This lesson is part of the Beginner Spanish Course (127 lessons)
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In this Spanish lesson we will see and compare typical example sentences of the Pretérito Indefinido and Pretérito Perfecto Spanish grammar tenses in use. Both of these Spanish grammar tenses are used to talk about the past, but they are quite different and the comparison of these example sentences should hopefully give you a better idea of when to use one or the other. In the previous Spanish lesson we compared various key words and phrases of Pretérito Indefinido and Pretérito Perfecto Spanish grammar tenses and I recommend that you review that lesson before or just after watching this new video. Try not to get flustered by all of these grammar terms: Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Perfecto, Pretérito Imperfecto, etc. For many students the titles and terminology unfortunately make things sound more complicated than they actually are. When you strip Spanish grammar back to its basics and concentrate on the bare bones of each of the Spanish tenses they really are not so bad. Always try to concentrate on being totally clear on when you should use one of the Spanish tenses over another and how you should conjugate the verbs in that tense for all the persons. If you are not clear on when you should use a particular Spanish grammar tense you will run into all sorts of problems. Be careful also not to fall into the trap of trying to translate evrything to your own language as you speak or write. Try to forget your own language as much as possible when you are studying Spanish and compare everything within the framework of what you know about the Spanish language.
Lesson notes:
Ayer fui a la playa: Yesterday I went to the beach
Hoy he ido a la playa: Today I went to the beach
Estuvimos en Madrid el año pasado: We were in Madrid last year
Hemos estado en Madrid tres veces: We have been to Madrid three times
Vi a tu madre ayer: I saw your mum yesterday
He visto a tu madre esta semana: I have seen your mum this week
Ana leyó ese libro el año pasado: Ana read that book last year
Ana ya ha leído ese libro: Ana has already read that book
¿Viste esa película anoche?: Did you see that film last night?
¿Has visto esa película?: Have you seen that film?
Activity:
Translate the following…
Last week we visited Paris.
We have visited Paris twice.
Did you see Buckingham Palace when you went to London?
Have you seen Buckingham Palace?
I ate chicken last night.
I have eaten a sandwich today.
Here are the answers to the last activity:
Hoy
Anoche
Todavía / Aún
Ese mes
Ya
