Speaking of the past

In English we like to keep things simple. So if we are talking of the past we can mostly get by with just one verb form e.g.

• Previously, I lived in England.
• I lived in England until 2004.
• This year, I lived in England.

Not so in Spanish.

• Antes, vivia en Inglaterra. Préterito imperfecto (I used to live)
• Vivi en Inglaterra hasta 2004. Préterito indefinido (I lived)
• Este año, he vivido en Inglaterra. Préterito perfecto ( I have lived)

and that is without touching on the other verb forms to express the past such as the préterito pluscuamperfecto - había vivido (I had lived)

and of course not mentioning the fact that in English we can say:-

• I lived
• You lived
• We lived
  
• They lived
• They all lived

In Spanish, the identifier is included with the verb so for each verb form you have variations for: yo; tú; él, ella, Ud.; nosotros; vosotros; ellos, ellas, Uds. That makes a staggering total of 18 different verbs just to talk about where or when someone lived.

I'm beginning to think that learning Spanish could take a little longer than the Hugo's 'Spanish in 3 Months' suggests.