«Yo que tú me lo pensaba»: por qué ignorar el condicional (y el paso del tiempo)

Abstract

Abstract In this article, I will seek to explain a very widespread phenomenon in colloquial Spanish: the use of the imperfect (andaba) in contexts for which, in a more formal register, it would be preferable to use the so-called condicional (andaría). An example is «Yo que tú me lo pensaba» (meaning If I were you, I would think about it) instead of «Yo que tú me lo pensaría». To this aim, this paper will sketch out a semantic characterization of the Spanish simple tenses that does not build on the idea of a timeline or time axis, and that therefore does not include notions such as past, present or future or even anteriority, posteriority or simultaneity. As will be shown, this characterization allows a simple and intuitive explanation of the aforementioned phenomenon.