The Imperfect as Conditonal?

Question

Hi guys, last time I was chatting with some native spanish speakers and I noticed that sometimes they use the Imperfect tens not in "the right way"; por ejemplo: Te comía todo. I was wondering what could it mean, because those guys had never seen each other before so the "past meaning" (I used to eat you or I ate you) doesn't make sense.

So I think it means: I would eat you. But wouldn't it be better if they would have said: Te comería todo? (The conditional).

Could anyone help me? I'm kinda confused.

Thanks in advance!

ButI'm not sure. - annierats, Aug 24, 2012

Were they gay? I think it may be a way of saying ' Did you have a good time', with some undertone. - annierats, Aug 24, 2012

Hah, by saying "guys" I ment 2 human beings, not exactly 2 bys (gays hah). But I have seen other verbs used in this way. That was just an example. - piotrr, Aug 24, 2012

Answer 1

Well, according to a grammar book that I have, there are cases in which the imperfect can be used in place of the conditional. I have also seen this done in a book I was reading with the verb poder, where the verb podía was used, when the past tense usage of the verb did not make sense. However, this book does point out that this construction is generally used in familiar speech.

Answer 2

La expresión que propones es una expresión idiomática (que no cumple con las reglas de la gramática) y por este motivo se sale de la norma. En cierto modo la expresión correcta debería ser "Te comería todo" (aunque seguiría manteniendo un valor connotativo)

That was what I thought too. Gets my vote! - annierats, Aug 25, 2012

Answer 3

My take on this is that they are saying "you ate it all". The word "comía" can be used in either the first or third person. The use of the reflexive pronoun "te" just emphasizes that it is "you" that did the eating, "you (yourself) ate everything".