He dicho y dije... He hecho y hice... ¿ Cuál es la diferencia verdad ?

Question

Cuando aprendabo (?) Francés, el maestro dijo (?) que peude decir 'j'ai dit' o ' 'j'ai fait' y que es igual con 'I've said' y 'I said' o 'I've done' y 'I did'... pero creo hay posiblemente una diferecia en Español (como en Inglés). Si (oh my God, I think I may have just have invoked the dreaded 'past subjunctive' !!) diciera (???)... Si diciera 'he dicho', lo quería decir la misma cosa que 'dije'... Lo siento, I'm looking back on this & hardly even remember writing any of it... So much grammar !! Es possible que no hago decir nada !! Gravemente hace cuatro semanos aprendo Español, pero quisiera aprenderlo !!

Cuando aprendaba francés, el maestro me dijo ~ puedo decir ~ igual que ~ creo que ~ una diferencia ~ I dunno what your last sentence with the past subjunctive means, but I'd wager a penny that you don't need it there. - Helado_eclectico, Aug 24, 2014

Mind that I am a Spanish beginner too, so maybe I missed something. Also, maybe "Hace cuatro semanas que aprendo español". Awesome effort. - Helado_eclectico, Aug 24, 2014

Answer 1

There are many more tenses used in Spanish than in French. For example in spoken French there is really no equivalent to the Preterite (or simple past tense) in Spanish. Also in French as in English a pronoun must be used with the verb. I hope you continue to study Spanish and share you experience with it here.

J'ai lu ton profil et ce que tu as dit de ton experience avec français. Il me surprend que le français t'a aidé en Espagne. J'ai trouvé que les deux langues sont nettement différents. Mais en tout cas, bonne chance!

I meant to mention in my answer that I don't know a sentence of French. (I do know some random words that repeatedly show up in my crosswords, but that is about it). - bosquederoble, Aug 24, 2014

Answer 2

This a bit iffy but:

The English perfect and Spanish perfect match very well. Normally.

hice- I did, he hecho- I have done

The one exception that I know- In Spain, possibly Bolivia and Peru, the perfect may be used optionally for a very recent event- and very recent (just happened) frequently can go to perfect in European Spanish.

Esta mañana me he levantado/ me levanté a las seis. This morning I got up at six.

The first may be chosen in Spain- the rest of the Spanish speaking world most likely to my understanding might think that to be the wrong choice. Just as in English we would say "I have gotten up at six" is wrong.

This will be hard for any single given speaker not well versed in other areas to confirm, but I know some like Spanishskype.org might have the broader exposure to comment, so I would wait for more input.

There are plenty of places we could pick either in English, and that holds in Spanish as well.

I did it. I have done it.

Sí, tienes razón, Bosque, porque he aprendido español de México, y cuando estuve en España me dijeron que uso el pretérito mal cuando una cosa ha sucedido el mismo día. Me confundí mucho...todavía porque estoy acostumbrada de usar presente perfecto. - jennymanzana, Aug 24, 2014

That is nice confirmation. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 24, 2014

Answer 3

Jubilado.

As far as I know and remember French and Spanish have exactly the same tenses in all modes.

Sorry it took so long. They may, I haven't counted, but I think that more are "not" used in spoken French the passé simple in French exists and corresponds linguistically to the pretérito but is not used in conversation. - Jubilado, Aug 25, 2014

Yes, I think this is correct. While learning Frencg at school in Scotland our teacher taught us that we wouldn't need to be able to use the preterite (past historic, I think it's called for French), but only to be able to recognise its written form. - Faldaesque, Aug 25, 2014

When I was in school I was taught all the tenses and I remember they were even called almost the same. - chileno, Aug 25, 2014

Answer 4

Gracias y merci, todo el mundo... Si, français est util car (1) il y'a des similtudes de vocabulaire (los dias de la semana, par exemple) & (2) malgré que les verbes soient plus faciles en français, de toute façon le moyen d'y penser est semblable, e.g. 'pouvoir' se conduit comme 'poder' même si les mots ne sont pas précisement pareils - c'est vachement plus proche que 'to be able' quand même :-D Ainsi, 'devoir'/'debir' et pas mal d'autres.

Cependant, peut-être que la chose la plus choquante en ce qui concerne les verbes espagnols est qu'ils ne prennent pas 'ser' ou 'estar' pour former le passé comme en français (und Deutsch) pour de certains mots (aller, venir, naître, mourir etc). A moins espagnol soit plus facile pour ceci !! :-D

Pour moi français est plus simple mais qui sait a chaqu'un son point de vue. Et ici il faut ecrire en espagnol dorénavant. - Jubilado, Aug 25, 2014