For a long time

Question

Is there some way to know which is the best translation for the phrase as there seem to be quite a few options?

Does it depend on the context or are all of these interchangeable?

durante mucho tiempo

por largo tiempo

por una buena temporada

por un buen rato

por un largo rato

por mucho tiempo

The particular sentence I was looking at was:

I used to like that dress for a long time.

context, is the way to use it. I would use( por una buena temporada) - Silvia, Aug 17, 2010

Answer 1

Hola,

Una opción podría ser, "ese vestido me gustó por mucho tiempo"...

Hope this helps.

That is a tricky translation... Fun fun fun. - LuisaGomezBartle, Aug 17, 2010

So Luisa, because it's 'used to' in the English I would be inclined to put gustar into the imperfect, why would you choose the preterite? Because it's a completed action? - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 17, 2010

I have always seen "used to" translated using the imperfect as well. That looks like "I liked that dress for a long time." Could you say "ese vestido me gustaba..." ? - NikkiLR, Aug 17, 2010

Tendríamos que cambiar la oración a algo como "ese vestido me gustaba antes". "Ese vestido me gustaba por mucho tiempo" me suena raro. Poetisa tiene la traducción correcta a mi opción. "En el pasado, ese vestido me gustó por mucho tiempo" se puede usar - LuisaGomezBartle, Aug 17, 2010

pero cambia la oración completamente. "used to" and "for a long time" is hard to convey in this case in one sentence... - LuisaGomezBartle, Aug 17, 2010

Totalmente de acuerdo, Luisa- obviamente hablamos el mismo lenguaje . Gracias por la excelente explicación. - Gekkosan, Aug 17, 2010

good teamwork guys :) - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 18, 2010

I still don't really get it but I guess it's just one of those tricky ones. ;p - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 18, 2010

Answer 2

You can add "hace mucho tiempo que..." to your list.

Thanx Mac, yes I'm sure there are quite a few more too lol it seems to be a very flexible phrase :) - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 17, 2010

Answer 3

Desde hace mucho tiempo is the most common to me, surprised no one has posted it.

Desde hace mucho tiempo me gustaba ese vestido

I like that you have used the imperfect myself but it doesn't seem to agree with the nativos :( I'm still trying to find out why they are using the preterite for a 'used to' 'emotion' in the past. - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 18, 2010

Answer 4

I usually hear the phrases with "rato" here in Mexico a lot. I wrote an e-mail to a pen pal in Spain using that word, and he told me that nobody says that there. I am guessing it just depends on the speaker and where they are from.

Answer 5

I have also seen por un largo periodo (de tiempo)

Answer 6

Sorry - I know where María is coming from, and in my opinion, none of the translations given so far really work in that context.

The original sentence is "I used to like that dress for a long time. (and I used to wear it, but now that I am married I think wearing that tight, skimpy thing is inappropriate, so I don't wear it anymore)".

So the translation needs to be in the context of something that I had and liked, not something that I wanted to have for a long time.

I guess Izanoni's option is the one that fits that context most closely.

I'd say: "Ese vestido me gustó por mucho tiempo", or "disfruté de ese vestido por mucho tiempo". Several of the phrases given also work when placed in this manner:

"Disfrute de ese vestido por una larga temporada", " ese vestido me gustó por largo tiempo".

"Un largo rato" may not work that well because "rato" generally implies minutes or hours, rather than days, weeks or months.

She is saying she always wanted it, not that she ever wore it, where are you getting that? She like it for a long time (and wished she could buy it but couldn't afford it) is what I got. - jeezzle, Aug 17, 2010

How can you stop liking something that you already own? That seems like it would mean that she can't wear it, but still likes it. To me anyway. Liking = longing when the liking is temporary, in my eyes. - jeezzle, Aug 17, 2010

so Gek, why is it gustó when the sentence is 'used to' - isn't that a trigger for the imperfect? - is it because it has the time phrase for a long time? Wouldn't it still be an emotional condition in the past rather than an action? - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 18, 2010

Answer 7

She is saying she always wanted it, not that she ever wore it, where are you getting that? She like it for a long time (and wished she could buy it but couldn't afford it) is what I got.

How can you stop liking something that you already own? That seems like it would mean that she can't wear it, but still likes it. To me anyway. Liking = longing when the liking is temporary, in my eyes. - jeezzle

No she's not. The original sentence is "I used to like that dress for a long time, before I changed my dressing style and thought it was no longer appropriate.", and was submitted by Luz in this thread.

As you see, context makes a big difference. The suggestions given thus far would in fact work nicely if we made the logical assumption that you made. However, I believe that the original sentence as written by Luz changes the context completely, and so a different translation is required.

I guess context matters but I don't think "I used to like that dress" (that I own) comes across as correct in English. - jeezzle, Aug 17, 2010

If you bought it, you like it. At least where I come from. Otherwise, if you don't like it, you sold it or something, you haven't kept it. - jeezzle, Aug 17, 2010

ja ja you're obviously not a woman lol - some women can love something at the shop, buy it, get it home and hate it je je - not me btw! - Kiwi-Girl, Aug 17, 2010

The original sentence was written by a woman who is a native English speaker. Who am I to argue? :-) - Gekkosan, Aug 17, 2010

Answer 8

Thanx everyone for your input

I think that's soooo funny that Jeezle can't understand how a woman could not like something she'd bought - ah the innocence lol