My Neighbourhood
Mi barrio
After this lesson, you'll be able to:
- ✓Describe how a place used to be and how it is now (antes + imperfect, ahora + present)
- ✓Say what changed, using the preterite (construyeron, cerraron, abrieron)
- ✓Compare past and present with comparisons (más... que antes, mejor que antes)
- ✓Say whether changes are positive or negative
Grammar Focus
Essential grammar for this lesson with examples.
Antes + Imperfect vs Ahora + Present
To describe how a place used to be compared to how it is now, use the imperfect for the past and the present tense for the current situation. The words antes (before) and ahora (now) are your key signposts.
This pattern is very natural in Spanish when talking about changes in a neighbourhood, a town or any place:
Antes + [imperfect] - how things were
Ahora + [present] - how things are
You can also use ya no (no longer) to show that something has stopped being true: "Ya no hay mercado" (There's no longer a market).
Examples:
Preterite for Specific Changes
The imperfect describes how things were and the present describes how things are. The preterite tells us what changed: the specific, completed events that transformed the place.
Common verbs for describing changes in the preterite:
- construyeron (they built)
- demolieron (they demolished)
- abrieron (they opened)
- cerraron (they closed)
- cambió (it changed)
- mejoró (it improved)
- empeoró (it got worse)
The "they" form (construyeron, abrieron...) is often used without saying who "they" are - just like "they built a new road" in English.
Examples:
Comparisons for Before and After
To compare how a place was with how it is now, use last week's comparisons with antes:
- más + adjective + que antes - more [adjective] than before
- menos + adjective + que antes - less [adjective] than before
- tan + adjective + como antes - as [adjective] as before
You can also use mejor (better) and peor (worse) for overall judgements.
Use estar when you talk about a change in condition ("las calles están más limpias"), and ser for what something is like ("el barrio es más moderno").
Examples:
Había vs Hay - Existence Then and Now
The verb haber gives you "there is / there are" and is essential for describing what a place has or had:
- hay - there is / there are (present)
- había - there was / there were (imperfect - how things were)
- hubo - there was / there were (preterite - a specific event)
For describing a place, you will mostly use había (how it was) and hay (how it is now). Use hubo only for single events: "Hubo una fiesta en la plaza" (There was a party in the square).
Examples:
Combining All Three in a Paragraph
Now let's put everything together. A natural description of how a place changed uses all three elements:
1. Imperfect - how things were ("Antes era...", "Había...")
2. Preterite - what changed ("Construyeron...", "Abrieron...")
3. Present + comparisons - how things are now ("Ahora es más...")
This gives you a clear before -> what changed -> after structure.
Examples:
Saying Whether a Change Is Good or Bad
When you describe change, people will want to know what you think of it. These expressions help you give a balanced opinion:
- lo bueno es que... - the good thing is that...
- lo malo es que... - the bad thing is that...
- para bien o para mal - for better or worse
- ya no es como antes - it isn't like it used to be
- echo de menos... - I miss... (in Latin America you'll often hear extraño...)
Examples:
Conversation Example
Ana and Pablo are walking through the neighbourhood in Madrid where Pablo grew up. Pablo describes how it has changed over the years, comparing what it used to be like with what it is like now.
🌍 Changing Neighbourhoods in Spain and Latin America
Many Spanish-speaking cities have changed dramatically in recent decades. In Madrid, central barrios like Malasaña and Lavapiés were once traditional working-class areas full of small family shops. Today they are fashionable places with cafés, bars and tourist flats, and many long-time residents complain that rents have become impossible. In Colombia, Medellín is perhaps the most famous example of transformation. In the 1990s it was known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Thanks to big investment in public transport (including cable cars linking hillside barrios to the metro), libraries, parks and community spaces, it became a model of urban innovation. In Mexico City, neighbourhoods like La Roma and La Condesa have gone through a similar process to Malasaña: once quiet residential barrios with local markets, they are now full of international restaurants and boutique hotels. Long-time residents often have mixed feelings - the streets are safer and better kept, but prices have risen sharply and the traditional character of the barrio has changed. These changes raise questions that Spanish speakers often discuss: Is modernisation always progress? Who benefits? And how can a city grow while keeping its "vida de barrio" (neighbourhood life) - the corner shop, the market, and neighbours who greet each other in the street?