The Perfect Tenses

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Introduction

Spanish has six main perfect tenses that you will learn throughout your Spanish career. The perfect tenses allow you to use the "ed" version of English (just like how the present progressive tense allowed you to say the "ing" version of English). Similar to the conjugation of the present progressive tense, each perfect tense can be conjugated with two simple steps:

  1. Conjugate "haber" accordingly
  2. Add the past participle

The past participle is the "ed" version of the verb (just like the present participle is the "ing" version), and the "haber" allows you to form the perfect tense (just like how estar allows you to form the present progressive). There is a process on how to form it; however, just like English, there are also many irregulars.

Forming the Past Participle

We'll seperate these into two categories: regular and irregular.

Regular Verbs

For regular verbs, there are three simple steps to follow:

  1. Remove the ending
  2. If it's an AR verb, add "ado"
  3. If it's an ER/IR verb, add "ido"

    Examples

  • Hablar ---> Hablado
  • Estudiar ---> Estudiado
  • Comer ---> Comido
  • Vivir ---> Vivido

Irregular Verbs

Forming the past participle has the most irregulars in all of Spanish conjugations. Not only are there very few obvious patterns, but also one cannot distinguish whether a verb is regular or not just by looking at the verb. Always look a verb up on spanishdict.com or wordreference.com to see if a word is regular or not.

Here are a few of the most common irregular past participles. While there are not clear patterns, I've highlighted what I think are possible patterns among those selected verbs.

Hacer Decir Poner Morir Abrir Cubrir
Hecho Dicho Puesto Muerto Abierto Cubierto
Escribir Romper Ver Volver Resolver Freír
Escrito Roto Visto Vuelto Resuelto frito

However, despite the craziness, there is still a clear patterns that occur: the double vowel verbs.

If an ER or IR verb's stem ends in a vowel, the "i" is accented.

  • Leer --> leído
  • Atraer --> atraído
  • Creer --> Creído

The Various Perfect Tenses

Click on one to learn more!

Present Perfect
  1. Used to describe actions that started in the past, but are still continuing
  2. IOPS and DOPS come before haber - no attached or anything similar
  3. English Example: I have begun to eat food
  4. Present form of haber + past particple

Present Form of Haber

he hemos
has habéis
ha han
    Examples
  • I have seen the cars --> He visto los carros.
  • You have gone to Colombia --> Has ido a Colombia.
  • They have heard the truth --> Ellos han oído la verdad.

Past Perfect
  1. Used to describe actions that started and ended in the past
  2. IOPS and DOPS come before haber - no attached or anything similar
  3. English Example: I had started to eat healthier.
  4. Imperfect form of haber + past particple

Imperfect Form of Haber

había habíamos
habías habíais
había habían
    Examples
  • I had already seen my cousin --> Había visto ya a mi primo.
  • You had already sung at the party when I arrived --> Habías cantado en la fiesta cuando llegué.
  • They had put the cakes on the table --> Ellos habían puesto los pasteles en la mesa.

Present Perfect Subjunctive
  1. Used to describe actions that started in the past but still are continuing, AND have subjunctive trigger
  2. IOPS and DOPS come before haber - no attached or anything similar
  3. English Example: I am happy that you have begun to eat healthier food
  4. Present Subjunctive form of haber + past particple

Present Subjunctive Form of Haber

haya hayamos
hayas hayáis
haya hayan
    Examples
  • I am happy that you have begun to eat healthier food --> Me alegro de que tú hayas empezado a comer comida sana.
  • It’s possible that she has had to work for 20 hours. --> Es posible que ella haya tenido que trabajar por veinte horas.
  • She has provided us books in case we have to stay here for a long time. (to provide - proveer) --> Ella nos ha proveído libros en caso de que nosotros tengamos que quedarnos por mucho tiempo.

Past Perfect Subjunctive
  1. Used to describe actions that started in the past and ended in the past (had some duration) AND HAVE SUBJUNCTIVE TRIGGER
  2. IOPS and DOPS come before haber - no attached or anything similar
  3. English Example: “I was happy that you had completed your homework”.
  4. Imperfect Subjunctive form of haber + past particple

Past Subjunctive Form of Haber

hubiera hubiéramos
hubieras hubierais
hubiera hubieran
    Examples
  • I wish I had known. --> Ojalá que hubiera sabido.
  • Pablo doubted that I had visited Costa Rica. --> Pablo dudó que hubiera visitado a Costa Rica.
  • The police was searching for a person that had seen the robbery. --> El policía buscaba una persona que hubiera visto el robo. .

Conditional Perfect
  1. Used to describe a situation that would have happened or probability occured in the past.
  2. IOPS and DOPS come before haber - no attached or anything similar
  3. English Example: “I would have bought the shoes if I had the money"
  4. Conditional form of haber + past particple

Conditional Form of Haber

habría habríamos
habrías habríais
habría habrían
    Examples
  • I would have run today, but I didn't have time. --> Habría corrido hoy, pero no tenía tiempo.
  • She would have read the book, but the phone rang. --> Ella habría leído el libro, pero el teléfono sonó.
  • He probably had already eaten before leaving --> Habría comido antes de irse.

    • *Note: the last example is VERY rare. You probably won't see that in your IB spanish career

Future Perfect
  1. Used to describe a situation that will be completed by a certain time. Also, likelihood and conjecture.
  2. IOPS and DOPS come before haber - no attached or anything similar
  3. English Example: “I will have finished my work by December.”
  4. Future form of haber + past particple

Future Form of Haber

habré habremos
habrás habréis
habrá habrásn
    Examples
  • We will have finished my work by December. --> Habremos terminado nuestro trabajo por diciembre.
  • You will have already ordered when I arrive. --> Habrás pedido cuando llegue.
  • Where is paco? He might have gone to Idaho. --> Donde está paco? Habrá ido a Idaho.

    • *Note: Last example is rare, and I would not use it in writing unless you are very confident.

IF Statements

Click on one to learn more!

Present Tense + Present Tense/Command/Future Tense

Present Tense Clause + "if" + Present Tense/Command/Future Tense Clause

    Examples
  • I will eat this if I play soccer --> Yo comeré la comida si yo juego al futbol.
  • If she goes to the store, buy food --> Si ella va a la tienda, compre comida.
  • If i eat an hot dog, i eat it with ketchup --> Si como un perro caliente, lo como con la salsa de tomate

Conditional Tense + Past Subjunctive Tense

Conditional Tense Clause + "if" + Past Subjunctive Tense Clause

    Examples
  • If I were an object, I would say a water bottle --> Si yo fuera un objeto, diría una botella de agua
  • If he had a superpower, he would choose flying --> Si tuviera un superpoeder, escojería volar

Conditional Perfect Tense + Past Perfect Subjunctive

Conditional Perfect Tense Clause + "if" + Past Perfect Subjunctive Tense Clause

    Examples
  • We would have eaten in that restaurant if i had known that it has inexpensive food.
  • Nosotros habríamos comido en el restaurante si hubiera sabido que tiene comida barata.