lives without ever knowing about or realizing the
existence of the future subjunctive.

It survives in the common expression sea lo que fuere and the proverb all donde
fueres, haz lo que vieres (all donde can be replaced by a la tierra donde or si a
Roma).

The proverb illustrates how it used to be used:

With si referring to the future, as in si a Roma fueres.... This is now expressed with
the present indicative: si vas a Roma... or si fueras a Roma...
With cuando, donde, and the like, referring to the future, as in all donde fueres....
This is now expressed with the present subjunctive: vayas adonde vayas...












Contrasting the preterite and the past anterior
The past anterior is rare nowadays and restricted to formal use.
** May be rare when you speak to someone, but is extremely used everywhere else,
in movies, texts, narrations and in the news too.
It expresses a very fine nuance: the fact that an action occurs just after another (had)
occurred, with words such as cuando, nada ms, and en cuanto ("when", "no
sooner", "as soon as").

In English, we are forced to use either the simple past or the past perfect; Spanish
has something specific between the two.

En cuanto el delincuente hubo salido del cuarto, la vctima se ech a llorar
"As soon as the criminal (had) left the room, the victim burst into tears"
The use of hubo salido shows that the second action happened immediately after
the first. Sali might imply that it happened at the same time, and haba salido might
imply it happened some time after.

However, colloquial Spanish has lost this tense and this nuance, and the preterite
must be used instead in all but the most formal of writing.










Contrasting ser and estar
They have different uses, depending on whether they are used with nouns, with
adjectives, with past participles (more precisely, passive participles), or to express
location.

Ser
Only ser is used to equate one noun phrase with another, and thus it is the verb for
expressing a person's occupation
Mi hermano es estudiante
My brother is a student

For the same reason, ser is used for telling the date or the time
Hoy es mircoles
Today is Wednesday
Son las ocho
It's eight o'clock

When these verbs are used with adjectives, the difference between them may be
generalized by saying that ser expresses nature and estar expresses state.
Frequentlyalthough not alwaysadjectives used with ser express a permanent
quality, while their use with estar expresses a temporary situation.
There are exceptions to the generalization:
Tu mam est loca"
("Your mother is crazy")
can express either a temporary or a permanent state of craziness.



Ser generally focuses on the essence of the subject, and specifically on qualities
that include:
Nationality, Possession, Physical and personality traits, Material, Origin

Estar generally focuses on the condition of the subject, and specifically on qualities
that include:
Physical condition, Feelings, emotions, and states of mind, Appearance


In English, the sentence "The boy is boring" uses a different adjective than "The boy
is bored". In Spanish, the difference is made by the choice of ser or estar.
Examples
El chico es aburrido uses ser to express a permanent trait ("The boy is boring").
El chico est aburrido uses estar to express a temporary state of mind ("The boy is
bored").

The same strategy is used with many adjectives to express either an inherent trait
(ser) or a transitory state or condition (estar).

"Mara es guapa" uses ser to express an essential trait, meaning "Mara is a good-
looking person."
"Mara est guapa" uses estar to express a momentary impression: "Mara looks
beautiful" (a comment on her present appearance, without any implication about her
inherent characteristics).

When ser is used with the past participle of a verb, it forms the "true" passive voice,
expressing an event
El libro fue escrito en 2005
The book was written in 2005"
When the past participle appears with estar, it forms a "passive of result" / "stative
passive"
El libro ya est escrito
The book is already written

Location of a person or thing is expressed with estarregardless of whether
temporary or permanent
El hotel est en la esquina
The hotel is on the corner
Location of an event is expressed with ser
La reunin es en el hotel
The meeting is [takes place] in the hotel

Contrasting haber and tener

Haber derives from a latin word that means "to have".
Tener derives from a latin word that means "to hold", "to keep".

Haber: expressing existence
Haber is used as an impersonal verb to show existence of an object or objects,
which is generally expressed as an indefinite noun phrase.

In English, this corresponds to the use of "there" + the corresponding inflected form
of "to be".
When used in this sense, haber has a special present-tense form: hay instead of ha.
The y is a fossilized form of the mediaeval Castilian pronoun y or i, meaning "there",
which is cognate with French y and Catalan hi, and comes from the Latin ibi.

Unlike in English, the thing that "is there" is not the subject of the sentence, and
therefore there is no agreement between it and the verb.
This echoes the constructions seen in languages such as French (il y a = "it there
has"), Catalan (hi ha = "[it] there has"), and even Chinese ( yu = "[it] has").

Hay un gato en el jardn.
"There is a cat in the garden."
En el bal hay fotografas viejas.
"In the trunk there are old photographs."

It is possible, in cases of certain emphasis, to put the verb after the object:

Revistas hay?
"Are there any magazines?"

There is a tendency to make haber agree with what follows, as though it were the
subject, particularly in tenses other than the present indicative.











The not that common Haber
There is heavier stigma on inventing plural forms for hay, but hain, han, and
suchlike are sometimes encountered in non-standard speech.
The form habemos is common (meaning "there are, including me"); it very rarely
replaces hemos to form the present perfect tense in modern language, and in
certain contexts it is even acceptable in formal or literary language.

Haba un hombre en la casa.
"There was a man in the house."
Haba unos hombres en la casa.
"There were some men in the house." (standard)
Haban unos hombres en la casa.
"There were some men in the house." (non-standard)
En esta casa habemos cinco personas.
"In this house there are five of us." (non-standard).
Nos las habemos con un gran jugador.
"We are confronting a great player." (standard)

Haber as an existence verb is never used in other than the third person.
To express existence of a first or second person, the verb estar ("to be
[located/present]") or existir ("to exist") is used, and there is subjectverb agreement.







Haber: impersonal obligation
The phrase haber que (in the third person singular and followed by a subordinated
construction with the verb in the infinitive) carries the meaning of necessity or
obligation without specifying an agent.
It is translatable as "it is necessary", but a paraphrase is generally preferable in
translation. Note that the present-tense form is hay.

Hay que abrir esa puerta.
"That door needs opening", "We have to open that door".
Habr que abrir esa puerta.
"That door will need opening", "We are going to have to open that door".
Aunque haya que abrir esa puerta.
"Even if that door needs to be opened".

Hay que always goes with the infinitive.
Hay que + Infinitive

Haber: personal obligation
A separate construction is haber de + infinitive. It is not impersonal.
It tends to express a certain nuance of obligation and a certain nuance of future
tense, much like the expression "to be to".
It is also often used similarly to tener que and deber ("must", "ought to").
(Note that the third personal singular of the present tense is ha)

Maana he de dar una charla ante la Universidad
"Tomorrow I am to give a speech before the University".
Ha de comer ms verduras
"She/he ought to eat more vegetables".
Haber: forming the perfect
Haber is also used as an auxiliary to form the perfect, as shown elsewhere.
Spanish uses only haber for this, unlike French and Italian, which use the
corresponding cognates of haber for most verbs, but cognates of ser ("to be") for
certain others.

Ella se ha ido al mercado.
"She has gone to the market."
Ellas se han ido de paseo.
"They have gone on a walk."
Habis fregado los platos?
"Have you (all) done the washing-up?"

Tener
Tener is a verb with the basic meaning of "to have", in its essential sense of "to
possess", "to hold", "to own".
As in English, it can also express obligation (tener que + infinitive).
It also appears in a number of phrases that show emotion or physical states,
expressed by nouns, which in English tend to be expressed by "to be" and an
adjective.

Mi hijo tiene una casa nueva.
"My son has a new house."
Tenemos que hablar.
"We have to talk."
Tengo hambre.
"I am hungry", literally "I have hunger."

There are numerous phrases like tener hambre that are not literally translated in
English, such as: [Tener + noun]

tener hambre
"to be hungry"; "to have hunger"
tener sed
"to be thirsty"; "to have thirst"
tener cuidado
"to be careful"; "to have caution"
tener __ aos
"to be __ years old"; "to have __ years"
tener celos
"to be jealous"; "to have jealousy"
tener xito
"to be successful"; "to have success"
tener vergenza
"to be ashamed"; "to have shame"

Note: Estar hambriento is a literal translation of "To be hungry", but it is rarely used
in Spanish nowadays.
** It's used, but sounds too formal







Negation
Verbs are negated by putting no before the verb.
Other negative words can either replace this no or occur after the verb:

Hablo espaol
"I speak Spanish"
No hablo espaol
"I do not speak Spanish"
Nunca hablo espaol
"I never speak Spanish"
No hablo nunca espaol
"I do not ever speak Spanish"


Expressing movement
Spanish verbs describing motion tend to emphasize direction instead of manner of
motion.
According to the pertinent classification, this makes Spanish a verb-framed
language. This contrasts with English, where verbs tend to emphasize manner, and
the direction of motion is left to helper particles, prepositions, or adverbs.

"We drove away" Nos fuimos en coche (literally, "We went (away) by car").
"He swam to Ibiza" = Fue a Ibiza nadando (literally, "He went to Ibiza swimming").
"They ran off" = Huyeron corriendo (literally, "They fled running").
"She crawled in" = Entr a gatas (literally, "She entered on all fours").



Quite often, the important thing is the direction, not the manner.
Therefore, although "we drove away" translates into Spanish as nos fuimos en
coche, it is often better to translate it as just nos fuimos.

For example:
"I drove her to the airport, but she had forgotten her ticket, so we drove home to get
it, then drove back towards the airport, but then had to drive back home for her
passport, by which time there was zero chance of checking in..."
La llev al aeropuerto en coche, pero se le haba olvidado el tiquete, as que fuimos
a casa [en coche] por l, luego volvimos [en coche] hacia el aeropuerto, pero luego
tuvimos que volver [en coche] por el pasaporte, y ya era imposible que
consiguisemos facturar el equipaje...