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Present Tense/Simple Past Confusion

 

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  #1  
Old December 29, 2022, 06:21 AM
lizaann lizaann is offline
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Present Tense/Simple Past Confusion

I am having a difficult time memorizing simple-past endings, and now have to deal with this:

Live
vivo
vives
vive
vivimos
vivís
viven

viví
viviste
vivió
vivimos
vivisteis
vivieron

How can you tell what is meant, when a present-tense conjugation is the same as a simple-past conjugation?
   
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  #2  
Old December 29, 2022, 07:32 AM
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poli poli is offline
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Unfortunately context the only way to differentiate the present and preterit in this case. Often the tense is clarified with a word like ayer Ayer buscamos el libro.
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Old December 29, 2022, 02:08 PM
lizaann lizaann is offline
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Thanks for the help poli.
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Old December 29, 2022, 09:31 PM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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I agree with Poli: context is everything.
And don't try too hard to memorize; if you practice a lot, read a lot and listen a lot, conjugation will come to you naturally.
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