gramática preterito indefinido

Question

Am I correct in assuming that both English sentences mentioned have the same Spanish translation? 1. 30 years ago we met = Hace 30 años conocimos.

2.We have known each other for 30 years = Hace 30 años nos conocimos.

Answer 1

Am I correct in assuming that both English sentences mentioned have the same Spanish translation? 1. 30 years ago we met = Hace 30 años conocimos.

2.We have known each other for 30 years = Hace 30 años nos conocimos.

I assume you meant to have “nos” in the first sentence as well.

The answer in my opinion is no- for we met, you use the past, for have known- the present:

30 years ago we met = Hace 30 años que nos conocimos.

We have known each other for 30 years = Hace 30 años que nos conocemos.

(literally “it makes 30 years that we know each other").

But I can see the point that if you were using a -ir verb in the first person plural (we) where the past and present forms are the same that there could be confusion, unless you did something to make it clear.

Answer 2

Hello Mark,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

You asked:

Am I correct in assuming that both English sentences mentioned have the same Spanish translation? 1. 30 years ago we met = Hace 30 años conocimos. 2.We have known each other for 30 years = Hace 30 años nos conocimos.

I would say:

We have known each other for 30 years = Hace 30 (treinta) años que nos conocEmos.

This first sentence uses the present indicative tense. This is an idiomatic use of the present tense of a verb with hacer which is also in the present

We met 30 years ago = Nos conocímos hace treinta años.

This is the preterite (simple past) of the verb conocer combined with the use of hace to mean ago

I hope this helps

Answer 3

Though what bosquederoble said is true, and if you're trying to find one way to say both things, you should look no further, I'd like to add that, to distinguish one from the other (if you'd wish to do so), you could say for "we have known each other for 30 years" that "Nos conocemos desde hace 30 años". Another way to say that "30 years ago we met" is "Nos hemos conocido", which is used quite a lot, though I've never seen it in a book of Spanish grammar, so you should decide for yourself if you want to use it or not. Either way it's good to know about it so you'll understand it should you ever encounter it. ^^

"Nos conocemos desde hace 30 años"/"Nos hemos conocido...." both mean "we have known each other for 30 years" Present Perfect. To make it Past tense we must use "conocimos" - 005faa61, Dec 14, 2015