Use of Presente de Indicativo

Normalmente desayuno a las ocho

After having learned the verb forms in Presente de Indicativo, let’s talk about when exactly this tense can be applied.

The main use case of Presente is to tell about actions, that happen normally or with some frequency. This Spanish tense is similar to the English Present Simple.

Los leones comen carne – The lions eat meat

Yo vivo en Madrid – I live in Madrid

There can be also some time markers, that show when the action is performed.

Nosotros comemos a las tres — We eat at three

Veo películas por la noche — I watch movies at night

Miguel trabaja el sábado — Miguel works on Saturday

These examples refer to some sort of consistency or even a timetable.

In contrast, Spanish has another tense which shows that the action is being performed right now. It’s called Presente Continuo, but you will learn it later on.

You might have noticed, that English and Spanish Present tenses have much in common.

Unlike in English, though, in Spanish it’s possible to use Presente Simple to refer to future actions.

En verano yo viajo a España – In the summer I will travel to Spain

En marzo mis padres compran una casa nueva – In March my parents will buy a new house

Time markers

Learn and get used to the following time markers. They are extremely popular in everyday speech.

Frequency

siempre – always

Lucía siempre está preparada para la clase — Lucia is always ready for class

a menudo – often

Escribo mensajes a menudo – I often write messages

normalmente – usually

Normalmente escuchamos la música clásica – Usually we listen to classical music

a veces – sometimes

A veces canto en el coche – Sometimes I sing in the car

poco – little, seldom

raramente – rarely

Juan bebe my poco – Juan drinks seldom

Mis amigos cantan karaoke raramente — My friends sing karaoke rarely

Try it yourself:

I often watch Spanish movies

Sometimes we listen to the radio in the car

Usually, I read news on the Internet

The children always eat sweets

You call your friends very seldom

Days of the week

El lunes estudio inglés — On Monday I learn English

El domingo no trabajamos — We don’t work on Sunday

When it comes to a certain day of the week, you should always use the definite article “el” with no preposition.

el lunes – on Monday

el martes – on Tuesday

and even:

el fin de semana – at the weekend

Don’t say: en lunes or en el lunes

If you want to mention frequency with a day in plural (on Mondays), replace “el” with “los”, only.

los lunes – on Mondays

los jueves – on Thursdays

los fines de semana – at weekends

Los miércoles Álvaro practica deporte — On Wednesdays Alvaro does sports

Los sábados mi mamá prepara una cena rica — On Saturdays my mom cooks a delicious dinner

Spanish days of the week don’t have the plural form, except for sábados and domingos.

Los sábados practicamos yoga – On Saturdays we do yoga

Try it yourself:

On Thursday we work a lot

On Sunday Sara buys food in a supermarket

On Fridays you are always busy

On Saturdays we dance at a disco

Months and seasons

En agosto visito a mi abuela — In August I visit my granny

En verano hay muchos turistas en la playa — In the summer there are many tourists on the beach

With months and seasons you should only use the “en” preposition without any article.

en verano — in summer

en otoño — in fall

en invierno — in winter

en primavera — in spring

en mayo — in May

en noviembre — in November

en febrero — in February

en junio — in June

Don’t say: en el verano

Try it yourself:

In May we help our parents in the garden

There is always much work in fall

In the winter there is always much snow in the mountains

You will find all Spanish names for months in the next lesson.

Parts of the day

por la mañana — in the morning

por la tarde — in the afternoon

por la noche — in the (late) evening, at night

¿Lee usted periódicos por la mañana? — Do you read newspapers in the morning?

Por la tarde estoy muy ocupado — In the afternoon I’m very busy

No veo la tele por la noche — I don’t watch TV at night

You can also change these expressions into plural in order to emphasize frequency.

Por las mañanas tomo mucho café — In the mornings I drink much coffee

Por las noches descanso – At night(s) I take a rest

Try it yourself:

In the morning the children drink milk

We work in the afternoon

The shops are closed at night

Hours

La película termina a las seis — The movie ends at six

Cenamos a las ocho y media — We have dinner at half past eight

With hours use the “a” preposition followed by the feminine article “la” (for one hour only) and “las” (for the rest).

a la una – at one o’clock

a las tres — at three o’clock

a las cinco y media — at half past five

a las siete menos cuarto — at a quarter to seven

Try it yourself:

I have lunch at two o’clock

The class ends at 16:20

If you need to specify what part of the day you are talking about, use these expressions with the preposition “de”:

de la mañana – a.m., in the morning

de la tarde – p.m., in the afternoon

de la noche – in the evening, at night

Yo como a las dos de la tarde – I have lunch at two p.m.

Las tiendas abren a las ocho de la mañana – The shops open at 8 a.m.

Don’t say: a las ocho por la mañana

To build a question with time, do it this way:

¿A qué hora … ? – What time … ?

¿A qué hora comes? – What time do you have lunch?

¿A qué hora abren las tiendas? – What time do the shops open?

Try it yourself:

What time does the pharmacy open?

The pharmacy opens at ten

What time does the Spanish class end?

The Spanish class ends at six in the evening

Expressions with “cada”

cada – every

This adjective is used with almost every noun, but it never changes.

cada día — every day

cada lunes — every Monday

cada semana — every week

cada mes — every month

cada año — every year

Trabajamos cada día – We work every day

casi – almost

Leo artículos casi cada mañana – I read articles almost every morning

Try it yourself:

I learn French every day

We watch movies every Saturday

Every night Pablo calls Maria

Elena visits her granny almost every month

There is no explanation why some of these expressions need only an article, while the others are used with no article, but with a preposition, or require both of them. Just memorize these time markers as they are.

The full list of Spanish time markers is much longer than this one. You will, for sure, discover more of them throughout the course. All you need to do for now is to learn these ones. In combination with the verbs in Presente, they will make your speech really powerful.