Job Discussion Forums

[Moore]

I teach in Madrid, and my students all make a similar mistake when I ask "What did you do at the weekend?": they tend to say answer "I was having dinner with my friends", "I was walking in the mountains", "I was in Barcelona" etc., ie the past continuous and not a suitable response to the question, of course they should say "I went to Barcelona, " I had dinner with my friends"

My problem is, that my students ask me how to say the verb "to be" in the past simple: the answer is "I was", but then if they said "I was in Madrid" then the native listener is expecting something else to happen, or it to be an answer to a question such as "Where were you when I phoned you?", so I have to tell them to use another verb and say "I stayed in Madrid" for example.

So my question is, is the sentence "I was in Madrid" the past continuous, or is it the past simple, or both?

[valley_girl]

"I was in Madrid" - simple past (or past simple)

I agree about the context, though. A native speaker would say "I went to Madrid" or "I stayed in Madrid".

[isanity]

The basic problem with 'be' is not with their tenses, it's with not listening to the question. "What did you do" is asking for an action. Being is not an action; the action is going or staying.

[Justin Trullinger]

Common problem with Spanish speakers-

I think part of the reason is that in Spanish, one past tense of "be" (ser) is the same as the past of "go." (ir) (fui, fue, fuiste, etc...)

So they are used to these being the same, and as a result frequently use "was" or "were" when "went" would be appropriate.

Possible complicated by the fact that there are two verbs in Spanish, "ser" and "estar" that approximately translate as "to be." Some past tenses of "estar," (Estuve or estaba) actually work in the contexts you mention.

It's a problem of translation happening too literally.


Best,
Justin

[tedkarma]

Excellent insight, Justin!

[Glenski]

All good answers. Combine them to explain to your students when you ask that "to do" question, that they must answer with some action.

What did you do last weekend?
I was in Madrid.
Ok, what did you DO in Madrid? (Use this follow-up until it drives them crazy. Make it a humorous thing.)

[TheLongWayHome]

As Justin says, it's a translation problem. Try asking the question (What did you do at the weekend?) and having them respond without using be or go--there are plenty of other verbs they can use and it diverts them from direct translation (a bit).

[kingkristopher]

Good catch Justin,

It should also be noted that Spanish speakers generally have difficulty with the correct usage of the continuous (progressive) tenses in English since they are used differently in their language. In the present for example, the continuous is rarely used while the past imperfect in Spanish most closely relates to the past continuous in English.

OP, a basic understanding of Spanish will help you pick up on these (and other) common mistakes among Spanish speakers. If you don't already have such an understanding, basic Spanish classes would help(just make sure not to use that Spanish in the classroom ).

As one poster mentioned, try to focus on the action that was done. Continue with follow-up and concept-checking questions until you're satisfied that they've grasped the idea. Model the structure yourself. If a S says: "I was visiting my parents", Reply: "OH, you VISITED your parents, when DID you VISIT them? or DID you VISIT them on Saturday, DID you VISIT anyone else? etc.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

[Justin Trullinger]

It's interesting how first language tenses affect second language use.

I wonder if this is still true when you break out of the European languages, and the L1 and L2 are less closely related?

My experience is primarily with Spanish speakers, so I can't really say- but it's true that tense errors are a defining feature of Spanish natives speaking English- they all make the same ones.

Any comments on the present perfect?


Best,
Justin

[Justin Trullinger]

While I'm at it, do your students abuse the verb "to stay?"


J

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Justin Trullinger]

Continuous could be an aspect of many tenses, ie past, future, present...

But talk of tenses, aspects, voices, etc, would no doubt confuse my students, who are often confused enough as it is. It's relatively common short hand to refer to common verb structures as "tenses." Present continuous tense and so on... (Maybe this is becuase students get tense when you talk about them?)

Best,
Justin

[isanity]

You can either be a purist and insist that English has two tenses, or you can do some real world teaching. Not both.

[Stephen Jones]

[Justin Trullinger]