The Perfect TensesThe Perfect Tenses

By Jami Sipe

I have walked. Paul and Joan have bought a new car.We have spoken.

The Present PerfectThe Present PerfectThe present perfect tense in English

looks like this:

In Spanish …

The perfect tenses consist of a form of the auxiliary verb

haber (to have) + the past participle of the main verb.

he has ha

hemoshabéishan

First, you are going to need the present tense of the auxiliary verb haberhaber.

Present PerfectPresent PerfectIn Spanish, we use the present tense of haberhaber plus the past participle form of the main verb.

What about a past participle?What about a past participle?

The regular past participle is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding –ado to –ar verbs and –ido to –er and –ir verbs:

habladoado =bebidoido =sufridoido =

spoken drunksuffered

• abrir – abierto• cubrir – cubierto• decir – dicho• escribir – escrito• hacer – hecho• morir – muerto• poner – puesto• romper – roto• ver – visto• volver – vuelto

Some Irregular Past Participles:Some Irregular Past Participles:

describir –descubrir –

revolver –

Check it out!Check it out!

You can see some of the verbs you already know in these

compound verbs.

descritodescubiertorevuelto

• yo he ganado• tú has ganado• usted, él, ella ha ganado• nosotros/as hemos ganado• vosotros/as habéis ganado• ustedes, ellos, ellas han ganado

Present Perfect of the Verb Present Perfect of the Verb ganarganarHere’s what it looks like:

I had walked.

Paul and Joan had bought a new car.

We had spoken.

Past Perfect TensePast Perfect TenseThe pastpast perfect tense in English

looks like this:

Past PerfectPast Perfect In Spanish, we use the imperfect tense of In Spanish, we use the imperfect tense of haberhaber plus the past participle form of the plus the past participle form of the

main verb. main verb.

había habíashabía

habíamoshabíais habían

First, you are going to need the imperfect tense of the auxiliary verb haberhaber.

• yo había ganado• tú habías ganado• usted, él, ella había ganado• nosotros/as habíamos ganado• vosotros/as habíais ganado• ustedes, ellos, ellas habían ganado

Past Perfect of the Verb Past Perfect of the Verb ganarganarHere’s what it looks like:

Ejemplos:• ¿Lo has pagado? =

(Have you paid it?)• ¿La has recibido? =

(Have you received it?)

Object PronounsObject Pronouns

In perfect tenses, object pronouns go before the conjugated form of haber and are not

attached to the past participle.

yo he escrito

ellos/ellas han hablado

ella había escuchado

habíamos visto

¿Lo/La has escrito?

I have written

they have spoken

she had listened

we had seen

Have you written it?

Check Your Knowledge!Check Your Knowledge!

Credits

©2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Written by: Jami Sipe

Additional Information by: Suzanne Rutkowski

Adriana Miretti

Graphics and Design: Joseph Kohler

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