Clarification on the verb "soler"

Question

Cuál es la diferencia entre éstas oraciónes? Solía caminar por las calles. Caminaba por las calles.

Entiendo que "soler" quiere decir "used to, tended to..." Pero no puedo usar el imperfecto para decir la misma cosa? Gracias por su ayuda.

lo mismo/la misma; the 'cosa' isn't really needed. - Felixlynx, Apr 25, 2011

Answer 1

Cuál es la diferencia entre éstas oraciónes? Solía caminar por las calles. Caminaba por las calles.

"Caminaba" is vague: it could mean that someone was walking those streets at some point, or quite often. "Solía" removes all ambiguity.

Entiendo que "soler" quiere decir "used to, tended to..." Pero no puedo usar el imperfecto para decir la misma cosa? Gracias por su ayuda.

Imperfect aspect has two variants: habitual and non-habitual. The latter is divided into punctual and progressive. "Soler" is purely habitual, while imperfect tense can be many things.

Don´t know about the other guys Lazarus but that does not explain the difference to me clearly enough. - ian-hill, Apr 25, 2011

Nice and to the point. Excellent answer! - Izanoni1, Apr 25, 2011

Answer 2

Soler indicates that this was a routine, a customary or regular practice.

Caminaba, if not used to mean "was walking", also should indicate some activity that was performed frequently shouldn't it? - jeezzle, Apr 25, 2011

Yeah, it could be talking about a habitual past but it is ambiguous. Using soler clarifies this. - pescador1, Apr 25, 2011

Answer 3

So help me out too please.

What is the actual difference between:

Solía vivir en Londres.

Y

Vivía en Londres.

Gracias.

Answer 4

Pesta, what's up!

"Solía vivir en Londres/I used to live in London" and "I was used to living in London/Yo estaba acostumbrado a vivir en Londres" are most definitely not interchangeable.

Oh, I love a healthy debate. How about, "I usually lived in London" for "Solía" ? - pesta, Apr 26, 2011

Oramas, the exact meaning would then depend on the context the sentence was in. No? - NancyGrace, Apr 26, 2011

Answer 5

Solía vivir en Londres.

Y

Vivía en Londres.

The first is more like "I was used to living in London" or "I was accustomed to living in London"

The second is "I used to live in London"

Anyone care to agree/disagree?

If that is it pesta - then why not say. "Yo estaba acostumbrado a vivir en Londres." ? - ian-hill, Apr 25, 2011

I don't mean to answer for pesta, ian -- they are basically the same, but your example is a lot more unwieldy-- solía vivir is just a more elegant construction. - NancyGrace, Apr 25, 2011

pesta, just to be a stickler, I believe another definition of Vivía en Londres might also be just plain "(subject) lived in London". - NancyGrace, Apr 25, 2011

Well, being a student, I'm offering one perspective that I found useful. I don't think a perfect translation can be expected. - pesta, Apr 26, 2011

Very good, pesta, I agree. - NancyGrace, Apr 26, 2011

Answer 6

It helps if you think of "soler" as meaning "to be in the habit of" doing something. Then the difference between the two -- something done frequently or something in progress of being done like walking (using the imperfect tense caminaba) is more generic in description, but "soler" gives a bit more detail to the action.