Tense: theory Flashcards
When is the indicative present used
To indicate events that stand outside time: llueve mucho en Irlanda
To dramatise and make more vivid reported events in the past
to ask permission: Te lo traigo yo?
Distinctions in use between present indicative and present continuous
Simple present is used for verbs that denote states rather than actions.
SImple present is used for events that happen in the present but are not in actual progress.
Events that are just about to happen, have just happened, or which are states or habitual actions
When is the preterite used?
It describes events in the past and is perfective in aspect. It suggests that events are completed.
It can be inchoative, that is, it describes the beginning of a state.
Can be used for processes within a defined finite period.
Used for characteristics as opposed to actions or states
When is the imperfect used.
It expresses the imperfective aspect, that is, the incomplete aspect. There is no reference to beginning or end.
It indicates any state or event already in progress when something else happened, background descriptions.
indicates an event that is beginning at the time of a completed event (I was leaving when you rang)
When is the future used
for provisional or less certain statements about the future, or if the future is not otherwise indicated.
Used for promises that are not pre-arrangements, otherwise use the present
Solemn or authoritarian demands
Expresses wonder, incredulity or conjecture: it must have been years ago, I wonder what this is (will be)
When can ser be used in the present tense to express the future?
with calendar statements, otherwise use the future
when is the ir a infinitive tense used
to express intentions for the future
When is the conditional used
for implied conditions, those with an implicit ‘if’ clause: ‘it would be crazy to’ implies ‘if’
Much like the future makes suppositions and approximations about the present (it will be a couple of years ago), the conditional works the same in the past: we must have walked a hundred miles
Expresses future in the past: I knew father would come down at 11
Used in rhetorical questions: would anyone dare say?
When is tener used as an auyiliary in compound tenses?
when you want to express fulfillment or successful acquisition of something: I have already bought the tickets
When do you use the perfect tense
events occurring in time that includes the present: today, this afternoon, this week, this month, this year, this century, always, already, never, still, yet.
To denote the relevance of past events for the present.
To express the recency of an event in the past
In negative time phrases where you would use the present in the positive: I haven’t seen him for years vs I’ve seen him every day for years
When is the pluperfect used in Spanish
An event or state that preceded a past event and are felt to be relevant to the proceeding event.
when does después de que (after) and desde que (since) take the subjunctive
when the events are unfulfilled
when is the preterite anterior used
it is a perfective pluperfect and express an event ompleted just before a following past event, stresses immediacy of proceeding
Only used after después (de) que, luego que, así que, no bien, enseguida que, en cuanto, tan pronto como, apenas, cuando.
It refers to a single completed event. After the same time phrases, repeated or habitual events are expressed by the ordinary pluperfect
how does one form the continous tense
estar + gerund
when do you use the continuous tense (in general)
to describe events in actual progress: eating, sleeping, talking NOT verbs which are finite like ‘arriving’, NOT habitual actions like ‘going to school’.
NOT for verbs of motion
NOT for mental activities: amar, saber
NOT for states: what’s lacking, they are hanging
NOT with estar, ir, venir, regresar, volver, andar
