The other week/la otra semana

Question

In English, to me, the other week lies exclusively in the past. It is non specific. It's more than one week ago as for that you'd say last week.

It seems to me that in Spanish, at least in Colombia, la otra semana is always in the future. It could even mean next week, exclusively.

Comments?

Answer 1

depends on the context. It can be past or future.

Past: La otra semana fui a el zoológico.

Future: La otra semana tengo que ir al médico.

next week = la semana próxima.

Thanks, I'll also check with my Colombian mates as I want to speak as do the people here. I only ever remember having heard la próxima semana and never la semana próxima... - afowen, Mar 7, 2011

Answer 2

It´s interesting that in Colombia it´s spoken that way. In Mexico "la otra semana" would be used mostly to differentiate one week from another, ie: "No estoy hablando de la semana que te vi, sino la otra."

Next week ...... La próxima semana / La semana que entra/viene

Last week ........ La semana pasada

Welcome to Locombia,.. (it's like Tijuana but with guaro instead of tequila :-)) - afowen, Mar 7, 2011