CSG017

6

Complete Spanish Grammar

Other Uses of the Present Tense

The present is also used:

•    to tell facts considered unquestionable or universal truths.

Ginco mas quince son veinte.    Five plus fifteen is twenty.

•    to describe a past event, making it morę vivid. This is called the historical present.

En 1969 el primer hombre llega a la    Thefirst man gets to the moon in 1969.

luna.

•    to express hypothetical actions introduced by si.

Si llega el tren, salimos.    Ifthe train arriues, we leave.

•    to refer to possible consequences from an action that took place in the past with casi...

(almost) and por poco... (nearly).

Sacó la pistola y casi me mata.    He drew the gun and nearly killed (kills) me.

ejercicio

Un poco de historia, iVerdadero o falso?

_ 1. Napoleon invade Espańa en el siglo XIX.

_ 2. La mujer vota por primera vez en los Estados Unidos en 1929.

_ S. Mel Fisher finalmente descubre el buque “Atocha” cerca de Key West.

_ 4. Golon visita la Florida en 1495.

_ 5. Los hispanos colonizan gran parte de los Estados Unidos antes que los ingleses.

One Morę Use of the Present Tense

The present tense is used:

•    to express actions that began in the past and continue in the present with the construction hace + expression of time + que + verb in the present tense.

Hace tres anos que esperamos    We have heen waiting for an answerfor three

una respuesta.    years.

This construction has two other variations that carry the same meaning:

•    verb in the present tense + hace + expression of time

Esperamos una respuesta hace tres    We have heen waiting for an answerfor three

anos.    years.

•    verb in the present tense + desde hace + expression of time

Esperamos una respuesta desde hace    We have heen waiting for an answerfor three

tres anos.    years.