He Past tense and the co-financier Are common verbal tenses of the Romance languages, used mainly for the expression of past actions under certain conditions.
The past tense is also known as past perfect simple or simply past simple; The co-worker is formally known as an imperfect tense.
These tenses originate in Latin, and are present, under different names but similar uses, in Romance languages such as French, Italian, Portuguese and, of course, Spanish.
The preterit and copretérito are usually tenses confronted in terms of their use, since one denotes an absolute character in a given time, and in the other, the temporal delimitation of the statement is not so important.
From both tenses are born other compositions, in the case of Spanish, that allow a greater specificity of action and time in the statements to be constructed.
In the Spanish language, there are formalities regarding the use of the preterite and co-dependent depending on the region, since linguistic evolution in America has created specific grammatical situations or constructs that differ from the formal postulates implemented by the Spanish Royal Academy.
Uses, characteristics and examples of the past tense
The Spanish Royal Academy defines the past, grammatically, as the enunciation of an action located at a moment prior to the moment in which it is expressed.
In short, it is the enunciation of an action occurring in an indefinite past. The main attribute of the simple past is to highlight the completion of the action within the enunciated time.
The past tense of the Romance languages allows a greater variability and wealth of conjugation in front of different contexts when putting together a statement.
It contrasts above all with the Germanic languages, which only have a form of preterit that does not vary in itself, but from the context that provides the rest of the sentence.
Being one of the most used tenses, it allows the three types of conjugations (-ar, -er, -ir). Examples:
- I spoke I ate (eat); I went out
- You took; You understood You lived
- He / she toasted; He / She had; He / she left
- We sing; We fear (fear); We said (say)
- You fished (fish); You read (read); You laughed (laugh)
- They hunted, they moved, They asked.
The malleability of language has allowed exceptions over the years in Romance languages.
The construction of expressions starting from opposing postulates has become common. Some uses of the past may be considered within these cases: their use to infer future actions. Example:
- Do not call 5 o'clock because at that time I'm gone.
In this case, the statement refers to an action that has not yet taken place, but which is immune to any kind of external modification or influence before and after being expressed.
It is a common manifestation of everyday and informal expressions, especially to refer to situations that occur at the same time as enunciation.
It can be concluded that the uses of the simple past contribute to the presentation of events and closed or finished actions in a temporal context.
Although its general and formal use positions it in the past, it can be considered its application for present and future times.
Uses, characteristics and examples of the co-financier
The RAE defines the co-beneficiary under the formal name of past imperfect, which manifests an action in the past whose temporal limits are of no greater importance and also determines the completion or completion of the action.
The past tense, copretérito and preterite compound are the main verbal forms of the Romance languages to refer an action carried out, mainly, in the past. The co-recipient allows greater ambiguity or continuity of the action enunciated depending on the other elements of a sentence.
As was mentioned with the past tense, in the Germanic languages the copretérito is present, but not through the specific conjugation of the verb, but conditioned by the context of the phrase.
In Spanish, the co-beneficiary has a rather broad use, which has also become standardized in everyday speech as a generalized way of referring to the past. Like the simple past, this verb tense allows conjugation with the three verbal forms. Examples of use of copretérito:
- I loved (love); I brought (brought); I was driving
- You acted (act); You put (put); You chose (choose)
- He / she was playing; He / she wanted (wanted); He / she slept
- We prayed (pray); We knew; We prevented (prevent)
- You forced (forced); You were worth (valer); You would quarrel (quarrel)
- They changed (change); They thanked (thanked); They fled (fled)
In Spanish, the co-beneficiary can be used in particular situations that do not specifically represent the enunciation of a past action. An example of this is the expression of two simultaneous actions:
- I watched people go by while I was trying to study
For everyday cases, the use of copretérito is quite common when using descriptions:
- He was tall and thin. His hair was quite long.
- It is also used in phrases that express courtesy:
- Did you want something?
Despite being one of the most used verbal tenses of the Romance languages, including Spanish, regionalisms have influenced a little in its use against certain situations, giving the past tense a colloquialism and informality that has allowed it to be used in Contexts of the past as"generalized"verbal tense.
In some cases, and like the past tense, the co-financier can be used to infer future actions; However, although these applications are informal, their massive use should not be ruled out in the everyday enunciations of Spanish-American societies. Example:
- What time was the morning meeting?
In this case, a future event of knowledge for both participants is indicated, which may be subject to external modifiers. Another example:
- The train was leaving at 4:00 p.m.
Depending on the context, it may be stating an action that happened in the past (whose completion is unknown), or an inference to the future.
References
- Araus, M.L. (2014). Basic problems of Spanish grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Bermudez, F. (2005). Verbal tenses as evidence markers. The case of the past perfect compound. Philological studies , 165-188.
- Negroni, M. M. (1999). The past perfect distinction simple / past perfect compound. A discursive approach. Iberoamerican Journal of Discourse and Society , 45-60.
- Royal Spanish Academy. (2005). Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts . Obtained from rae.es/recursos/diccionarios/dpd
- Royal Spanish Academy. (2008). New grammar of the Spanish language.
- Royal Spanish Academy. (S.f.). Spanish dictionary . Obtained from dle.rae.es.