Do you know when to use the future perfect in Spanish? Known in Spanish as the futuro compuesto or antefuturo, the future perfect tense in Spanish works very similarly to its English counterpart to speak about things that "will have" happened at a given point of time in the future. However, despite its name, it can also be used to describe or ask about things that "must" or "would have" happened in the past! Let's take a look at how to conjugate the future perfect in Spanish as well examples of these usages.
Just like the Spanish present perfect tense, which is used to express things one "has done" in utterances like Yo he comido (I have eaten), the future perfect in Spanish employs the verb haber (an auxiliary, or helping, verb that means "have") plus the past participle (whose regular forms end in -ado or -ido and correspond to English participles ending in -ed or -en such as "danced," "taken," etc.). However, in contrast to the present perfect, where haber is conjugated in the present tense, the future perfect in Spanish employs the future tense of this verb. With this in mind, let's see the formula for conjugating the future perfect in Spanish:
Future tense of haber + past participle
Now, let's look at the future tense conjugations of the verb haber then hear how they are pronounced:
| Personal Pronoun: | Future Conjugation of Haber: |
|---|---|
| yo | habré (I will have) |
| tú | habrás (you will have) |
| él/ella/usted | habrá (he/she/you will have) |
| nosotros/as | habremos (we will have) |
| vosotros/as | habréis (you will have) |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | habrán (they/you will have) |
Habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán.
I will have, you will have, he/she/you will have, we will have, you all will have, they/you all will have.
Caption 81, Escuela BCNLIP - Clase con Javi: el futuro
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And finally, we will examine some examples of this formula in action:
ya que entonces el hechizo habrá terminado.
because then the spell will have finished.
Caption 56, Cuentos de hadas - Cenicienta
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Habréis visto que sobre la mesa tengo también un trozo de limón.
You'll have seen that on the table, I also have a piece of lemon.
Captions 33-34, Soledad - Ensalada de alcachofa
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You may have noticed that, as we indicated in the introduction, while the first example refers to something that "will happen" in the future, the second describes something that the speaker's audience probably saw in the past! Let's examine more closely these two different ways to employ the future perfect tense in Spanish.
The following examples illustrate the use of the Spanish future perfect tense to describe what "will have" happened in the future, which the context indicates quite clearly:
todavía estará más bueno,
it will be even better
ya que habrá cogido más cuerpo y más sabor.
since it will have gotten more body and more flavor.
Captions 69-70, Fermín - Ensalada de tomate
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Dentro de cinco años, los ingenieros habrán terminado de construir el puente.
Within five years, the engineers will have finished building the bridge.
Para el año 2030, yo habré ahorrado mucho dinero.
By the year 2030, I will have saved a lot of money.
Let's conclude by looking at examples of the future perfect tense in Spanish that depict what "will" or "must" have happened in the past or speculate about what "would" or "could have" taken place:
Si pusieron atención,
If you paid attention,
se habrán dado cuenta que Kevin y Leo, que son hermanos,
you will have noticed that Kevin and Leo, who are brothers,
Captions 50-51, Carlos comenta - Los Años Maravillosos - Forma de hablar
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Bueno, querido, pero algo habrás hecho.
Well, dear, but you must have done something.
Caption 25, Muñeca Brava - 39 Verdades - Part 4
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¿Lo buscó bien?
Did you look for him well?
Lo buscó... -¿Pero dónde se habrá ido?
You looked for him... -But where would he have gone?
Caption 36, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante - Capítulo 3
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Although the translations for each of these examples vary slightly, what they all have in common is the fact that the action being described requires an educated guess about something that has already happened.
That's all for today. We hope that this lesson has helped you to understand when to use future perfect in Spanish, and don't forget to write us with your questions and comments.
The news has been dominated by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. If you are wondering how to say words like "queen" or "kingdom" in Spanish, this lesson will teach you how to say and spell the most important royal terms.
hasta que por fin la reina Isabel le concedió audiencia
until Queen Isabel finally granted him an audience,
Caption 18, Viajando con Fermín Patios de Córdoba - Part 3
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Notice that even when used as part of a proper name like la reina Isabel (Queen Isabel), la reina and its male counterpart el rey (the king) are lowercase in Spanish.
Miren, hablando del rey de Roma.
Look, speak of the devil [literally "the King of Rome"].
Caption 60, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 4
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Keep in mind that the masculine plural form of el rey, los reyes, is used to describe "the King and Queen" (although it could also mean "the kings" in different contexts).
Actualmente es la residencia oficial de los reyes de España,
Currently, it's the official residence of the King and Queen of Spain,
Caption 24, Madrid Un recorrido por la capital de España
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Corona imperial española.
Imperial Spanish Crown.
Caption 18, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 3
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era para el alto clero, la monarquía y la burguesía de Barcelona
was for Barcelona's high clergy, monarchy, and middle class
Caption 58, Víctor en España La Catedral del Mar en Barcelona
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a quienes los monarcas otorgaban las patentes de corso,
to whom the monarchs granted letters of marque,
Caption 58, Viajando con Fermín Pasajes (Pasaia) - Part 3
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Remember that the article el is used to describe a male monarch, and la is used for a female, while los monarcas could be a group of males or a mixed group.
Una noche conocí en un casino al príncipe este, Rainiero.
One night I met at a casino this prince, Rainiero.
Caption 9, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 1 - Part 4
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The above clip is from our popular Colombian series Confidencial: El rey de la estafa. In the following clip, you can hear how that word is pronounced by a speaker from Spain. Notice the difference in pronunciation, especially when it comes to the letter "c":
come como un príncipe,
eat the main meal of the day like a prince,
Caption 36, Raquel Presentaciones
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se casaba con una princesa de España.
he was marrying a princess from Spain.
Caption 26, Leyendas urbanas La Llorona
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Su marido es el príncipe Felipe, duque de Edimburgo.
Her husband is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Captions 25-26, El Aula Azul Adivina personajes famosos - Part 2
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Note that the feminine form of el duque, la duquesa, means "duchess."
Por consejo del cuerpo de seguridad de la familia real,
Under the advisement of the security forces of the royal family,
Caption 29, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 5
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Érase una vez en un lejano reino,
Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom,
Caption 1, Cuentos de hadas Cenicienta - Part 1
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y la subida al trono del nuevo cacique
and the ascension to the throne of the new cacique
Caption 18, Aprendiendo con Carlos América precolombina - El Dorado
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A Su Majestad, la reina, le ha interesado mucho,
It has interested Her Majesty, the Queen, a lot,
Caption 23, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 4
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Su Alteza Real el príncipe se casará con la mujer cuyo pie encaje en este zapato de cristal.
His Royal Highness the Prince will marry the woman whose foot fits into this glass slipper.
Captions 25-26, Cuentos de hadas Cenicienta - Part 2
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That's all for now. We hope you have learned some "royally" useful words in this lesson, and don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments.
The Spanish verb echar can be used in many different ways and appears in a host of different Spanish idiomatic expressions. Let's explore the many meanings and uses of the Spanish verb echar.
While the first definition of echar in dictionaries is typically "to throw," it can refer to any literal or figurative movement from one point to another and can thus be translated in many fashions depending upon the context. Let's take a look at several of its most common meanings with examples from our Yabla Spanish library.
Although the Spanish verb echar can literally mean "to throw," "toss," or "hurl" something, it is probably more common to hear verbs like tirar, lanzar, or arrojar used with this meaning. That said, let's take a look at an example where echar means to physically throw something:
y le echas harina y se lo pones en el pelo y... ¡Chwak!
and you throw flour on her and you put it in her hair and... Bam!
Caption 17, Club 10 Capítulo 1 - Part 1
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The Spanish verb echar can also be used in the way we use the verbs "to throw" something "out" or "away," whether literally or figuratively. Let's look at an example of each:
Por lo general, tenemos cuatro contenedores: el azul, donde echamos el papel, cartón, revistas,
Generally, we have four trash bins: the blue one, where we throw away paper, cardboard, magazines,
Captions 3-4, Rosa Reciclar
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Todo estaba tranquilo y lo echaste a la basura
Everything was calm and you threw it in the garbage
Caption 3, Sondulo Que te vaya mal
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The verb echar in Spanish often appears in recipes and other contexts when talking about "adding" or "putting in" some ingredient, etc. Let's take a look:
Le voy a echar un poco de nata...
I'm going to add a bit of cream to it...
Caption 47, Cómetelo Crema de brócoli - Part 9
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Bueno, también le podemos echar diferentes clases de condimentos.
Well, we can also put in different kinds of seasoning.
Caption 24, Cocinando con Miguelito Pollo sudado - Part 2
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Along these same lines, echar can also be used to mean to pour something into something else:
Solo falta echarla en el molde
We just need to pour it into the mold
Caption 38, Cleer y Lía El día de la madre
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The verb echar in Spanish may also refer to getting rid of someone in the sense of throwing or kicking them out, temporarily or permanently:
No sé qué hace este señor todavía acá, lo eché esta misma tarde.
I don't know what this gentleman is still doing here. I threw him out this very afternoon.
Caption 33, Muñeca Brava 3 Nueva Casa - Part 4
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Se mueren por saber por qué echó a la chirusa.
They're dying to know why she fired the vulgar girl.
Caption 42, Carlos y Cyndy Comentario sobre Muñeca Brava
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And speaking of "expelling" and "fire," the verb echar in Spanish can also mean to "expel," "emit," "give off," or "spew" fire or smoke, for example:
Pero eso no lo iba a entender un dragón al que solo le interesaba rugir y echar fuego por la boca.
But a dragon who was only interested in roaring and spewing fire from his mouth wasn't going to get it.
Caption 49, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 1 - Part 7
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And, to conclude with our more standard uses of the Spanish verb echar, the formula echar + infinitive means "to start" [doing something]:
y ven la batidora, echan a correr.
and they see the blender, they start to run.
Caption 31, Cómetelo Crema de brócoli - Part 8
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This meaning might also be seen with the reflexive version of the verb, echarse.
Pero ya las lágrimas se echaban a correr
But the tears were starting to fall
Caption 8, Jeremías Uno y uno igual a tres
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Let's take a look at some additional uses of the reflexive verb echarse.
The reflexive verb echarse can be used to talk about "lying down" as in Me voy a echar en la cama (I'm going to lie down in bed) or generally "throwing oneself" or "getting down":
Los hombres que cuando se les dicen de echarse al suelo es que no quieren ninguno.
When men are told to get down on the ground, the thing is that no one wants to.
Captions 52-53, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 8
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The reflexive verb echarse can additionally have the connotation of moving from one place to another, as in the first example, and is therefore heard often in songs, as in the second, with various translations to tell people how they should move.
donde el pueblo se echa a la calle junto a miles de visitantes
where the town goes out onto the street along with thousands of visitors
Caption 57, Viajando con Fermín Frigiliana, Málaga
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Échate pa' un lado
Move aside
Caption 8, Javier García EPK - Part 2
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Now, let's look at several Spanish idioms that involve the Spanish verbs echar or echarse with examples in context:
¡Y me echó la culpa de todo!
And she blamed everything on me!
Caption 13, Guillermina y Candelario La Peluqueria del Mar - Part 1
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El marido se echó a reír al ver la cara de sorpresa de su esposa.
The husband burst out laughing when he saw his wife's surprised face.
Caption 32, Cleer El espejo de Matsuyama
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Después de haberse marchado todos, estaba sola en casa y se echó a llorar.
After everyone had left, she was alone in the house and burst out crying.
Captions 29-30, Cuentos de hadas Cenicienta - Part 1
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Después de comer, solemos echar la siesta
After eating, we usually take a nap
Caption 20, El Aula Azul Actividades Diarias
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Ahora cerramos la puerta, echamos la llave
Now we close the door, we lock it,
Caption 12, Escuela BCNLIP Clase con Javi: el futuro - Part 1
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De España echo mucho de menos el clima,
From Spain, I really miss the weather,
Caption 39, Álvaro Arquitecto Español en Londres
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para que nos eche una mano y les vamos a dar
so that he can lend us a hand and we are going to give them
Caption 50, Club de las ideas Bioparc
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De acuerdo, deje que eche un vistazo.
OK, let me take a look.
Caption 63, Negocios Empezar en un nuevo trabajo - Part 2
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Así es y pues aquí mira, trabajando, echándole ganas y...
It's so, and well, [we] are here, [you] see, working, giving it my all and...
Caption 17, Edificio en Construcción Hablando con los trabajadores - Part 2
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No puedo, negrita, ya eché a perder como diez laburo'.
I can't, honey. I already messed up like ten jobs.
Caption 3, Muñeca Brava 3 Nueva Casa - Part 5
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¡Callate, Rufino! No eches más leña al fuego, ¿querés?
Shut up, Rufino! Don't put more wood into the fire [don't add fuel to the fire], will you?
Caption 23, Yago 8 Descubrimiento - Part 2
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Todavía no ha jugado el partido de fútbol y ya está "echando las campanas al vuelo",
He hasn't played the soccer match yet, and he's already "throwing the bells in the air,"
Captions 45-46, Aprendiendo con Silvia Campanas - Part 2
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Although the literal meaning is totally different, this Spanish expression is comparable to the English idiom about "counting one's chickens before they are hatched." For more such examples, check out this lesson on Spanish idioms and their (very different) English equivalents.
As there are so many standard and idiomatic ways to use the Spanish verb echar that it would be impossible to name them all, we've provided just a smattering! Don't hesitate to write to us with any more you come across, or with any ideas for future lessons. ¡Hasta la próxima!
The Spanish future tense is one of the most straightforward tenses in Spanish, both in terms of knowing when to use it and how to conjugate it. Let's take a closer look at this tense.
The future tense in Spanish corresponds to the English construction with "will" plus a verb and is used to talk about actions that are slated to happen in the future or that someone has the intention to carry out. Simple English examples of this concept include: "Tomorrow, I will go to the store," or "Next week, it will rain." With this in mind, let's examine several examples of the future tense in Spanish:
y hoy les hablaré de una de mis pasiones:
and today, I'll talk to you about one of my passions:
Caption 4, Ana Carolina La meditación
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Yo creo que esto lo venderemos súper bien.
I think we'll sell this one really well.
Caption 44, Santuario para burros Tienda solidaria
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El botón [sic] la ayudará con su equipaje y lo subirá en un par de minutos a la habitación.
The porter will help you with your luggage and will take it up to the room in a couple of minutes.
Captions 61-62, Cleer y Lida Recepción de hotel
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Note that as English "will" constructions are often expressed with contractions (the personal pronoun plus apostrophe double l, such as "I'll," "we'll," etc.), many Spanish future tense verbs can be translated to English in this less formal fashion.
Conjugating most verbs in the future tense in Spanish is quite simple. You just take the verb's infinitive ("to" form) in its entirety and add the corresponding future tense ending. So, using the verbs in our previous examples, we'd start with their infinitive forms: hablar (to talk), vender (to sell), ayudar (to help), and subir (to take up). You will note that these infinitive verbs fall into all three infinitive verb categories: -ar, -er, and -ir.
Step two of the process of conjugating Spanish future tense verbs is to memorize the quite simple endings that correspond to their personal pronouns, which are as follows:
| Personal Pronoun: | Ending: |
|---|---|
| Yo: | -é |
| Tú: | -ás |
| Él/ella/usted: | -á |
| Nosotros/nosotras: | -emos |
| Vosotros/vosotras: | -éis |
| Ellos/ellas/ustedes: | -án |
Armed with this information, let's conjugate some future tense verbs using different verbs and personal pronouns than the examples above.
1. Suppose we want to say that more than one person "will see" something (with the personal pronoun ustedes, or plural "you"). We would take the infinitive verb ver (to see) and add the appropriate ending (-án) to get verán:
Mañana ustedes verán si nos... si nos medimos a ese, a ese reto.
Tomorrow you guys will see if we... if we measure up to that, to that challenge.
Captions 36-37, Festivaliando Mono Núñez - Part 13
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2. Now, let's imagine that you want to tell more than one person in a familiar environment what they'll "need." Oh— and you're in Spain, where the personal pronouns vosotros/as are the way to address more than one person as "you" informally. We'd take the verb for "to need" (necesitar) and the corresponding ending -éis to get necesitaréis:
Para empezar a hacer la tortilla española, necesitaréis los siguientes ingredientes:
To start to make the Spanish tortilla, you'll need the following ingredients:
Captions 8-9, Clara cocina Una tortilla española
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3. And finally, what if you would like to say with the tú (informal "you") form to someone what he or she "will discover"? You'd start with the verb descubrir (to discover) and add the -ás ending that goes with tú to get descubrirás:
Pronto lo descubrirás
Soon you'll discover it
Caption 68, X6 1 - La banda - Part 2
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As with all Spanish verb tenses, there are some irregular verbs in the future tense in Spanish, many of which are extremely common. That said, it would behoove you to memorize the following stems, which are used in lieu of these verbs' infinitives to conjugate the "top twelve" irregular future tense verbs in Spanish:
| Irregular Verb: | Stem: |
|---|---|
| caber (to fit): | cabr- |
| decir (to tell): | dir- |
| haber (to have/be): | habr- |
| hacer (to make/do): | har- |
| poder (to be able): | podr- |
| poner (to put): | pondr- |
| querer (to want): | querr- |
| saber (to know): | sabr- |
| salir (to leave): | saldr- |
| tener (to have): | tendr- |
| valer (to be worth): | valdr- |
| venir (to come): | vendr- |
Now, let's conjugate a few of these irregular Spanish future tense verbs:
1. How would we express "I'll say" in Spanish? Rather than the infinitive, we'd take the aforementioned stem for the Spanish verb decir, -dir, and add the ending that corresponds with yo (I), or -é, to get diré:
Primero, diré el verbo en infinitivo,
First, I'll say the verb in the infinitive,
Caption 38, Carlos explica El modo imperativo 1: Tú + vos
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2. How would we say "you'll have" in Spanish? Take the stem of the irregular verb tener (to have), tendr-, and add the ending for tú (you), -ás, to get: tendrás.
Sí, después de las clases en grupo, tendrás media hora de descanso
Yes, after the group classes, you'll have a half hour break
Caption 27, El Aula Azul Las actividades de la escuela - Part 1
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3. And finally, what if want to express that "we'll be able" to do something? We'll take podr-, the stem for the verb for "to be able" (poder), and add the ending for nosotros/as, -emos, to come up with podremos:
Con un poco de práctica, podremos aprender estas reglas muy fácilmente.
With a bit of practice, we will be able to learn these rules very easily.
Caption 55, Carlos explica Acentuación Cap. 3: La división en sílabas - Part 1
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Although the translations for Spanish verbs conjugated in the Spanish future tense almost always involve the word "will," the future tense in Spanish can occasionally be used to express doubt or disbelief, and, in such cases, corresponds more closely with the English concepts of "would," "could," "might," or "may." Such cases are typically quite clear from their contexts as inserting the word "will" would seem nonsensical. Let's take a look at a couple of examples:
¿No tendrás unos pesitos para mí?
You wouldn't have a few pesos for me?
Caption 23, Muñeca Brava 8 Trampas - Part 14
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Favio, ¿dónde estarás?
Favio, where could you be?
Caption 44, Yago 1 La llegada - Part 7
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Having said that, in the vast majority of the cases you will come across, the future tense in Spanish can be translated with "will."
We hope you've enjoyed this lesson on the future tense in Spanish. If you are interested in verb tenses, we recommend you check out our lessons on all of the Spanish verb tenses, beginning with the indicative verb tenses in Spanish and moving on to the Spanish subjunctive tenses. And, for an even deeper look into the future tense in Spanish with a plethora of example sentences, we recommend you check out this extended lesson by Javi on the future tense in Spanish as well as this lesson on an alternative to the Spanish future tense.
That's all for today! Don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments, and estaremos en contacto (we'll be in touch).
What is the imperfect tense in Spanish? In contrast to the Spanish preterite, or simple past tense, which typically describes completed actions in the past, the imperfect tense in Spanish depicts past actions that were carried out regularly, over a longer period of time, or were in progress at a specified point. In addition to these uses of the imperfect tense in Spanish, there are other specific contexts in which it is necessary to use this tense, many of which we hope to illuminate for you today.
Let's take a look at some situations in which it is necessary to use the Spanish imperfect tense.
The imperfect tense in Spanish distinguishes actions that occurred on a habitual basis in the past from isolated incidents. Let's begin to understand this by examining how this idea might be expressed in English:
When I was young, I used to visit my grandparents every summer.
When I was young, I would visit my grandparents every summer.
When I was young, I visited my grandparents every summer.
Interestingly, all of these English sentences could be translated to Spanish using the same sentence in the imperfect tense: "Cuando yo era joven, visitaba a mis abuelos todos los veranos." This is because, despite their structural differences, they all mean the same thing: that the speaker would regularly visit his or her grandparents in the past.
Armed with this idea that the imperfect tense in Spanish can encompass various English constructions, let's take a look at some additional examples of sentences with verbs in the imperfect tense:
Cuentan los cronistas que veían desfilar a las tropas
The chroniclers tell that they would see the troops parading,
bajando desde lo que era el Cuartel de San Telmo
coming down from what used to be the San Telmo Barracks
hasta lo que hoy es conocido como el Bulevar donostiarra,
to what is known today as the "Bulevar donostiarra"
Captions 26-28, Días festivos - La Tamborrada de San Sebastián
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eh... -Sí. -... practicaba fútbol.
um... -Yes. -...I used to play soccer.
Caption 27, Club 10 - Capítulo 2
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In this second example, although an English speaker might say either, "Oh! I used to play soccer too!" or "Oh! I played soccer too!" to talk about something he or she did regularly at a previous juncture, the Spanish language would always employ the imperfect tense to distinguish this as a habitual action in the past. In contrast, if the speaker had just completed a game of soccer yesterday, he would instead use the preterite tense:
Ayer practiqué fútbol.
I played soccer yesterday.
All that said, at the moment of constructing a sentence, in order to decide when to use the imperfect tense in Spanish, an English speaker must consider whether a past action took place just once or over an extended period, in which case it will be necessary to choose the imperfect tense.
The imperfect tense in Spanish is also used to describe past actions that were incomplete or interrupted at the depicted moment. Let's take a look:
Vi que me acompañaba, mientras yo cantaba. -Sí.
I saw that you were accompanying me while I was singing. -Yes.
Caption 28, Yago - 1 La llegada
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Notice that imperfect verbs that describe past actions in progress are most commonly (but again, not always) expressed in English in the past progressive tense, e.g., "You were accompanying," "I was singing," etc. The same can be said of interrupted past actions, where the action in progress is conjugated in the imperfect tense in Spanish, while the interrupting action is in the preterite tense:
OK, o sea que vos pensás
OK, in other words, you think
que yo iba por la calle y de repente
that I was going down the street and suddenly,
conocí a una chica y la llevé a una obra en construcción
I met a girl and took her to a construction site
para seducirla.
to seduce her.
Captions 22-23, Muñeca Brava - 45 El secreto
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Me sentía perdido hasta que un día me llegó un email.
I was feeling lost until, one day, I got an email.
Caption 24, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje
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Notably, although the Spanish past progressive tense can also be used to describe incomplete or interrupted actions in some cases (e.g. Yo cocinaba cuando mi marido llegó a casa and Yo estaba cocinando cuando mi marido llegó a casa both mean "I was cooking when my husband got home"), in our examples above, the imperfect tense in Spanish would be the more likely choice.
Since they tend to be ongoing, rather than having a definite beginning or end, the imperfect tense in Spanish is additionally used to describe physical and other characteristics of people or things in the past.
Tenía una barba blanca que le llegaba hasta la cintura
He had a white beard that went down to his waist
y una larga cabellera.
and long hair.
Tenía además una corona dorada y vestía un manto blanco.
He also had a golden crown and wore a white robe.
Captions 12-14, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bochica
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Pero no era la... mi... la Connie, mi esposa,
But it wasn't the... my... Connie, my wife,
sino era la otra, la rubia,
but rather it was the other one, the blonde,
que era muy bonita de ojos azules.
who was very pretty with blue eyes.
Captions 29-30, Gonzalo el Pintor - Vida
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In this second example, it is notable that, even though the third person singular form of the verb ser (to be) in its preterite form (fue) can also be translated as "was" in some cases, the imperfect tense in Spanish is the correct manner of talking about traits in the past. The imperfect is also the preferred tense for describing past states of being, as in the following example:
Tenía su pata rota.
His leg was broken.
Esta pata de aquí, la tenía rota.
This leg here, it was broken.
Captions 17-18, Amaya - La historia de Lukas
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Desde cuando tenía doce años, más o menos.
Since I was twelve years old, more or less.
Caption 13, Encuentro Volkswagen en Adícora - Escarabajos en la playa
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Additionally, since "setting the scene" might entail recounting what day or time it "was," dates and times must be described in the Spanish imperfect tense:
Eran las cinco de la tarde.
It was five o'clock in the evening.
ya que recuerdo que hacía un calor terrible,
as I remember that it was terribly hot,
aunque todavía era el mes de junio,
despite the fact that it was still the month of June,
Captions 38-39, Fermín y los gatos - Mi gata Poeska
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The imperfect tense in Spanish is also utilized to speak about emotions in the past:
Un poquito y ajá, y estaba triste porque dejaba
A little bit, and uh-huh, and I was sad because I was leaving
mi familia y eso y ya.
my family and all that and that's it.
Caption 70, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila
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Todos en la casa estaban muy emocionados
Everyone in the house was very excited,
Caption 17, Cuentos de hadas - Cenicienta
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So... when do you use the imperfect tense in Spanish? We hope that this lesson has made it more clear that, in contrast to the Spanish preterite tense, the Spanish imperfect is reserved for past events that "kept on going" for an extended period. For more examples of imperfect tense in Spanish, we recommend Carlos' video on this topic, where he explores not only when to use imperfect tense in Spanish, but also how to conjugate its regular and some of its most common irregular forms.
That's all for today, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
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