CHALLENGING GRAMMAR FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope you had an excellent weekend.

This week we look at some English grammar that can be challenging for Spanish speakers.

The English verb system is simpler than the Spanish verb system, but it can be challenging at times. For example, Spanish speakers may find it challenging to use the present perfect, a tense that exists in Spanish and is used in the same way in some cases, but in other cases it is used differently. 

Remember that the Present Perfect uses this form: HAS / HAVE past participle

First, like in Spanish, we can use the present perfect to talk about an experience in the past, without giving an exact date or time.

Example 1:
Matthew: Have you ever been to Egypt?
Janet: No, I have never been there. But I'd love to go someday.

We also use the present perfect to speak about events that just happened right now, in the very immediate past. This use also exists in Spanish. 

Example 2:
Fernando: Jack... how is the report going. Will you have it done by tomorrow?
Jack: I've just finished it now. I have to finish proofreading it, but I will send it to you within an hour.
Fernando: Excellent! That's great news. 

The following uses are different than in Spanish. In English we can use the present perfect with a time expression to indicate how long a situation or activity has been in progress. 

Example 3: I have been ill for the past three days.

This means that the person is still ill, and that the illness began 3 days ago. In Spanish we would use the structure "hace 3 días que estoy enfermo," and NOT "he estado enfermo durante los últimos 3 días," which is a direct translation from English. 
 
Another similar example is the present perfect used with "since" with a date in the past. 

Example 4: I have been ill since Friday.  

In Spanish we would say "estoy enfermo desde el viernes" NOT "he estado enfermo desde el viernes."

In 2018 we did a week-long series of Daily Vitamins about the present perfect that you may find helpful. You can find them at the following links: 

⇒ https://www.ziggurat.es/lecciones-ingles/present-perfect-change-over-time/3205/
⇒ https://www.ziggurat.es/lecciones-ingles/present-perfect-accomplishments/3206/
⇒ https://www.ziggurat.es/lecciones-ingles/present-perfect-uncompleted-expected-action/3207/
⇒ https://www.ziggurat.es/lecciones-ingles/present-perfect-multiple-actions-at-different-times/3208/
⇒ https://www.ziggurat.es/lecciones-ingles/present-perfect-duration-from-the-past-until-now/3209/

Tomorrow we'll talk about another challenging grammar point in English. 

Until then, all the best!

Would you like to know your level of English? You can access our free English level test at the following link: https://www.ziggurat.es/en/english-level-test-home/