Spanish for 'Instead of having'

Question

How would you translate the phrase 'instead of having' into spanish - it's referring to the past tense btw.

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Sep 28, 2015

Answer 1

Without more context your question is nearly impossible for me.

Instead of= en lugar de, or en vez de

Normally it will be followed by an infinitive that matches whatever phrase equates to how you are using having. Examples:

Instead of having meat for dinner, he had vegetables- En lugar de cenar carne, cenó vegetales

Instead of having gone to the store, he had gone to the park- En lugar de haber ido a la tienda, había ido al parque.

Maybe someone else will have better ideas.

Beautiful. - Daniela2041, Sep 28, 2015

Great answer, Bosque :) - FELIZ77, Sep 28, 2015

Thanks, Daniela and Feliz. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2015

Answer 2

But it does not apply only to past tense. It applies to the future tense too.