10.10 Verbs that Say One Thing and Mean It Language Lesson

10.10 Verbs that Say One Thing and Mean It
Language & Culture Lessons
There are words that change their meaning when put into the preterite tense from the present. These words change BACK to
their original meaning when put in the imperfect. Sound confusing? Don't worry, as we'll only go through three verbs, and
master them in the present, preterite and imperfect tenses!
Language Lesson
Let’s review words that change their meaning when put into the preterite tense from the present:
Verb
conocer
Present Tense
conozco
(I know)
saber
sé
conocí
(I met)
supe
(I know)
tener
Preterite
tengo sed
(I’m thirsty)
(I found out)
tuve sed
(I got thirsty)
Imperfect
conocía
(I knew)
sabía
(I knew)
tenía sed
(I was thirsty)
As a refresher, here is tener conjugated in all its forms in the imperfect...
tenía
I had
tenías
you had
tenía
he/she/it had
teníamos
we had
tenían
they/you guys had
Por ejemplo:
Sabía como hacerlo cuando era niña, pero ahora no.
I knew how to do it when I was a girl, but not now.
Sabía como hacerlo cuando era niña, pero ahora no.
I knew how to do it when I was a girl, but not now.
Conocí a Jorge en abril.
I met George in April.
Los otros no tenían calor.
The others weren’t hot.
Sabía que iba a aprender mucho.
I knew that I was going to learn a lot.
WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO
In past lessons, you learned how to say, "I'm going to..." by using the verb Voy a ...
Voy a la escuela temprano.
I'm going to go to school early.
Él va a hacer ejercicio al gimnasio.
He is going to exercise at the gym.
Vamos a ver una película esta noche.
We are going to watch a movie tonight.
You can also use ir a to talk about what you were going to do by putting ir into the imperfect.
"I was going to ..." = Iba a ...
Él iba a hacer ejercicio al gimnasio, pero el carro no
empezó.
He was going to exercise at the gym, but the car didn't
start.
Iba a ir a la escuela temprano, pero me dormí demasiado I was going to go to school early, but I slept too late.
tarde.
Íbamos a ver una película esta noche, pero estaba lleno. We were going to watch a movie tonight, but it was full.
Culture
Simón Bolívar
Have you ever wondered how countries receive their names? In Latin America, there is always a practical or
historical connection. The root of both Mexico and Chile’s names can be found in their indigenous culture. Ecuador
received its name because it straddles the equator, while Venezuela was named after the Italian city of Venice.
Bolivia owes its name to a local hero Simon Bolivar, an American libertador liberator who helped several countries
in South America achieve independence from Spain. Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama have a
special place in their history books for this military man. He became the first President of Bolivia, a Dictator in Peru,
the first and third President of Venezuela, and the first President of Gran Colombia, the nation that dissolved into
what we know today as the countries of Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. In 1819 and 1825, he was
President of two countries simultaneously.
Simón Bolívar
Bolivar’s big dream was to make South America a powerful alliance of independent countries, capable of resisting
colonial interference, and willing to help each other to achieve democracy in the region. That way of thinking was the
first step to creating the Organization of American States in 1948, after almost 50 years of international meetings.
Currently-Venezuela´s President, Hugo Chávez is still passionately campaigning to continue Bolivar’s work. In 1999,
he managed to change the name of his country to “Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” after a public referendum. This
re-naming is part of what he calls the Bolivarian Revolution, a reform movement in Venezuela that is aimed at
redistributing wealth by funding better health care and education programs.
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