Spanish: Intuitive use of different past tenses?

[SGP]

Does anyone know how to intuitively be able to use the different Spanish past tenses?
Because at times, they seem rather similar to me, y'know...

[StringerBell]

Did you by any change see this thread: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... ick+sexing. I find it particularly relevant to this topic.

I have the same issue with past tenses in Italian; it's probably the same thing going on for you in Spanish. For the past year, when I'm speaking Italian, I consistently choose the wrong past tense, and quite frequently my husband will correct me. It rarely makes sense to me why I should use the tense he says vs. the one I picked but over time he needs to correct me less and less. I stil don't always get it right, but I'm slowly starting to get a feel for when to use one past tense vs. another. I've been told recently that I make more mistakes when I trying to think about what's "right" as opposed to just going with my gut and saying whatever pops into mind.

Even though there technically are some rules about when to use a particular tense, I think most of the time it's really just about what sounds right. That's mainly how I choose what I say in my native language, and unfortunately it's something that takes a massive amount of exposure to the language and making (and subsequently getting corrected on) a million mistakes. I'm not an expert, though, perhaps there is some better method out there. If so, I'd love to know about it!

[SGP]

Did you by any change see this thread: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... ick+sexing. I find it particularly relevant to this topic.

This thread about birds, or (more precisely and fully literally) chickens and hens like those which live on a farm, I had not seen it before. But now I skimmed through it to get the idea. Yes, there is some connection.

I have the same issue with past tenses in Italian; it's probably the same thing going on for you in Spanish. For the past year, when I'm speaking Italian, I consistently choose the wrong past tense, and quite frequently my husband will correct me. It rarely makes sense to me why I should use the tense he says vs. the one I picked but over time he needs to correct me less and less. I stil don't always get it right, but I'm slowly starting to get a feel for when to use one past tense vs. another. I've been told recently that I make more mistakes when I trying to think about what's "right" as opposed to just going with my gut and saying whatever pops into mind.

Not a very big surprise I'd say, because... the Way Of Robotically Memorizing Grammar (hint: nobody's even implying that you did so) that some of us were used to would sometimes even block the process of learning. (Even if this seems like a contradiction at first, it isn't one at all.)

[Cavesa]

Native input (reading and listening) helps a lot. Especially extensive reading and listening. The catch: it takes hundred of hours. It is worth it, in my opinion. But most people underestimate the amount of time required and then complain "it doesn't work".

[SGP]

Native input (reading and listening) helps a lot. Especially extensive reading and listening. The catch: it takes hundred of hours. It is worth it, in my opinion. But most people underestimate the amount of time required and then complain "it doesn't work".

It is true that a great amount of comprehensible input can have some major effects.

Would there also be something that a, well, sort of, polyglot of my type could do?
I, for example, am someone who likes to be able to use several languages at least at the intermediate level.

In addition, there are also others (and they sometimes could be more than those on my learning list) that I am familiarizing myself with, while not even trying to actively learn.
So as you can see, both of this does take a certain share of the total time that is available for me.

But if there is a way to do so, I'd still like to have at least some "lite version immersion and exposure" (if these words aren't entirely incomprehensible) to what someone would need to have in order to intuitively know which Spanish tense to use.

[Cavesa]

Native input (reading and listening) helps a lot. Especially extensive reading and listening. The catch: it takes hundred of hours. It is worth it, in my opinion. But most people underestimate the amount of time required and then complain "it doesn't work".

It is true that a great amount of comprehensible input can have some major effects.

Would there also be something that a, well, sort of, polyglot of my type could do?
I, for example, am someone who likes to be able to use several languages at least at the intermediate level.

In addition, there are also others (and they sometimes could be more than those on my learning list) that I am familiarizing myself with, while not even trying to actively learn.
So as you can see, both of this does take a certain share of the total time that is available for me.

But if there is a way to do so, I'd still like to have at least some "lite version immersion and exposure" (if these words aren't entirely incomprehensible) to what someone would need to have in order to intuitively know which Spanish tense to use.

Well, I am all for combining the native input with lots of normal studying, unless you have already done that. Understanding the rules and doing lots of exercises helps a lot. A high quality grammar book is a wonderful too. When it comes to Spanish, some of the most popular resources around here is the series Gramatica de Uso del Espanol (books A, B, and C), or Kwiziq (an online paid tool for grammar drilling).

What has worked for me (as I've recently been told my grammar while speaking was good): Several coursebooks, several grammar books, kwiziq, lots and lots of tv series (several hundred hours), reading (only a few thousand pages so far, I need to improve).

[Iversen]

In my opinion it is useful to study grammars, but they should not be learnt by heart. When you close such a book you should just retain the main principles, but with the halo around these main principles that comes from reading about the details too. And when you know those few rules of thumb you will be better equipped to see what is relevant in the texts you read extensively or whatever source you use. And if you see examples of things you didn't actively try to remember then it is very likely that they will ring a bell somewhere, and then you can go back to your grammar to find out what the details were.

For instance, if we in general terms say that preterite is used for single events in the past and imperfect is used for repetitions and background information, then you can judge by yourself whether the examples you see in real life actually conform to these descriptions or not. My contention is that you learn faster by comparing new things to a known yardstick than by trying to measure things without a yardstick.

[Cavesa]

In my opinion it is useful to study grammars, but they should not be learnt by heart. When you close such a book you should just retain the main principles, but with the halo around these main principles that comes from reading about the details too. And when you know those few rules of thumb you will be better equipped to see what is relevant in the texts you read extensively or whatever source you use. And if you see examples of things you didn't actively try to remember then it is very likely that they will ring a bell somewhere, and then you can go back to your grammar to find out what the details were.

For instance, if we in general terms say that preterite is used for single events in the past and imperfect is used for repetitions and background information, then you can judge by yourself whether the examples you see in real life actually conform to these descriptions or not. My contention is that you learn faster by comparing new things to a known yardstick than by trying to measure things without a yardstick.

I really agree with this. Not trying to reinvent the wheel is important and much better for most learners than the very modern attitude of letting the student guess too much stuff, without having this knowledge "skeleton" to see where do the pieces of "meat" fit. Knowing the main principles with the "detail halo" is a very good way to describe it, as is usual in Iversen's writing.

I would also like to point out the enormous importance of the exercises. I find it extremely useful to try a new tense (both the forms and then the use) many times in easily correctable exercises, before using it in the wild. I can clearly feel which tenses I just automatically use more or less correctly, and which one I always use right. The first ones:observation. The second ones:observation, studying, exercises.