The short version
- The weekend conversation happens twice: on Friday you talk about plans, on Monday about what you did.
- For plans, voy a + a verb covers almost everything. For what you did, learn a handful of past forms like fui, estuve and quedé as chunks.
- Have an answer for quiet weekends too, and always ask back.
If you learn to talk about your weekend in Spanish, you'll use it more than almost anything else. It comes up twice a week, every week. On Friday someone asks what you're doing. On Monday someone asks how it went.
That makes it one of the best conversations to prepare. The two versions use different tenses, but the words are mostly the same, and once you've got them ready you'll have something to say at work, at the school gate and at the bar for the rest of the year.
Here's what you need for both days.
The questions you'll hear
In Spain, the weekend is often shortened to el finde in casual conversation. You'll hear both.
| Spanish | English | When |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Qué vas a hacer este finde? | What are you doing this weekend? | Friday |
| ¿Tienes planes para el fin de semana? | Have you got plans for the weekend? | Friday |
| ¿Algún plan para el finde? | Any plans for the weekend? | Friday |
| ¿Qué tal el finde? | How was your weekend? | Monday |
| ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana? | What did you do at the weekend? | Monday |
| ¿Hiciste algo interesante? | Did you do anything interesting? | Monday |
Friday: talking about your plans
For plans, one structure does most of the work: voy a + a verb. Voy a ver a unos amigos (I'm going to see some friends). Voy a descansar (I'm going to have a rest).
A few other phrases make it sound more natural:
- He quedado con… (I've arranged to meet…): He quedado con mi hermana para comer.
- Si hace bueno… (If the weather's nice…): Si hace bueno, vamos a ir a la playa.
- Todavía no lo sé. (I don't know yet.)
- Nada especial. Descansar, sobre todo. (Nothing special. Resting, mostly.)
Quedar is one of the most useful verbs in Spain. It means to arrange to meet someone, and people use it all the time: ¿Quedamos el sábado? (Shall we meet up on Saturday?). There's more on voy a and other ways to talk about plans in talking about the future in Spanish.
Monday: what you did
This is where most learners get stuck, because you need the past tense. The good news is that you don't need to know the whole past tense to talk about a weekend. You need about ten forms, and you can learn them as chunks.
| Chunk | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| fui a… | I went to… | Fui al cine. |
| estuve… | I was / I spent time… | Estuve en casa de mis padres. |
| quedé con… | I met up with… | Quedé con unos compañeros. |
| me quedé en casa | I stayed at home | Me quedé en casa todo el domingo. |
| comí / cené… | I had lunch / dinner… | Cené en un sitio nuevo. |
| vi… | I saw / watched… | Vi una serie entera. |
| hice… | I did / made… | Hice una paella. |
| salí… | I went out… | Salí de tapas con amigos. |
| dormí… | I slept… | Dormí muchísimo. |
For "we", they become: fuimos, estuvimos, quedamos, comimos, vimos, hicimos, salimos.
In Spain you'll hear two past tenses on a Monday. With a specific day, like el sábado, people use the simple past: El sábado fui al cine. When they say este fin de semana, many people use the perfect instead: Este fin de semana he estado muy liado. Both will be understood. Start with the chunks above, and pick up he estado and he ido as you hear them. There's more on the past tenses in preterite vs imperfect, made simple.
Saying how it was
Before the details, people usually say how the weekend was in a word or two. These are the answers you'll hear most:
- Muy bien, la verdad. (Really good, actually.)
- Genial. (Great.)
- Tranquilo. (Quiet.)
- Se me pasó volando. (It flew by.)
- Un rollo. (A drag.)
- Agotador. (Exhausting.)
Then add one or two details. Here's how an answer builds up:
- Muy bien.Really good.
- Muy bien. El sábado fui a la sierra con unos amigos.Really good. On Saturday I went to the mountains with some friends.
- Muy bien. El sábado fui a la sierra con unos amigos. Hicimos una ruta de cuatro horas.Really good. On Saturday I went to the mountains with some friends. We did a four-hour walk.
- Muy bien. El sábado fui a la sierra con unos amigos. Hicimos una ruta de cuatro horas y el domingo no me podía mover.Really good. On Saturday I went to the mountains with some friends. We did a four-hour walk, and on Sunday I couldn't move.
That last bit uses a different past tense, podía, for how you were feeling. You don't need to understand why yet. Learn no me podía mover as a chunk, because it's a good line to finish on.
When you did nothing
Plenty of weekends are quiet, and that's where learners tend to say nada and stop. A quiet weekend still makes a good answer if you say what "nothing" looked like.
Always ask back. ¿Y tú? or ¿Y tú, qué tal? hands the conversation over, gives you time to breathe, and usually gets you a story to react to.
Practise it every week
The weekend is the one topic that gives you new material every week, which makes it perfect for regular practice.
Every Friday, record a 30-second voice note in Spanish about your plans: Este finde voy a… Every Monday, record another about what you actually did: El sábado fui… Don't write it first. Just talk, then listen back. After a month you'll have eight recordings, and you'll be able to hear how much more easily the Monday ones come out. Comparing what you planned with what you did also gives you something funny to say now and then.
If you're doing hobbies on your weekend, how to talk about your hobbies in Spanish has more words for the details.
Answering ¿Qué tal el finde? with just bien.
Add one detail: Bien, fui al cine el sábado.
Using the present tense for Monday's answer: Voy al cine.
Use a past chunk: Fui al cine.
Trying to learn every past tense form before you talk about your weekend.
Learn the ten or so forms you'll actually use as chunks.
Saying nada when you had a quiet weekend.
Say what nothing looked like: Estuve en casa viendo series.
Recap
- You'll have this conversation twice a week: plans on Friday, what you did on Monday.
- Use voy a + a verb for plans, and learn he quedado con.
- Learn about ten past tense forms as chunks: fui, estuve, quedé, hice.
- Say how it was, then add one or two details.
- For quiet weekends, describe what nothing looked like, then ask back.
The weekend is one of the themes in 100 Spanish Conversations, with the words, chunks and full conversation ready to practise out loud. Once you've recorded your Monday voice note, share it in the Skool community. Other members post theirs too, so you'll get plenty of practice replying.
Leeroy studied Spanish for years before moving to Spain and finding he couldn't hold a conversation. He built Basically Spanish around the method that fixed it. Questions? leeroy@basicallyspanish.com