In the music video for "Marciano," the diction is very clear, but the meaning...? Well, Mexican pop band Molotov tends towards the surreal in this song about turning into a Martian (marciano). Once you listen carefully, and realize the lyrics are as goofy as the dance moves on your screen, you'll learn some very useful Spanish vocabulary along the way.

banner5 PLACEHOLDER

Let's start with the third line of the song, where we get our first hint of what this song is really about:

No es el cuerpo marrano que solía tener...

It's not the fat body I used to have...

Caption 5, Molotov - Marciano

 Play Caption

Solía is from the verb soler, which means, in the present infinitive, "to usually do" or "to be accustomed to." (For a full breakdown of how soler works across tenses, check out our lesson Soler.) But in the past tense -as in the caption above- it has a simpler English translation: "used to."

Here's the trick: Soler in the present or past tense is always followed by another verb in the infinitive. Compare these two similar sentences:

En verano, suelo ir a la playa.
In summer, I usually go to the beach.
Or: In summer, I tend to go to the beach.

📌 (Curious about using soler to talk about your own daily routine? Take a look at our lesson How to Say "I Usually..." in Spanish)

Cuando era niño, solía ir a la playa (tense = past)
When I was a boy, I used to go to the beach.

And what about in the future or in the conditional tenses? Well, soler doesn't have a future or a conditional tense. That puts the word in a category of verbs that are not fully conjugated, known as "defective verbs." Other examples of defective verbs in Spanish include llover (to rain) and amanecer (to dawn).

So next time you catch yourself reminiscing about how things used to be, you'll know exactly which verb to reach for. Keep an ear out for solía in songs, shows, and everyday conversation — and don't hesitate to send us your questions and comments!