1 The Perfect Tenses of the Indicative The perfect tenses (tiempos perfectos) or compound tenses (tiempos compuestos) have

two parts: the auxiliary verb (verbo auxiliar) haber plus a past participle (participio pasado). Each simple tense of the indicative has a corresponding perfect tense, which means there are five perfect tenses in the indicative: Simple Tenses Present (presente) Imperfect (imperfecto) Preterit (pretrito) Future (futuro) Conditional (condicional) Perfect or Compound Tenses Present perfect (pretrito perfecto) Past perfect or pluperfect (pluscuamperfecto) Preterit perfect (pretrito anterior) Future perfect (futuro perfecto) 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 of haber conjugated in the present, the imperfect, the preterit, the future 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 (to first-conjugation verbs) and ido (to second- and third-conjugation verbs): cantado, comido, vivido. Second- and third-conjugation verbs whose stem ends in a, e, or o will need an accent mark over the i- in order to break the diphthong: traer -> trado, leer -> ledo, or -> odo, (son)rer -> (son)redo. This is not the case with verbs whose stem ends in u: destruir -> destruido. Irregular past participles may have different stems or different endings. Here are some of the most common ones (the verbs in the second column are formed on the verbs on the first column and follow the same patterns): abrir cubrir decir escribir hacer morir poner abierto cubierto dicho escrito hecho muerto puesto opened closed, shut said, told written done, made died, dead put, placed, set

descubrir encubrir contradecir predecir describir prescribir deshacer anteponer deponer imponer oponer suponer prever devolver

descubierto encubierto contradicho predicho descrito prescrito deshecho antepuesto depuesto impuesto opuesto supuesto previsto devuelto

discovered covered up contradicted foretold described prescribed unmade put before deposed imposed opposed supposed foreseen returned

romper ver volver

roto visto vuelto

broken, torn seen returned

2 Present Perfect (Pretrito perfecto) Form The present tense of haber plus the masculine singular form of the past participle: he hablado has hablado ha hablado hemos hablado habis hablado han hablado I have spoken you have spoken he/she has spoken we have spoken you have spoken they have spoken

Uses The present perfect is used to indicate an action or state that has taken place has been completed before the present, like in English. Nosotros hemos viajado mucho. Siempre he sido una buena estudiante. Hoy he desayunado muy bien. We have traveled a lot. I have always been a good student. 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 way around. Beware: 1) Expressions of the type have been ing are not rendered in Spanish with a present perfect, as we have seen 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, but 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 of haber plus the masculine singular form of the past participle: haba hablado habas hablado I had spoken you had spoken

3 haba hablado habamos hablado habais hablado haban hablado he/she had spoken we had spoken you had spoken they had spoken

Uses The pluperfect is normally the past of a past action (usually expressed in the preterit, the imperfect, or the present 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 before, but with an imperfect and the time expressions desde haca or hacaque, or with the imperfect of llevar + time 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 the imperfect 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 of haber plus the masculine singular form of the past participle: hube hablado hubiste hablado hubo hablado hubimos hablado hubisteis hablado hubieron hablado I had spoken you had spoken he/she had spoken we had spoken you had spoken they had spoken

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

4 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 of haber plus the masculine singular form of the past participle: habr hablado habrs hablado habr hablado habremos hablado habris hablado habrn hablado I will have spoken you will have spoken he/she will have spoken we will have spoken you will have spoken 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 done 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 or 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 of haber plus the masculine singular form of the past participle: habra hablado habras hablado habra hablado habramos hablado habrais hablado habran hablado I would have spoken you would have spoken he/she would have spoken we would have spoken you would have spoken they would have spoken

5 Uses You will encounter this tense mostly in the main clause of conditional sentences whose subordinate clause has a 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 han pasado hoy. Compltalo con el pretrito prefecto de indicativo de los verbos en parntesis. Hoy yo _______________________ (dormir) hasta las 10 porque no tengo que ir al colegio: son las vacaciones de primavera! Yo _______________________ (levantarse) tarde. Mi hermana y yo ___________________ (desayunar) cereales y _______________________ (ir) al parque a jugar. Despus del almuerzo, mis padres ________________________ (ver) una pelcula en la televisin, mi hermana _______________________ (leer) en 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 they 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 lujo 3. 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 done 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)

6 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 ella. (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.