Past Simple in Spanish. The Neuter Gender Lo

Una conversación

— Me es difícil aún de contestar a tantas preguntas, pero puedo decirle ya, que lo bueno es que me quedo aún en Madrid. He estado en el Museo del Prado y lo que he visto me ha encantado mucho. Es tan grande bajo todos sus aspectos.

— Entonces, hasta mañana.

Vocablos

Notes

The meaning of words and expressions

The meaning of tanto

Tanto functions as an adverb (see lesson 19), but in a combination with a noun, tanto is used as an adjective and agrees with it in gender and number and is translated as so many/much.

In Spanish some adjectives can be used in a combination with the preposition de before the infinitive verb.

Learn the expressions:

Grammar points

1. The Past Simple (Indefinite) in Spanish

The Past Simple tense in Spanish is called Pretérito perfecto simple or Pretérito indefinido (Past Indefinite) or simply the preterite. It expresses a completed action with a clear end, unlike the Imperfect Past tense (lesson 17) which doesn’t have a specific ending. The preterite is used to tell of something that happened once or more than once but with a specific end, or it can indicate the beginning or end of a process. In general, the preterite tense is used for actions that took place over a clear period of time.

The verb endings for:

Pretérito perfecto simple

The negative form

The interrogative form

Note: The verb llegar is conjugated as a regular verb except for the 1^st person singular form where it has an orthographic deviation, i.e. there is the silent u after g (read: [je'ge]).

The negative form

The interrogative form

2. Neuter Gender in Spanish and the Neutral Article lo

The neutral article lo (artículo neutro) is placed before adjectives, possessive pronouns or ordinal numbers of masculine gender that are used instead of a noun in a sentence. The article lo can describe abstract or not clearly-defined objects (similar to “thing”), for example:

Moreover, lo can be used as a pronoun in the following cases:

• as a direct object referring to some idea, event or statement, for example:

  Tú sabes tocarlo, yo no lo sé.

  You know how to play it, I don’t know (how to play) it.

  Aquí está el libro, yo lo sé.

  Here is the book, I know it.

• when used as a nominative part of the predicate expressed by a noun or an adjective:

  Este alumno es aplicado, yo no lo soy.

  This student is diligent, I am not (a diligent student).

  ¿Eres mi amigo? Lo soy.

  Are you my friend? I am.

Exercises

I. Conjugate the verbs indicated below by the given person in Pretérito indefinido:

II. Put the verb given in brackets in an appropriate form of the preterite tense:

Nosotros (entrar) en el café. ¿Qué (comprar) Vd. en esta tienda? ¿Con quién (hablar) (tú) en el teatro? ¿Qué (contestar) Vds. a esta pregunta? Ella (preguntar) y yo (contestar) . Ayer (trabajar) hasta las diez. ¿(comprar) Vd. un sombrero nuevo? Ayer Miguel (hablar) en español con sus amigos en el restaurante, donde (él) (beber) mucho vino con ellos y (comer) comida española.

III. Translate into English:

Encontré a mi amigo y hablé con él. Él regresó de Madrid ayer y me contó muchas cosas interesantes. Miguel compró en España muchas cosas para sus hermanas, hermanos y amigos. — ¿Y qué compraste para tus padres? — le pregunté. No contestó nada. — ¿Por qué no contestas? — le pregunté. — Porque no puedo. — Ya comprendo, no compraste nada. — Sí, compré sombreros para ellos, pero ahora no me gustan y también compré vino español, pero lo bebieron mis amigos. — Y no contestaste para no decirme esto. — Lo siento, pero era difícil de decirlo. — Bueno, ¿y a qué hora llegaste ayer? — A las nueve de la tarde.

IV. Translate into Spanish:

I have a Spanish friend. I write letters to him in Spanish. When I met him in Madrid I spoke to him in Spanish. I like the Spanish language. My friend studies Russian. He says that the Russian language is very difficult. Yesterday I put the letters in the mailbox and now I don’t remember to whom I answered and to whom I didn’t. I have to write to everyone once again/again to everyone. In one of my letters I invited my friend to Moscow.