vi la tele
/bi la tele/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "I watched tv" is expressed as vi la tele.
This is a statement used to say that you viewed programs on a television in the past. While English speakers use the verb "watch," Spanish speakers use the verb ver (to see) to express the act of watching television.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the first-person singular past tense of ver (to see/watch), the definite article la (the) and the clipped form of televisión (tele).
Which one should you use?
The phrase Me puse a ver la televisión is an informal way to say "I started to watch TV" in Spanish.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The phrase vi la tele is informal. Using la tele instead of la televisión is the most common way to express this in casual, everyday conversation.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb vi is the preterite (past tense) form of ver, used here to indicate a completed action in the past.
How do you pronounce it?
/bi la tele/
Did you know?
- In Spanish, saying me quedé viendo la tele implies that the person became hypnotized or lost track of time, rather than just choosing to watch a program.
- The definite article la in vi la tele descends from the Latin word illa, which was originally used as a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that one'.
- While vi la tele is a completed action, using the imperfect tense veía la tele describes a habitual past, such as 'I used to watch TV every day after school'.
Examples in context
- Vi la televisión esta mañana.I watched TV this morning.This sentence is useful for specifying when you watched the television using the form vi la tele.Tatoeba #6624367 by UsuarioX, translation #1880 by Swift
- Vi la televisión por la mañana.I watched TV in the morning.This sentence is useful for specifying the time of day you watched the television using the form vi la tele.Tatoeba #13709947 by ecorralest101, translation #13709936 by frpzzd
- Ayer vi la tele.I watched TV yesterday.This sentence is useful for indicating the specific day you watched the television using the form vi la tele.Tatoeba #764766 by darinmex, translation #257731 by CK
- Ayer vi televisión en mi habitación.Yesterday, I watched TV in my room.
- Anoche miré la televisión durante varias horas.Last night, I watched TV for several hours.
- Anoche vi la tele y me quedé hasta tarde.Last night, I watched TV and stayed up late.
- Me puse a ver la televisión y perdí la noción del tiempo.I started watching TV and lost track of time.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are talking about their evening at home.
- Daniel¿Qué hiciste anoche?What did you do last night?
- SofíaNo hice mucho, vi la tele.I didn't do much, I watched TV.
- Daniel¿Viste alguna película interesante?Did you watch any interesting movies?
- SofíaNo, solo vi la tele un rato.No, I only watched TV for a little while.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries la, tele, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
