Don´t Fear the Past

When we are going thru the process of learning, at times we feel desperate when trying to fit all our ideas into the few or little words and phrases we already know. It can get frustrating, you bet.

However, it´s a good idea to never lose your calm and focus on using shortcuts instead, that will help you get your point across more effectively at an unexpected situation.
In the Spanish language, we can surely get a hold of some of them - mostly at the basic levels.

Today´s shortcut will be useful to let people know that what you are saying refers to events in the past without using the preterite tense (if you haven´t gotten that far in your course).

* Notice that this shortcut IS NOT correct Spanish structure at all, although it will get us across a sticky situation if we are Beginner Learners.

 In order to pull this trick, we are going to use time expressions from the preterite, placing them in use with verbs in the present - of which you probably know at least a few! -


Here are time expressions of the preterite:

Ayer...
Yesterday

Antier...
The day before yesterday

Hace una semana...
Hace dos meses...
Hace unos años...
A week ago, Two months ago, Some years ago

La semana pasada...
El año pasado...
El mes pasado...
Last week, Last year, Last month

Now let´s do it!

I will present the actual Spanish way of saying it and then the version You Can Say

¿Listos?

Actual Spanish: Ayer fuimos a la playa con unos amigos.
We went to the beach with some friends yesterday.
You Can Say: Ayer vamos a la playa con unos amigos. We go to the beach with some friends yesterday.

Actual Spanish: La semana pasada llegaron el gerente y su esposa.
The manager and his wife arrived last week.
You Can Say: La semana pasada llegan el gerente y su esposa.

Actual Spanish: El barco salió hace tres horas.
The ship left three hours ago.
You Can Say: El barco sale hace tres horas.

Well, there you go!
Just remember, this is just a trick for beginners!