The meaning of soler

Question

I am confused about the word of the day, "soler". If in fact it means "to be used to; to be accustomed to, to be in the habit of" then the translations seem wrong. <br/> Estoy confundido sobre la palabra del día, "soler". Si en verdad significa "estar acostumbrado de", entonces las traducciones parecen incorrectos.

1. Solía ir todos los inviernos a Colorado para esquiar. <br/> I used to go to Colorado every winter to ski. <br/> Shouldn't this mean: "I am used to going every winter to Colorado to ski"?

2. Suele llamarme cada mañana a las nueve. <br/> She usually calls me every morning at nine o'clock. <br/> Shouldn't this mean: "She is in the habit of calling me every morning at 9"?

P.S. How the heck to I get line breaks to work?

Good question - ian-hill, Feb 21, 2012

You can try using html marking but it doesn't work well with lists here :-b - Lector_Constante, Feb 21, 2012

Oh, I saw an instance of soler="practices, makes a practice of" which comes out like "She makes a practice of calling me each morning..." - Lector_Constante, Feb 21, 2012

Answer 1

In "I used to go " used is a past tense, and it expresses a contrast between the past and the present. It refers to what you did in the past ( habits, beliefs ...) but no longer do in the present. If someone tells you he used to smoke, he has given up smoking. And I remember our English professor warning us that we'd better think twice before telling a lady that she used to be pretty. It's not exactly a compliment.

By the way, solía is a past tense too.

Oops! I failed to notice that solía is past imperfect. So yo solía should mean: "I was used to" or "I was in the habit of". - Qwertie, Feb 21, 2012

Or you could even translate "yo solía ir a Colorado" as "I used to be used to going to Colorado", haha (which highlights the silliness of English, not español.) - Qwertie, Feb 21, 2012

Each and every language has its own quirks and peculiarities, but we tend to spot them first in someone else's. ;-) - Castor77, Feb 22, 2012

Answer 2

Antes iba a Colorado. I used to go to Colorado. Estoy jubilado pero trabajaba en la construción. I am retired but I used to work in the building trade. now for soler: Suelo beber dos tasas de té despues el desayuno. I usually drink two cups of tea after my breakfast. Suele cantar en el baño. He/she usually sings in the bath. Solemos comer fuera los sabados. We usually eat out on saturdays. Solia sacar al perro a las diez en punto cada noche. I usually took the dog out at ten o'clock on the dot every night. O f course with the last example you could also say "Sacaba al perro" rather than "Solia· they are both imperfecto.

Answer 3

So, for the word of the day (soler), shouldn't we use it in the present tense?

It is mainly used in the present indacative but it can be used in all tenses and moods exept the future and conditional. - kenwilliams, Feb 21, 2012

Are you sure Ken? Yo solería conducir mi coche de oro si sería bastante rico. (*?) - Qwertie, Feb 21, 2012

Yes I am sure just checked my verbs book it says not in use, your sentence should be in the imperfect subjunctive, soliera or soliese. - kenwilliams, Feb 21, 2012

Yes, you can use "soler" in the present tense, "Suelo ir al cine todos los días". Ken is right, the sentence "Yo solería conducir..." isn't correct. I would say: "Conduciría habitualmente mi coche de oro si fuera bastante..." (soliera can't be used here) - Cordobesa, Feb 22, 2012

Thank you all! - rac1, Feb 22, 2012

Answer 4

To me, I used to go to Colorado means that "I used" to go there, but I don't anymore. "She usually" calls me impliest that she will continue to call most of the time.