Did you ever...?

Question

I'm curious if there is a similar or direct way to say 'ever' in Spanish. In the sense of "Did you ever go see that movie?" or "Did you ever finish that project?".

I've know how to use 'alguna vez', but it seems to apply more to 'Have you ever...'. The difference being 'Have' implies no knowledge or reason to believe it has been done, and 'Did' implies that there was knowledge or reason to believe that it was a possibility or probability. For example:

"Have you ever gone to Spain?" would signifiy that I have no idea if the person had ever even considered going to Spain.

"Did you ever go to Spain?" gives the sense that I was aware that at some point a trip was considered, but I'm not sure if it was carried out.

• That's a good question with a very good example, I hope someone has the answer. - Yeser007 Mar 12, 2010

Answer 1

Hi solis, good question, welcome to the forum

Did you ever....I agree with you, the connotation is different from have you ever been...

In Spain mostly expressed with llegara + inf.:

Por cierto...¿al final fuiste a Paris?/ ¿llegaste a ir a Paris?

Oye...¿llegaste a terminar el proyecto?

Answer 2

Maybe we can use "En tu vida" for the word "ever" - because I don't think the word "ever" exists in Spanish. Just an idea.

Answer 3

"Have you ever gone to Spain?"

¿Has ido (alguna vez) a España?

:"Did you (ever) go to Spain?" (with the understanding that you intended to do so)

¿Fuiste a España?