Table of Contents
In English one can say “do – done, write – written”, where “done” and “written” are past tense participles. In Spanish regular past tense participles are formed by changing a verb’s ending to:
-ADO for –AR verbs,
-IDO for –ER and –IR verbs.
Pasar – to pass, Pasado – passed
Comer – to eat, Comido – eaten
Incluir – to include, Incluido – included
And there are some exceptions:
Escribir – to write, Escrito – written
Hacer – to do, Echo – done
Poner – to put, Puesto – put
Morir – to die, Muerto – dead
Decir – say, Dicho – said
Satisfacer – to satisfy, Satisfecho – satisfied
Ver – to see, Visto – seen
Volver – to return, Vuelto – returned
Abrir – to open, Abierto – opened
Romper – to break, Roto – broken
Resolver – to resolve, Resuelto – resolved
Cubrir – to cover, Cubierto – covered
The perfective tenses consist of the verb HABER conjugated in an exact tense and a past tense participle, or if to say it simpler: HABER + PARTICIPLE.
The perfective Spanish tenses are equivalent of English perfective tenses like “I have done, I had done, I will have done, I would have done”. Notice, that the word “have” is not “tener” here despite it means “to have”.
Keywords for perfective tenses: Esta semana – this week, Este año – this year, Este mes – this month, Hoy – today, Ya – already, Todavía – still, Aún – yet.
And now, let’s learn more about HABER, and then look at practical examples.
HABER is a special verb that has two general ways of use:
– As an auxiliary verb to form a perfect tense, like English tense “I have done”, where “have” is equivalent of Spanish HABER.
– A verb for expressing existence of something, like “there is/are, there were, there will be”.
First of all, look at the table of its conjugation in all previously considered tenses:
| Present | Past I | Past II | |
| YO | HE | HABÍA | HUBE |
| TÚ | HAS | HABÍAS | HUBISTE |
| ÉL, ELLA ,USTED | HA, HAY* | HABÍA | HUBO |
| NOSOTROS | HEMOS | HABÍAMOS | HUBIMOS |
| VOSOTROS | HABÉIS | HABÍAIS | HUBISTEIS |
| ELLOS, USTEDES | HAN | HABÍAN | HUBIERON |
*HAY – this form is used to say “there is/are”, check the next section.
| Future | Conditional | |
| YO | HABRÉ | HABRÍA |
| TÚ | HABRÁS | HABRÍAS |
| ÉL, ELLA ,USTED | HABRÉ | HABRÍA |
| NOSOTROS | HABREMOS | HABRÍAMOS |
| VOSOTROS | HABRÉIS | HABRÍAIS |
| ELLOS, USTEDES | HABRÁN | HABRÁN |
Examples
Present perfect tense:
Yo lo he acabado ya – I have finished it already
Nosotros no hemos visitado Estados Unidos todavía – We have not visited USA still
El gato ha comido tres veces hoy – The cat has eaten three time today
Nuestros padres no han ido al mar este año – Our parents have not gone to the sea this year
Unos estudiantes han conversado con el profesor hoy – Some students have talked to the profesor today
El vendedor ha recibido su salario – The seller has received his salary
¿Qué vosotros esta semana? – What have you done this week?
Past perfect tense:
Cuando vine a la casa, mi mujer había cocinado la cena para mí – When I’ve come come, my wife had cooked a dinner for me
¿Le decimos a quién lo había escrito antes que nosotros? – Who had written it before we said it?
Durante dos meses este hombre había tradajado en la fábrica – During two months this man had been working in the factory
Ella y su marido habían estudiado en la universidad hasta el fin del año – She and he husband had been studying in the university until the end of the year
Después de que Luís había leído tu pregunta, se fue a consultarla en internet – After that Luis had read your question, he went to consult her in internet
Past perfect II (preterite perfect):
Después de que hubimos completado la tarea, ella llamó al jefe – After we had completed the task, she called the boss
Cuando mis amigos hubieron llegado, fuimos a jugar al fútbol – When my friends had arrived, we went to play football
Tan pronto nos hubiste dejado, empezamos trabajar – As soon as you left us, we started to work
Hube resuelto la tarea antes de que lección comenzara – I had solved this task before the lecture began
Yo hube de leerla un par de veces para entenderla – I had to read it a couple of times to understand it
Future perfect
¿Tú habrás venido a las nueve? – Will you have come until 9 o’clock?
Habremos tratado repararlo hoy – We will have tried to repair it today
Habré aprendido el idioma ruso antes del fin del año – I will have learned the Russian language before the end of the year
¿Ustedes se habrán mudado a Alemania en un año? – Will You move to Germany in one year?
Conditional
Yo habría vivido en este país por unos años – I would have lived in this country for a some years
Habríamos comprado un auto costoso si habría tenido un unos buenos negocios – We would have bought an expensive car if we had a good business
Mi amiga habría aprendido tocar la guitarra si hubiese tenido tiempo – My friend would have learned to play guitar if she had time
Examples with past tense participles
La novela fue escrita por el escritor famoso – The novel was written by the famous writer
La comida seré cocinada pronto – The food will be cooked soon
¿Qué fue construido en tú ciudad recientemente? – What was built in your city recently?
There is/are/were/will be
In Spanish language “There is/are/were/will be” are formed by forms of the verb HABER.
Hay – there is/are
Había, hubo – there was
Había, hubieron – there were
Habré – there will be
Habrá – there will be (plural)
Habría – there would be
Examples
Hay dos platos en la mesa – There are two plates on the table
¿Qué había construido en aquel lugar hace dos años? – What was built two years ago?
Habrá cinco estaciones nuevas de metro en nuestra ciudad en tres años – There will be five new metro stations in our city in three years
Hay más de ciento de ciudades en este país – There are more than one hundred cities in this country
Como recuerdo, siempre había los boletos baratos a este destino – As I remember, there have always been cheap tickets to this destination
Hubo un restaurante bueno en esta calle – There was a good restaurant on this street
Practice with these words:
Sitio web – website, Pagina – page, Ventana – window, Torre – tower, Cielo – sky, Sol – sun, Lluvia – rain, Nube – cloud, Azul – blue, Amarillo – yellow, Verde – green, Gris – gray.
Exercises
Use appropriate form of perfective tense.
- ¿Por qué no lo por un tiempo largo? (COMPRENDER – to understand) – Why have we not been understanding it for long time?
- Yo lo desde dos mil cinco! (DECIR – to say) – I have been saying that since 2012!
- ¿Por qué aquí? (ESPERAR – to wait) – Why have you(tú) waited for us here?
- El compositor famoso muchas canciones (CREAR – to create) – The famous composer has created many songs
- La fábrica dos mil computadoras (PRODUCIR – to produce) – The factory has produced two thousand computers
- La impresora tres cientos papeles ayer (IMPRIMIR – to print) – The printer has printed three hundred papers yesterday
- La locomotora a la mitad del camino (ROMPERSE – to get broken) – The locomotive has got broken in the half of the way
- Si hubiese sido* candidato la presidencia muchos cambios? (PROMETER – to promise) – If you(tú) were a presidental candidate, would you have promised many changes?
*- this is SER in subjunctive mood, learn more in the next lesson
Answers
a: hemos comprendido, b: he dicho, c: nos has esperado,
d: ha creado, e: ha producido, f: hubo imprimido, g: se ha roto,
h: habrías prometido.