This lesson covers the topic of how to use the present tense and future tense in Spanish with Spanish verbs. I am always on the lookout for learning-Spanish tips to share with my customers and subscribers of my newsletter. There’s something that I am beginning to notice more and more while living here in Colombia. It’s something that I notice native Spanish speakers do that English speakers usually don’t do when speaking Spanish (or English). It is something that separates those that speak conversational Spanish (or even fluent Spanish) from those that speak Spanish “like a native.”
Do you know what it is?
Well, Spanish speakers tend to use the present tense where English speakers would use the future tense. Let me give you some examples.
Last week I took a short weekend trip to the Colombian coastal city and stayed at a hotel. When I returned from the beach and went to “mi habitación” after the “muchacha” had finished cleaning my room, I noticed that she failed to leave any “papel de baño” or “papel higiénico.”
So I called the front desk and told the “señora” that answers the phone that there was no “papel higiénico en mi baño.” Her response was “ya se lo mando.”
Literally, that means “already I send it to you.”
I resisted the temptation of responding with “if you have already sent it to me, then it certainly isn’t here yet.” And I simply responded with “gracias señora.” Notice that she said “ya se lo mando.” A closer translation than the literal “already I send it to you” is “I am sending it to you now.”
“Pero mi punto es que” she did NOT use the future tense and say “ya se lo mandaré.” (I will send it to you now)
And this wasn’t an isolated incident of a native Spanish speaker using the present tense instead of the future tense. When I am on the phone here speaking to someone before hanging up the phone, the person may say “te llamo.” Literally, it means “I call you.” But in English, we would say “I’ll call you.”