What tense to use for "I studied Spanish for 4 years"?

Question

Cuando yo encuentro hispanohablantes, yo quiero los dicen "I studied Spanish for 4 years in school. It's been years, and I forgot most of it."

I've been trying to figure out what the tenses would be for that statement. For estudiar, there was a definite start and stop to the time when I studied, and it seems different from a statement like "I used to walk on the beach all the time".

For olvidar, forgetting Spanish is something that happened very gradually over the years, with no start or stop at all.

What tenses or moods would I use for those two verbs?

Thanks!

and I think you need les rather than los because it is a verb of communication. - Politically_Correct1, Nov 30, 2011

"yo quiero *decirles que*...." ;) - Goldie_Miel, Nov 30, 2011

Answer 1

Well, you could easily avoid the problem by saying 'I have forgotten most of it', he olvidado mucho. So... "Estudié español por cuatro años, pero hace muchos años y he olvidado mucho."

Answer 2

Estudié español en la escuela durante 4 años, pero hace mucho tiempo, y lo había olvidado.

I have relearned all that I forgot,

That is why I am using the past perfect, as you had forgotten it but you remember now or you relearnt it.

Answer 3

Preterite

1) beacuse it had a start and finish - Politically_Correct1, Nov 30, 2011

2) this is more tricky and depends on how you view it but the "forgetting" if you will, seem to have came to fruition and is complete. - Politically_Correct1, Nov 30, 2011

Answer 4

¡Gracias por sus respuestas!

I didn't realize the preterite would work in that case. That makes it much easier.

emily8, that could work, but in this particular case I have relearned all that I forgot, so perhaps the preterite is best for that too.

How does this look?

• Estudié Español en la escuela por 4 años, pero hace mucho tiempo, y lo olvidé.

Don't forget to remember not to capitalize español. :) - Tosh, Nov 30, 2011

or you can use se me olvidó - it's just a handy way of making things not your fault je je - ie. it has become forgotten to you rather than you have forgotten :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 30, 2011