ABSTRACT
English-speakers tend to use the wrong tense in Spanish in sentences like ‘I have been learning Spanish for three years’, ‘it’s the fi rst time I’ve seen her for months’. Unlike English, European Spanish often uses-and Latin-American Spanish normally uses-the present tense to indicate events that are still in progress or are likely to recur: estudio español desde hace tres años ‘I’ve been learning Spanish for three years’ (not he estudiado . . .), desde que te conozco es la primera vez que te oigo decir algo que no debías (G. García Márquez, Col., dialogue) ‘it’s the fi rst time since I’ve known you that I’ve heard you say something that you shouldn’t have said’.
