Used to do soemthing

Question

What is equivalent of used to in Spanish.

For example, When i was in college i used to go to movies with friends.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

And i am convinced that it imperfect can be used, but Txelis abvoe has recommended use of verb "soler", what is your opinion about that.

"Soler" is used for "usually" or "normally".

Suelo dormir mucho los fines de semana. I usually/normally sleep a lot on the weekends.

But as Annie pointed out in a comment above, "soler" in the imperfect tense means "used to":

Solía dormir mucho los fines de semana. I used to sleep a lot on the weekends.

Yes, I agree, I think it is much more of a stress of the repeat action than just using the imperfect. As you say ' usually' . Y como estas? - annierats, Aug 7, 2015

Miss you! - Jubilado, Apr 9, 2016

Answer 2

It seems that used to is expressed using the Imperfecto (Past - Continuous) This tense expresses actions or a state of being in the past that was ongoing The action(s) in the past will have:-

a) taken place repeatedly b) been ongoing / continuous c) occurred over a period of unspecified time

Por Ejemplo :-

IR a) Íbamos al playa cada día durante el vacaciones.- We used to go………….

IR b) Iban a la discoteca los sábados - They used to go………..

SER c) Cuando eras joven no te gustabas las - When you were/used to be....

SER d)En el pasado era un pueblo pequeño de pescadores - In the past it used to be…

I hope this makes sense to you.

Hi, Thaanks for your answer. - Pravin_101, Aug 7, 2015

And i am convinced that it imperfect can be used, but Txelis abvoe has recommended use of verb "soler", what is your opinion about that. - Pravin_101, Aug 7, 2015

Solíamos ir a la playa cada día durante los vacaciones. In this instance it comes out much the same as iríamos, but you can translate it as: We usually used to go to thebeach every day.. - annierats, Aug 7, 2015

I've always thought of suelo as usually however Txelis is much more knowledgeable than I could ever hope to be so maybe it's just another way of saying the same thing. Perhaps Txelis could elaborate? - tomasdeAlba, Aug 7, 2015

...and I seem to have lost the word verduras at the end of SER c)....in my original answer - tomasdeAlba, Aug 7, 2015

Pravin. you can use the inperfect tense with this pourpose as ThomasdeAlba sayis , but the context must be clear - 000a35ff, Aug 7, 2015

an imperfect tense to use as soler needs an explanation about the duration of the event you are refering to. - 000a35ff, Aug 7, 2015

nosotros ibamos a la playa CADA DÍA. Nosotros solíamos ir a la playa . if we dont say cada día in the last example we dont know how often it was , but it's clear that it was an habit  - 000a35ff, Aug 7, 2015

Answer 3

My understanding is you use the imperfect tense, thus, for example:

• Cuando era estudiante iba al cine con amigos...

It might help clarify meaning if you add an indication of frequency, e.g. de vez en cuando / a menudo / con frecuencia etc...

solía is used and also "iba siempre" - chileno, Aug 7, 2015

Miss you! - Jubilado, Apr 9, 2016

Answer 4

Use to can be translated as soler. I use to . Yo suelo +( infinitive) I use to go. Yo suelo ir. I use to eat vegetables. Suelo comer vegetales/verdura.

When i was in college i used to go to movies with friends..

Cuando estaba en el colegio SOLÍA ir al cine con los amigos.

'Soler' is handy, but doesn't 'yo suelo ir' = 'I usually go' / 'I'm in the habit of going', i.e. present tense ? :-) - Faldaesque, Aug 7, 2015

Yes, Falda, but solía, in the imperfect is ' used to'. - annierats, Aug 7, 2015

A common error of Spanish speakers is to convert "I used to do it"=solía hacerlo to "I use to do it"=suelo hacerlo for the present, instead of "I usually do it" which is what I would choose for suelo hacerlo. ;) - bosquederoble, Aug 7, 2015

They treat the "used" as simple past and convert it to "use" for the present. Until they learn that doesn't work that way. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 7, 2015

Bosque. i can be wrong but , "i used to" in English is used to refer to actions, habits, or states, just the same way that in Spanish we use the verb soler. may be that in a present tense it doesn't work in English as in Spanish. - 000a35ff, Aug 7, 2015

The reason that 'I use to do it' doesn't exist in English is because, when spoken, it sounds identical to 'I used to do it' because the D + T merge... ;-) - Faldaesque, Aug 7, 2015

Hence, it has to be 'I usually do it' or something similar... ;-) - Faldaesque, Aug 7, 2015

it's clear. i used to . yo solía. i usually yo generalmente/habitualmente/suelo... isn't it? - 000a35ff, Aug 7, 2015

Aye, just don't say 'I use to...' because folk will hear 'I useD to...' & assume you're talking about the past... ;-) - Faldaesque, Aug 7, 2015

Answer 5

In California Spanish which is mainly Mexican. You hardly ever see or hear the verb "soler" being used. For present tense we say "Acostumbro a-----(whatever)" . Or we can say "Tengo la costumbre de--------(whatever)"

I checked both of these out in my Larousse Spanish/English dictionary and Voila, there they were.

For the past tense, we use "el imperfecto" Años atrás hablaba con acento español, pero ya no.

Years ago I used to speak with a Spanish accent, but no longer.

Gracias amiga. - ray76, Aug 8, 2015

Answer 6

Any time you used to do something you can use the imperfect past tense.

http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/soler-in-the-imperfect-vs-just-the-imperfect.851147/ - bosquederoble, Aug 7, 2015