English Verb Tenses Demystified for Mexican Business Professionals

Grammar Review – Translation

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Part One: The most essential grammatical tenses:

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The sentences in part one have been selected to show how the most common verb tenses are used in English and Spanish.? As you’ll see, it is possible to use most of the verb tenses in the same or similar ways in English and Spanish.? However, Spanish usually has more than one way to form these sentences whereas in English we usually only have one way to express these tenses.

The most common verb tenses in English are:

·????? The present simple,

·????? Present continuous

·????? Present perfect

·????? Present perfect continuous

·????? Past simple

·????? Past continuous

·????? Future simple (going to, will, and present continuous)

·????? Used to.

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Example Sentences:

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(1)???????????? ?Qué haces? Leo un libro

What are you doing? I am reading a book

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Note: In English we use the present continuous (to be + ing) for actions we are doing right now and the simple present for actions we do habitually.? In Spanish, you can use both the present and the present continuous for actions you are doing right now.?

In Spanish, this phrase “Qué haces? Leo un libro.” and the phrase “?Qué estás hacienda? Estoy leyendo un libro” have the same meaning.? In English, that is not true.? We can’t say “What do you do? I read a book”.? We can however, use the simple past if we add something to show that the action is habitual.? For example, “What do you do every Tuesday? I read a book.”

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(2)???????????? ?Crees en fantasmas?

Do you believe in ghosts?

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Usually, you use the present continuous for what you are doing now, but there are some verbs that do not work with the present continuous (or the present perfect continuous).? These verbs are called “stative verbs” and include most verbs related to thoughts, emotions, senses, and possession.?

Verbs that are not “stative verbs” are usually referred to as “action verbs”.? “Action verbs” describe actions taken by the subject of the sentence in the present or past.

Usually, in Spanish “stative verbs” in the past tense take the “imperfecto” tense and “action verbs” in the past usually use the “preterito” tense.

Some of these verbs such as “like, live, feel, and have” can be used in either the present simple and the present continuous tense depending on what you are trying to convey.? For example, “I have a cold/I am having a bad day”.? “I see you/He is seeing you” (this means that he and you are going on dates together).

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(3)???????????? ?Alguna vez visitaste a Francia?

Have you ever been to France?

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Note: In English certain words in sentences often trigger the use of the present perfect instead of the simple past. The most common of these words are “for, ever, since, already, and yet”.? In this case “alguna vez” translates as “ever” and sentences with this word will usually be in the present perfect (have + participle) tense.

The sample sentence in Spanish can be translated as either: “Alguna vez visitaste a Francia” or “Has visitado Francia alguna vez”.? “Has visitado Francia alguna vez” is basically a direct translation of the sample English sentence.?

However, in English, you could not translate the sentence as “Did you ever visit France?” (the direct translation of “Alguna vez visitaste a Francia?”).? We can only use the simple past in English to signify something that happened in the past and is now done.? Often, the simple past is also used with sentences that include some indication of when the action was finished.? In this case, we would use the simple past in a question like “Did you visit France last winter?"

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(4)???????????? Vivo en Mexico desde hace 30 a?os

I have lived in Mexico for thirty years

I have been living in Mexico for thirty years

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The word “for” in this sentence requires that the sentence be in the present perfect (see above) or the present perfect continuous tense.

The present perfect continuous tense is used to show that the action happened in the past, is happening now, and will continue in the future. The present perfect tense is used to show that the action happened in the past and is happening now.? We cannot use the present perfect continuous tense when we use words that show that the action will not continue in the future.? For example, “Have you taken your pill today?”.? Today tells us that the sentence has no future implications and therefore we can’t use the present perfect continuous tense.

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(5)???????????? Voy a ir a Ensenada en Febrero.

I am going to go to Ensenada in February

I am going to Ensenada in February.

(I will go to Ensenada in February).

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Since we know when you are flying (in February), the most common and acceptable translation of this sentence would be either “I am going to go to Ensenada in February” or “I am going to Ensenada in February”.? However, so many people use “will” for planned actions that it is OK to use it as well.? That said, in formal written English (or when taking an exam like TOEFL) it is better to use “will” only when the future time is not already known.

Note: You can only use the present continuous (I am visiting France in February) when you indicate the time when you will be in France in the future.? Otherwise, the present continuous implies that you are in France right now.? “What are you doing now? I am visiting France.”

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(6)???????????? Voy a visitar a Francia algún día/ Iré a México algún día

I am going to visit France someday.

I will visit France someday.

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Note: Since someday does not show that your plan is certain, many experts say that it is better to use “I will visit France someday.” However, like Spanish, native English speakers usually use these sentences interchangeably.

You can’t, however, use the present continuous (I am going to France someday) in this case since you don’t have a definite plan to go to France.

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(7)???????????? Leía un libro cuando el ladrón llegó

I was reading the book when the thief arrived.

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The imperfect tense in Spanish does not exist in English.? The imperfect tense usually is formed with the verb root plus -ia o -aba (some examples include: iba, andaba, salía, bebía, hablaba). In English we generally use either the past continuous verb tense or “used to” verb tense in place of the imperfect tense.

In both English and Spanish, we have many sentences that indicate that two actions are happening at the same time.? Normally these sentences have one clause in the imperfect (Spanish) or the past continuous tense (English) followed by another clause in the preterit (Spanish) or simple past (English).? Generally, these clauses are connected with the word “cuando or when”.

In Spanish, you can form these sentences in the same way as you do in English.? However, in English, we only have one option for the first part of the sentence: the past continuous.? In Spanish, you have two: the past continuous and the imperfect.

For example, in the sample sentence you could use either of these sentences in Spanish: “Leía un libro cuando el ladrón llegó” or “Estaba leyendo un libro cuando el ladrón llegó”.? In English, we only have one way to say this sentence: I was reading a book when the thief arrived.? If I were to translate this sentence literally into Spanish it would be “Estaba leyendo un libro cuando el ladrón llegó”. We have no direct translation of the sentence “Leía un libro cuando el ladrón llegó” in English, because the imperfect verb form does not exist in English.

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(8)???????????? Hablaba con mi madre cada día, pero ahora no hablo con ella nunca.

I used to talk to my mother every day, but now I don’t ever (or I never) talk to him.

In English, “used to” is used to indicate that an action took place repeated in the past.? “Used to” translates as “solía” in Spanish.?

However, “solía” is very rarely used in Spanish.? Instead, Spanish speakers almost always use the imperfect tense to express an action happened repeatedly in the past.? In English, since we don’t have the imperfect tense, we frequent use the words “used to” instead.

“Used to” can confuse Spanish speakers because it can also mean that you are not accustomed to do something: “Estoy acostumbrado de”.

Here are some examples:

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Fumaba dos cajetillas de cigarro por día.

I used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day.

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I am not used to the hot weather in Mérida

No estoy acostumbrado del clima caliente de Merida.

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