Presente Conversacional

Question

I have just come across the presente conversacional = se refiere a acciones pasadas, and that's the only explanation the text book gives plus example: Hablo con ella el martes y no me dice nada.

I don't know why I haven't seen this before, is it used generally and if so, how on earth do I know when to use this formation rather than what would seem to me to call for a past tense?

Could someone explain please.

Thanks

If you find that weird, have you ever encountered the "historical present tense" where you present history in the present rather than past tense? - 0074b507, Jan 23, 2012

Beginning Spanish books always use it to talk about the conquistadores to students that only know the present tense. - 0074b507, Jan 23, 2012

Yes, I looked up historical present in case there was a connection. - caza, Jan 23, 2012

This wasn't in a beginners book - it was in an intermediate one which is why I was surprised and yes we always did exercises in the present tense, but not now, yes wierd! - caza, Jan 23, 2012

great post Caza! - billygoat, Jan 23, 2012

Answer 1

Well, why not? The same construction exists in English, if you think about it. And you'd use it exactly the same way. The name "conversacional" gives a clue to its use: puts a past event in a present-tense narration. It's for telling stories:

Like this (italics section): Can you believe this? I went to Mary's house last Sunday, and you won't believe what I found out! Turns out Micheal has been two-timing on Rachel! I just about dropped dead! So here's she's telling me all the gory details, and I am like:'no way!'. As she says: 'you'd better believe it'. I mean, she's just dropping this bomb, and my eyes are about to pop out of their sockets".

In Spanish: ...¡Casi me da un patatús! Así que ella me cuenta todos estos detalles y estoy que '¡no me lo creo!'. Y ella me dice: 'pues velo creyendo'. Que te digo, ¡ella lanzando esta bomba, y mis ojos están que se me saltan de la cara!"

Very interesting and insightful - thanks G - patch, Jan 23, 2012

I get the idea but" hablo" just doesn't look right - the rest follows on OK. Thanks for examples. - caza, Jan 23, 2012

Estupendo, gekkosan! - annierats, Jan 23, 2012

It's for telling stories - gracias. - caza, Jan 23, 2012

great answer gekko! - billygoat, Jan 23, 2012

Gekkosan except that in your Like This segmen the English is all in the past tense. - gringojrf, Jan 23, 2012

@Gringo: I don't understand what you're saying. If it were in the past tense, it should say: She told me, She dropped, my eyes popped..... - Gekkosan, Jan 24, 2012

Answer 2

historical present tense

Ah well - there you go. It's also got a name in English, of course. :-) - Gekkosan, Jan 23, 2012

Had already had a look at that, but thanks, it's the "hablo" which threw me, see above, the rest of the phrase is OK - caza, Jan 23, 2012

Yes, it's quite used. For example: "¿Te lo puedes creer? ¡Voy ayer a comprar y me cobran 10 euros de más! ¡Y se lo digo al vendedor y me dice que de qué hablo!" - Cordobesa, Jan 23, 2012

All falling into place now, sometimes it takes a while to get a grasp of things and this was one of them. Thanks. - caza, Jan 23, 2012

¡De nada y ánimo con tu libro de texto! :) - Cordobesa, Jan 23, 2012

Answer 3

Two more examples giving the answers in present:

¡Qué casualidad! El mes pasado vemos a Marta en Málaga y no nos dice nada.

¡Fíjate! El pasado domingo me siento mal y voy rápidamente a un hospital

Would it be incorrect to use the past if I wanted to? And for the record I hate this particular text book!

Thank you

You can use the past, of course: "El mes pasado vimos a Marta en Málaga y no nos dijo nada", "El pasado domingo me sentí mal y fui rápidamente a un hospital" :) - Cordobesa, Jan 23, 2012

Thank goodness! I'm now going for a walk in the campo where I will probably bump into a local to talk to and they all use the present tense for everything anyway! - caza, Jan 23, 2012