Trabajo en un banco.
I work in a bank.
To ask and give information about actions which occur often or regularly, for example
‘What do you do at weekends?’, ‘I usually stay at home’, use the following forms:71.6.1 Present tense
This is by far the most common way of talking about actions which occur regularly.
To say how often one performs or others perform such actions and to ask similar
information of other people one will need words like normalmente‘normally’,
generalmente, por lo general‘generally’, ‘usually’, nunca‘never’, siempre‘always’,
a veces‘sometimes’, cada día, todos los días‘every day’, etc. To relate a series of
habitual actions, as in ‘First I read the paper, then I have dinner’, one needs to use
words such as primero‘first’, después, luego‘then’, ‘afterwards’. These words are
calledadverbs.^14 (p. 55)
¿Qué haces los fines de semana?
What do you do at weekends?
Por lo general me quedo en casa.
I usually stay at home.
¿Qué haces después de llegar a casa?
What do you do after you get home?
Primero leo el periódico, después ceno.
First I read the newspaper, then I have dinner.
To ask and state the exact time at which certain habitual actions are performed one
needs the Spanish equivalent of phrases such as ‘What time do you (normally) leave?’,
‘I (always) leave at 9.00’.
¿A qué hora sales normalmente?
What time do you normally leave?
Siempre salgo a las nueve.
I always leave at nine.
¿A qué hora te acuestas generalmente?
What time do you usually go to bed?
Nunca me acuesto antes de las 12.00.
I never go to bed before 12.00.17.1.1 (p. 72).
71.6.2 Present tense of soler+ infinitive
Soler, ‘to usually (do, etc.)’, ‘to be in the habit of’, is a radical-changing verb (o/ue),
which in the present tense can be used to ask and give information about actions which
occur regularly. Although less common than the previous form, it is used in both
formal and informal contexts.16.1.2.1 (p. 64); 26.2.2.1 (p. 135)
TALKING ABOUT THE PRESENT 71.6