Definition of Past Simple

All languages ​​have a grammatical structure, a set of rules that explain the correct use by the speakers, as well as in their app written.

The grammar from Spanish (also called Castilian by some) is really complex. Proof of this is the difficulty foreigners have to use the language correctly, especially verbs.

Verbs are words that designate actions, feelings or regularities of nature. Verbs can be used in many ways. This is what is called verb conjugation. The same verb acquires different forms, since the actions it describes can refer to the present, the past or the future.

The past simple is a verb form that has a very specific use. One of the problems that it incorporates is the way of naming it, using different terms, depending on the country where it is studied. The past simple is also called preterite indefinite or past perfect simple. These differences in nomenclature cause confusion among students of Spanish.

Let's take the example of verb to write

. In its mode of the past simple in the indicative mode it would be as follows: I wrote, you wrote, he wrote, we wrote, you wrote and they wrote. It is appreciated that in its use we will refer to an action already completed: last week I wrote a letter to me mother. This is the meaning of the simple past. Problems appear when we want to talk about the past, but referring to an action that still belongs to the present. In these cases the past perfect is used (also called the compound past perfect). If I say: This morning I wrote a letter to my mother, it is an action from the past (it has already happened) but it still affects the present (I mean today and it has not yet finished).

The past simple and the past perfect are frequently confused. If I affirm: Yesterday I bought one novel Of adventure, we are making a mistake, because we should say: Yesterday I bought an adventure novel. This type of confusion is very common and in the case of the Spanish language it is especially so, since each country has its variants, even with regard to the uses of verbs. An Argentine says the following in an exclamatory context: what do you say to me? And a Spaniard will say: what do you say to me?

The Spanish language has a verbal structure that is not exactly simple. There are non-personal forms of verbs, modes, regular and irregular verbs, etc. The past simple is a verb form and is not, as we have seen, as simple as it seems.

Themes in Past Simple