Hi folks! Are there any rules of thumb? Thanx
lostinspanish said:Hi folks! Are there any rules of thumb? Thanx
Sorry, Crom, but can you explain this construction? I have never seen "fue hace" together like this.cromteaches said:Una vez estuve en el hospital, fue hace mucho tiempo.
Venus, this would be the same as "it was a long time ago".VenusEnvy said:Sorry, Crom, but can you explain this construction? I have never seen "fue hace" together like this.
I thought it was like, " . . . hizo mucho tiempo."
Does this mean the same thing, or is it different?Artrella said:Venus, this would be the same as "it was a long time ago".
I understand now. I guess it just sounds redundant to use "fue" and "hace" to me. But, that's how it goes! Thanks, girlfriend!Artrella said:Estuve en el hospital, (eso) fue hace mucho tiempo.
I was in hospital, it was a long time ago.
VenusEnvy said:Does this mean the same thing, or is it different?
Hace mucho tiempo que estuve en el hospital.
I understand now. I guess it just sounds redundant to use "fue" and "hace" to me. But, that's how it goes! Thanks, girlfriend!
VenusEnvy said:Art: Can you answer the question I asked?
Sorry Ve! I thought you have understood it.Does this mean the same thing, or is it different?
Hace mucho tiempo que estuve en el hospital.
But it contains an apparent error. One of the examples given is:VenusEnvy said:This page is an intro to the difference between the two tenses.
But it contains an apparent error. One of the examples given is:
Juan habló dos horas.
Juan spoke two hours.
But the latter is grammatically incorrect. We'd usually say "Juan spoke for two hours". And I would have translated it as "Juan habló por dos horas". Would some kind Spanish speaker please tell me if it's correct to translate it this way? Yes, it's correct, it could be also: "Juan habló durante dos horas", or, more colloquially: "Juan habló dos horas seguidas.
Also, one use of the imperfect (imperfecto) tense, which is only briefly touched on in one of the pages VenusEnvy referred us to, is to talk about things which happened with some degree of regularity. Some examples:
Para llegar al despacho yo andaba (andaba...hmm...) tomaba/caminaba por la Calle Mayor. In order to get to the office I would walk along the High Street.
Solía desayunar las tostadas. I used to eat toast for breakfast.
Todos los días atraía mucho público. He drew a crowd every day.
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Garry
Gracias por tu ayuda. ¿Hay algúna razón especial por qué usas tomaba o caminaba por en vez de andaba para decir ir a pie? ¿Es cuestión de preferencia personal o es que andaba no se usa mucho en español?Rayines said:(andaba...hmm...) tomaba/caminaba por
Hola: No, es que "andaba", por lo menos en Argentina, tiene una connotación un tanto más indefinida, es casi como decir "vagaba" (pero no tanto). Ejemplitos: "Andaba cerca y pasé a saludarte". "Andaba tan rápido que era imposible seguirlo". Pero en el otro ejemplo, que implica una cierta dirección, prefiero "tomar" o "caminar por" esa calle.¿Hay algúna razón especial por qué usas tomaba o caminaba por en vez de andaba para decir ir a pie?