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The Perfect Tenses of the Indicative

The perfect tenses (tiempos perfectos) or compound tenses (tiempos compuestos) have two parts: the auxiliary ve

(verbo auxiliar) haber plus a past participle (participio pasado). Each simple tense of the indicative has

corresponding perfect tense, which means there are five perfect tenses in the indicative:

Simple Tenses Perfect or Compound Tenses

Present (presente) Present perfect (pretrito perfecto)

Imperfect (imperfecto) Past perfect or pluperfect (pluscuamperfecto)

Preterit (pretrito) Preterit perfect (pretrito anterior)

Future (futuro) Future perfect (futuro perfecto)

Conditional (condicional) Conditional perfect (condicional perfecto).

They are perfect or perfective because they express a completed action or state.

The auxiliary verb

The first part of the perfect tenses is a form ofhaberconjugated in the present, the imperfect, the preterit, the futu

or the conditional.

The past participle

The second part is the masculine singular form of the past participle of the verb we are conjugating.

Regular past participles are obtained by removing the ending of the infinitive ( -ar, -er, -ir) and adding ado (

first-conjugation verbs) and ido (to second- and third-conjugation verbs): cantado, comido, vivido. Second- an

third-conjugation verbs whose stem ends in a, e, or o will need an accent mark over the i- in order to break th

diphthong: traer-> trado, leer-> ledo, or-> odo, (son)rer-> (son)redo. This is not the case with verbs who

stem ends in u: destruir-> destruido.

Irregular past participles may have different stems or different endings. Here are some of the most common one

(the verbs in the second column are formed on the verbs on the first column and follow the same patterns):

abrir abierto opened

cubrir cubierto closed, shut descubrir descubierto discovered

encubrir encubierto covered up

decir dicho said, told contradecir contradicho contradicted

predecir predicho foretold

escribir escrito written describir descrito described

prescribir prescrito prescribed

hacer hecho done, made deshacer deshecho unmademorir muerto died, dead

poner puesto put, placed, set anteponer antepuesto put before

deponer depuesto deposed

imponer impuesto imposed

oponer opuesto opposed

suponer supuesto supposed

romper roto broken, torn

ver visto seen prever previsto foreseen

volver vuelto returned devolver devuelto returned

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Present Perfect (Pretrito perfecto)

Form

The present tense ofhaberplus the masculine singular form of the past participle:

he hablado I have spokenhas hablado you have spoken

ha hablado he/she has spoken

hemos hablado we have spoken

habis hablado you have spoken

han hablado they have spoken

Uses

The present perfect is used to indicate an action or state that has taken place has been completed before th

present, like in English.

Nosotros hemos viajado mucho. We have traveled a lot.

Siempre he sido una buena estudiante. I have always been a good student.

Hoy he desayunado muy bien. Today I have had a good breakfast.

Today I had a good breakfast.

In some cases, different communities of speakers may favor the present perfect over the preterit, or the other wa

around.

Beware:1) Expressions of the type have been ing are not rendered in Spanish with a present perfect, as we have see

before, but with a present and the time expressions desde hace or haceque, or with the present tense of llevar

time expression + gerund, as in the examples below:

I have worked here for 6 years. Hace 6 aos que trabajo aqu.

Trabajo aqu desde hace 6 aos.

Llevo 6 aos trabajando aqu.

2) Expressions of the type have just (done something) are not rendered in Spanish with a present perfect, bu

with the present tense of the verb acabar(to finish, to end) + de + an infinitive:

I have just seen Frida. Acabo de ver Frida.

Pluperfect or Past Perfect (Pluscuamperfecto)

Form

The imperfect ofhaberplus the masculine singular form of the past participle:

haba hablado I had spoken

habas hablado you had spoken

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haba hablado he/she had spoken

habamos hablado we had spoken

habais hablado you had spoken

haban hablado they had spoken

Uses

The pluperfect is normally the past of a past action (usually expressed in the preterit, the imperfect, or the presen

perfect), just like in English, as illustrated by the following examples:

Mi madre me dijo que ya haba comprado la fruta.

My mother told me that she had already bought the fruit.

Mi padre me deca que ya haba sufrido mucho en su vida.

My father used to tell me that he had already suffered a lot in his life.

Mi amiga me ha dicho que haban cerrado la tienda.

My friend has told me that they had closed the store.

Beware:

1) Expressions of the type had been ing are not rendered in Spanish with a pluperfect, as we have seen befor

but with an imperfect and the time expressions desde haca or hacaque, or with the imperfect of llevar+ tim

expression + gerund, as in the examples below:

I had worked there for 6 years. Haca 6 aos que trabajaba all.

Trabajaba all desde haca 6 aos.

Llevaba 6 aos trabajando all.

2) Expressions of the type had just (done something) are not rendered in Spanish with a pluperfect, but with thimperfect of the verb acabar(to finish, to end) + de + an infinitive:

I had just seen Frida. Acababa de ver Frida.

Preterit Perfect (Pretrito anterior)

Form

The preterit ofhaberplus the masculine singular form of the past participle:

hube hablado I had spoken

hubiste hablado you had spoken

hubo hablado he/she had spoken

hubimos hablado we had spoken

hubisteis hablado you had spoken

hubieron hablado they had spoken

Uses

This tense is generally limited to written Spanish. You will probably never use it, although you should learn t

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recognize it when you see it in newspapers, novels, etc. Its meaning is virtually identical to that of the pluperfect.

El asesino procedi a descuartizar a su vctima una vez que la hubo matado.

The killer proceeded to quarter his victim once he had killed him/her.

Future Perfect (Futuro perfecto)

Form

The future ofhaberplus the masculine singular form of the past participle:

habr hablado I will have spoken

habrs hablado you will have spoken

habr hablado he/she will have spoken

habremos hablado we will have spoken

habris hablado you will have spoken

habrn hablado they will have spoken

Uses

1. The future perfect in Spanish is used just like in English, to convey an action or a state that will have been don

in the future:

Maana habr terminado mi novela. Tomorrow I will have finished my novel.

Para el 2150 habremos destruido el planeta. By 2150 we will have destroyed the planet.

2. The future perfect can express probability or conjecture in the past (just like the future can express probability o

conjecture in the present):

Qu habrn comido los nios? I wonder what the children have eaten / ate.

Son las 5: pap y mam ya habrn llegado . Its 5: mom and dad must have arrived by

now.

Conditional Perfect (Condicional perfecto)

Form

The conditional ofhaberplus the masculine singular form of the past participle:

habra hablado I would have spoken

habras hablado you would have spoken

habra hablado he/she would have spoken

habramos hablado we would have spoken

habrais hablado you would have spoken

habran hablado they would have spoken

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Uses

You will encounter this tense mostly in the main clause of conditional sentences whose subordinate clause has

pluperfect subjunctive:

Mi madre me habra mandado a una escuela pblica si hubiera tenido dinero.

My mother would have sent me to a public school if she had had money.

Ejercicios

A) Un diario. En su diario, una nia escribe las cosas que hanpasado hoy. Compltalo con el pretrito prefec

de indicativo de los verbos en parntesis.

Hoy yo _______________________ (dormir) hasta las 10 porque no tengo que ir al colegio: son las vacaciones d

primavera! Yo _______________________ (levantarse) tarde. Mi hermana y yo __________________(desayunar) cereales y _______________________ (ir) al parque a jugar. Despus del almuerzo, mis padre

________________________ (ver) una pelcula en la televisin, mi hermana _______________________ (leer) e

su cuarto y yo _______________________ (nadar) en la piscina del gimnasio. Qu ____________________

(hacer) vosotras?

B) Form complete sentences from the phrases provided to explain what the following people had done before the

left on their trip to Panama.

1. mi novio(a) y yo / visitamos la agencia de viajes

2. la secretaria / hacer reservas en un hotel de lujo3. yo / pagar los billetes

4. mis padres / conseguir los pasaportes

5. t / leer una gua sobre el Canal de Panam

C) Qu habas hecho antes? You are at the university now. Talk to a friend about the things you had don

before coming to the university according to the model.

Modelo: t / comer comida vegetariana

- T habas comido comida vegetariana antes?

- No, yo no haba comido comida vegetariana antes.

S, yo s haba comido comida vegetariana antes.

1. tu familia / visitar esta parte del pas

2. t / echar de menos a tu familia

3. tus padres / pasar tanto tiempo lejos de ti

4. tus profesores / hablar de filosofa tibetana

5. t / ver un campus tan bonito

D) Completa las oraciones siguientes con la forma correcta del pluscuamperfecto del verbo adecuado:

1. Nosotros ya ____________ __________________ cuando la polica llam. (leer / llegar)2. Yo ya ____________ _________________ antes de ir a la biblioteca anoche. (comer / ver)

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3. Uds. ya ____________ ________________ los billetes antes de ir a cenar? (estudiar / comprar)

4. Fui a Espaa el verano pasado, pero ____________ __________________ all dos veces antes. (estar / ser)

5. Ellos ya ____________ __________________ antes de salir anoche. (estudiar / cenar)

6. Toms hizo un viaje a Per en abril, pero antes ____________ __________________ en Ecuador. (visitar

estar)

7. Carlos vino a las diez, pero antes ____________ __________________ con Teresa para hablar con ell

(visitar / estar)

8. Mi novio ya ____________ __________________ cuando lo llam. (salir / dejar)

1. Hace los deberes.

2. Son profesores.

3. Vuelve de Madrid

4. Salgo temprano.

5. Ves el capitolio?

6. No rompo nada.

7. Le da el dinero.

8. Te pones el abrigo?

9. Escribimos la carta.

10.Tengo mucha suerte.

11.Cubren la pared de fotos.

12.Abres la puerta.

13. Leemos el peridico.

14.Caen de cansancio.15.Sirven la cena.

16.Vamos a la biblioteca.

17.Hay un accidente en la calle.

18.Nunca dice la verdad.

19.Nos piden un favor.