Modal and stylistic uses of tenses

What it is

Spanish tenses do more than locate events in time. Very often they express an attitude: politeness, surprise, reproach, objection, modesty, or the distance of a journalist who cannot confirm a report. You already know the future and conditional of probability (Serán las diez). At C1 you need to recognise, and start to use, the other modal and stylistic values, because native speakers use them constantly and a literal "time" reading leads to misunderstandings.

How it works

When to use it

The present for vivid narration

The historical present makes past events feel immediate in history writing and documentaries: En 1810 estalla la revolución y los criollos toman el poder. In conversation, the narrative present does the same in anecdotes: Y va él y me dice que no piensa venir. Once you switch to the present, stay there for the whole sequence.

The imperfect of attitude

The imperfect presents something as not fully current, which makes it useful for softening and for expressing broken expectations:

• Quería pedirte un favor.I wanted to ask you a favour.politeness
• ¡Anda! ¿Tú no estabas en Lima?Hey! Weren't you in Lima?surprise
• ¡Y yo qué sabía!How was I supposed to know!excuse
• ¿No ibas a estudiar esta tarde?Weren't you going to study this afternoon?reproach
• Yo era el capitán y tú eras el pirata.I'm the captain and you're the pirate.children's game

The future and conditional of objection

The synthetic future concedes something about the present in order to object: Será muy simpático, pero a mí no me cae bien ("he may well be nice, but…"). The conditional does the same for the past: Sería muy listo, pero reprobó tres materias. This is not a prediction: pero almost always follows.

The future of command

Said with the right intonation, the future gives a firm order: Harás lo que te digo. It also appears in rules and commandments: No matarás.

The pluperfect of intention

Había pensado llamarte, pero se me hizo tarde presents a plan that never happened. With pensar or querer in the first person plural, it softens a proposal: Habíamos pensado que podríamos vernos el sábado.

The conditional of modesty and of rumour

Yo diría que… and Me atrevería a decir que… soften your own opinion. In the press, the conditional marks unconfirmed information: Según fuentes del ministerio, la ministra habría presentado su renuncia ("has reportedly resigned"). Style guides frown on it, but you will read it every day.

Contrasts and traps

• Será muy listo, pero… is an objection, not a prediction.
• Quería pedirte un favor is a polite request now, not a past wish; quise would mean "I tried".
• Reproach with ibas a: ¿No ibas a llamarme? = you said you would.
• A rumour is not a fact. If something is confirmed, use the indicative: ha dimitido.
• Don't mix tenses in a historical-present passage.

If you speak Portuguese

Several values transfer directly: Queria te pedir um favor, Você não ia estudar?, the make-believe eu era o capitão and the press conditional (o ministro teria renunciado → el ministro habría dimitido). The future of objection is less natural in Portuguese, where you would say Pode ser muito simpático, mas…: Spanish prefers Será muy simpático, pero… And because Brazilian speech rarely uses the synthetic future, you may hear será only as "will be": in Spanish, especially in Latin America, it is very often modal.

Practise