Marc
Using the imperfect tense. Hi, I'm just starting to learn the imperfect tense and would like to know if this can be used to describe your daily routine as these actions tend to be habitual? Or is this always the present tense?. Thanks in advance
22 janv. 2017 20:25
Réponses · 7
1
I cannot be 100% sure since I'm not a native speaker, but I believe you would need to use the present tense to describe ongoing habitual daily routines. I believe the imperfect tense is reserved only for actions in the past that didn't happen at a clear defined moment.
22 janvier 2017
Hi Mark, Imperfect tense is used to talk about situations that haven’t finished or haven’t been completed yet. All simple tenses in Spanish are imperfect except for the Simple Present PERFECT (Pretérito PERFECTO Simple). This basically means that whether you write about your daily routines in present, past, or future; you will always be using the imperfect tense. Examples: * Simple present [Imperfect]: (The most commonly used tense, but not the only one) Todos los días limpio mi casa y boto la basura, luego….. (Ahora, en la actualidad) *Simple past [Imperfec]) : Todos los días limpiaba mi casa y botaba la basura, luego… (Cuando vivía en USA el año pasado) *Simple future [Imperfect]: Todos los días limpiaré mi casa y botaré la basura, luego… (Cuando viva en USA el año que viene) *Conditional [Imperfect]: Todos los días limpiaría mi casa y botaría la basura, luego… (Si viviese en USA) *Present PERFECT Simple [NOT imperfect]: Todos los días limpié mi casa y boté la basura. (Cuando viví en USA hace 5 años) Hope this helps!
23 janvier 2017
great! I am glad you understand now,
23 janvier 2017
Thanks Monica, that makes sense to me, I thought it would be the case but wasn't sure. Thanks again for your help.
23 janvier 2017
Hi, You need to use the imperfect tense when describing daily routines that you used to do in the past, so you can translate them as 'I used to..' But, if you talk about habitual actions in the present but they started in the past, you need to talk about them in present tense as you are still doing them. Cuando tenía diez años jugaba al fútbol, iba a la escuela y tenía muchas amigas. Entreno al fútbol desde los diez años Hope it makes sense
23 janvier 2017
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