Soler in the imperfect vs. imperfect tense?

Question

I've been wondering this for a bit of awhile. As I understand it "soler" is used to describe things you usually do, or in the past things you used to do. Can someone tell me, then, if there a difference in these two sentences?

Solía trabajar por la noche.

Trabajaba por la noche.

Do they both mean the exact same thing, that I used to regularly work nights? Or at least could they?

I bet you don't get an answer that "tranlates to English. - ian-hill, Apr 29, 2011

Yeah you're probably right, just wanted to see if the meanings of the verbs were the same - TheSilentHero, Apr 29, 2011

Answer 1

The idea is pretty simple if you know what imperfective aspect is, but coming from English I can understand the problem.

Imperfect does not provide information about beginning or end, but does not imply that these boundaries do not exist either; it simply does not inform you about them. Events described by imperfect can be as long as a few milliseconds or last forever, but the boundaries of the event are not provided. Imperfect can be a single event, a recurring event, and/or a frequent event.

"Soler" is only used for frequent recurring events. Period. While soler is imperfective, not all imperfective situations can be expressed with "soler".

Solía trabajar por la noche.

He used to work at night, i.e. regularly, most working nights.

Trabajaba por la noche.

It could be:

• One particular night, without specifying which one
• Some nights
• Regularly, most working nights.

So how does one remove their English brain and replace it with a Spanish one. - 0074b507, Apr 29, 2011

Answer 2

Trabajaba por la noche = siempre trabajaba por la noche

Solía trabajar por la noche = casi siempre trabajaba por la noche

Aunque también se pueden usar indistintamente...

Greetings from Spain!

I see. Thanks! - TheSilentHero, Apr 29, 2011

I don't - try putting them into English please. - ian-hill, Apr 29, 2011

Answer 3

Ian said:

... try putting them into English please.

Trabajaba por la noche = I was working at night (always)

Solía trabajar por la noche = I usually worked at night (sometimes)

Thanks amiga - so where does "I used to work at night" fit in? - ian-hill, Apr 29, 2011

But remember: sometimes "trabajaba" y"solía trabajar" means the same thing! - carlomp, Apr 29, 2011

Answer 4

solía soler

Hold there feet to the fire, Ian. Soler has different meanings depending on whether it is in the present tense or the past tense.

Present tense=I usually work nights.

Past tense= I used to work nights (may Imply that you no longer work at night)

[that is an English implication of used to, not so much the Spanish one.]

Whether it matches the imperfect depends on context.

Answer 5

Thanks amiga - so where does "I used to work at night" fit in?

I'd say "I used to work at night" and "I was working nights" are the same -- "Trabajaba por la noche." - --Mariana--, Apr 29, 2011

The verb "soler" is used to say "It is/was a habit of mine" "I generally do/did this" - --Mariana--, Apr 29, 2011

Answer 6

This is a great article about "soler" and how to use it.