"¿Qué tal el finde?" How to talk about your weekend in Spanish

¡Hola aventurero!

Monday morning. Someone at work, or in your Spanish class, smiles and asks: ¿Qué tal el finde?

And you say… Bien. You both nod, and that's the end of that 😅

If you've ever been asked what did you do this weekend in Spanish and frozen, this one's for you. The question itself is easy: ¿Qué hiciste el finde? The answer is where most learners get stuck, so that's what we're going to sort out.

Finde, by the way, is short for fin de semana. You'll hear it everywhere in Spain.

1The questions you'll hear

The Monday question comes in a few versions. They all want the same thing: a little story.

See the third one? Has hecho is a different past tense from hiciste. That's not a mistake. It's very Spain, and it's worth knowing why.

2Fui or he ido? The Spain twist

Teacher bit 🤓 In Spain, there are two past tenses for things you've finished doing:

• The preterite (fui, hice, vi) is for a time that's over and done: ayer, el sábado, el fin de semana pasado.
• The perfect (he ido, he hecho, he visto) is for a time that still feels like part of "now": hoy, esta semana, este fin de semana.

On a Monday, the weekend is right on the edge. So people in Spain often say este finde he ido… but el sábado fui… The time word decides.

Don't stress about it. Both are understood everywhere, and in most of Latin America people use the preterite for both. For the full picture, have a look at Spanish past tenses explained.

3Five past forms that cover most weekends

You don't need every verb in the past to talk about a weekend. You need a handful, and the most useful ones happen to be irregular. So learn these five on their own:

Here's a nice shortcut: fui is the past of both ir (to go) and ser (to be). So fui al cine means "I went to the cinema", and fue genial means "it was great". Same little word, two jobs 😉

Regular verbs are easier. -ar verbs end in -é (cené, descansé, paseé), and -er and -ir verbs end in -í (comí, salí, dormí).

4Say how it was

Before the details, people usually give a quick verdict. These are the ones you'll hear most in Spain:

Pasarlo + a word like bien or fatal is a very Spanish way to say how much you enjoyed something. The lo doesn't refer to anything in particular. It's just part of the expression.

5Turn it into a little story

If you want to say more than one thing, a few linking words put your weekend in order. That way it sounds like a story, not a shopping list 📖

Here's how it sounds on a Monday morning at the coffee machine:

Spot the time words: el sábado por la mañana goes with hicimos, while este finde goes with has hecho. And notice that both people end by asking back. That's what keeps a chat going, and there's more on it in why your Spanish conversations die after two lines.

6Get your Monday answer ready

1. 1

   On Sunday evening, pick your verdict

   Choose one, like Lo pasé genial, Bastante tranquilo or No hice gran cosa.

2. 2

   Add two details in order

   Use the past forms and a linking word, for example: El sábado fui al mercado y luego hice una tarta de queso. Say it out loud a few times.

3. 3

   Ask back on Monday

   After your answer, add ¿Y tú? ¿Qué has hecho este finde? Then listen for which past tense the other person uses 👂

Plans for next weekend need a different tense, and the easiest one is voy a + a verb. There's more on that in ir a + infinitive.

If you'd like everyday topics like this one laid out step by step, with speaking prompts, games and cheat sheets, have a look at my Roadmaps 🗺️

Now it's your turn 👀 What did you do last weekend? Tell me in two or three sentences, in Spanish if you can. Cuéntame in the comments!

Lucía · Linguist, translator, Spanish teacher and author of the Visual Spanish Grammar Book.
Come and learn Spanish with me and other aventureros like yourself at skool.com/learnspanish 🎉