đž The Present Perfect and Pluperfect in Spanish đ
In Spanish there are two main forms of verbs in the perfective aspect: the present perfect (es presente perfecto) and the pluperfect (el pluscuamperfecto). These verb forms are conjugated by combining some conjugation of 'haber' with a past participle.
đž Part I - Past Participles đ
So what even is a past participle? A past participle is essentially a way of stating that an action has been completed. We do this in English typically by adding -ed to the end of a verb (ex. create » created). This way a verb can be used with a perfective aspect (ex. I have finished the assignment) and can also be used as an adjective (ex. it is finished).
In Spanish the past participle serves the same function. It can be used to put an action in the perfective aspect (ex. yo he comido âI have eatenâ) or as an adjective (ex. estĂĄ comido âitâs eatenâ). There are three main categories of verbs in the past participle in Spanish.
The first category is the past participle of regular -ar verbs (ex. cantar, bailar, gritar, etc.) To put these verbs in the past participle simply remove the -ar at the end of the verb and replace it with -ado.
Examples:
cantar (sing) » cantado (sang, sung)
bailar (dance) » bailado (danced)
gritar (scream) » gritado (screamed)
necesitar (need) » necesitado (needed)
viajar (travel) » viajado (traveled)
The second category is the past participle of regular -er and -ir verbs (ex. comer, correr, venir, etc.) To put these verbs in the past participle simply remove the -er or -ir and replace it with -ido.
Examples:
comer (eat) » comido (eaten)
correr (run) » corrido (ran)
venir (come) » venido (came)
tener (have) » tenido (had)
sentir (feel) » sentido (felt)
Note! There are some verbs which are still regular -er and -ir verbs that get an accent right before the âdâ but still are regular. This happens mainly for pronounciation purposes and to keep the proper stress, as this tends to happen with -er/-ir verbs with diphthongs. Some examples are:
leer (read) » leĂdo (read)
caer (fall) » caĂdo (fallen)
traer (bring) » traĂdo (brought)
The third and final category of past participles is the irregular ones, of which there are a good number. Some of these are similar to each other, but in general they dont follow a singular rule with which we can categorize them with other past participles. These are:
abrir (open) » abierto (opened)
absolver (absolve) » absuelto (absolved)
cubrir (cover) » cubierto (covered)
descubrir (discover, reveal) » descubierto (discovered, revealed)
decir (say) » dicho (said, spoken)
describir (describe) » descrito, descripto* (described)
desdecir (deny) » desdicho (denied)
deshacer (undo, unmake) » deshecho (undone, unmade)
elegir (choose, elect) » elegido, electo (chosen, elected)**
escribir (write) » escrito, escripto* (written)
hacer (do, make) » hecho (done, made)
morir (die) » muerto (dead)
poner (put, place) » puesto (put, placed)
redecir (retell) » redicho (retold)
rehacer (redo, remake) » rehecho (redone, remade)
resolver (resolve, figure out) » resuelto (resolved, figured out)
romper (break) » roto (broken)
satisfacer (satisfy) » satisfecho (satisfied)
ver (see) » visto (seen)
* - the forms escripto and descripto are used primarily in Rioplatense Spanish in Argentina and Uruguay. You donât have to learn these forms unless you plan on using this dialect or youâll be coming into contact with it a lot.
** - the form elegido is completely regular, the other form electo is not, however. This form is mainly used to mean âelectedâ, though, whereas âchosenâ is more commonly said as the regular elegido.
It is important to note that the past participle is not the same as the past tense. The past participle cannot stand on its own, whereas a past tense verb can. To say âescritoâ (written) without further context would be grammatically incorrect, however to say âescribĂâ (I wrote) without further context would be grammatically correct. The past participle always needs another word to help it out, and it cant stand on its own. To do so is sort of like just saying âwrittenâ as a sentence in English. It just doesnât work, it leads to questions like âwhat was written? who wrote it? what are you even talking about?â Meanwhile you can totally say âI wroteâ as a sentence in English and it makes total sense. Itâs the same in Spanish.
đž Part II - The Present Perfect đ
The present perfect is used to talk about an action that has been finished at the time of speaking. Itâs similar to the preterite in that it tends to describe actions which have been completed once. For example the sentences âI havenât eaten todayâ, âhave you made a decision?â, and âhave you ever been to Spain?â would all use the present perfect in Spanish. The form is often equivalent to âhave ___â in English.
To conjugate verbs in the present perfect you take the present tense form of haber and make it agree with the pronoun of the person(s) who has done the action:
Yo he = I have ___
TĂș / vos has = You have ___
Ăl/ella ha = He/she has ___
Usted ha = You have ___ (formal)
Nosotros/nosotras hemos = We have ___
Vosotros/vosotros habeĂs = You all have ___ (informal, chiefely Castilian Spanish)
Ellos/ellas han = They have ___
Ustedes han = You all have ___ (formal in Castilian Spanish, normal form in Latin America where âvosotrosâ is uncommon)
Once you have the present form of haber and youâve properly conjugated it, add the past participle after it and you have a verb in the present perfect! Ex:
Tengo hambre, ya no he comido - Iâm hungry, I havenât eaten yet
ÂżHoy has ido a la escuela? - Have you gone to school today?
Ăl nunca ha viajado a MĂ©xico - Heâs never been to Mexico
Ella lo ha dĂcho a su mamĂĄ - Sheâs told her mom about it
ÂżUsted ha escrito el artĂculo? - Have you written the article?
Nosotros no hemos asistido a la iglesia - We havenât been to the church
Nosotras todavĂa no lo hemos leĂdo - We still havenât read it
ÂżVosotros habeĂs cocinado algo? - Have you guys cooked anything?
ÂżVosotras no lo habeĂs visto? - Yâall havenât seen it?
Ellos no han elegido nada - They havenât chosen anything
Ellas no han cocinado nada - They havenât cooked anything
Ustedes lo han leĂdo el libro - You all have read the book
Some notes about the use of the present perfect:
In Riplatense Spanish the present perfect has been almost entirely replaced by the preterite. Thus in Rioplatense Spanish youâd be more likely to hear for example ViajĂ© a Buenos Aires (I went to Buenos Aires) rather than He viajado a Buenos Aires (Iâve traveled to Buenos Aires.)
In Latin America as a whole, youâre far more likely to hear the preterite instead of the present perfect to describe actions in the recent past, whereas in Spain youâre more likely to hear the present perfect. So unlike in Latin America where one might say hoy comĂ una arepa muy rica (I ate a really great arepa today) in Spain youâre more likely to hear someone say hoy he comido una arepa muy rica (today Iâve eaten a reeally great arepa.)
If an direct or indirect pronoun is used alongside the present perfect, it will never cut between the conjugated haber and the past participle. For example, to say no he se lo dido would be incorrect, the correct way would be no se lo he dido (I havenât given them it.) The direct and/or indirect object pronoun is placed before the conjugated haber, not after.
đž Part III - The Pluperfect đ
The pluperfect is used to talk about an action which was completed at the time the speaker is talking about. Itâs like in English saying âI had eaten the bananaâ versus saying âIâve eaten the banana.â You will often see this conjugation used alongside words like ya (already) or todavĂa (still, yet) since it will often describe an action which is already done by the time the speaker talks about it.
To conjugate verbs in the pluperfect you take the imperfect tense form of haber and make it agree with the pronoun of the person(s) who has done the action:
Yo habĂa = I had ___
TĂș / vos habĂas = You had ___
Ăl/ella habĂa = He/she had ___
Usted habĂa = You havd___ (formal)
Nosotros/nosotras habĂamos = We had ___
Vosotros/vosotros habĂais = You all had ___ (informal, chiefely Castilian Spanish)
Ellos/ellas habĂan = They had ___
Ustedes habĂan = You all had ___ (formal in Castilian Spanish, normal form in Latin America where âvosotrosâ is uncommon.
Once you have the imperfect form of haber and youâve properly conjugated it, add the past participle after it and you have a verb in the pluperfect! Ex:
Ya habĂa comido cuando Ă©l veniĂł - I had already eaten when they came
TĂș/vos habĂas leĂdo el libro antes de la clase - Youâd read the book ahead of the class
Ăl habĂa hablado con su mamĂĄ cuando yo llamĂ© - Heâd spoken with his mom when I called
Ella te habĂa escrito un mensaje cuando tĂș/vos llamaste - Sheâd already written you a message when you called
ÂżHabĂa usted tomado agua antes pasĂł? - Had you drank water before it happened?
Nosotros ya habĂamos elegido algo cuando llegaste - Weâd already chosen something when you arrived
Nosotras lo habĂamos hecho cuando nos llamaste - Weâd already done it when you called us
Vosotros ya habĂais visto la pelĂcula - You guys had already seen the movie
Vosotras habĂais elegido una pelĂcula cuando lleguĂ© - Yâallâd already chosen a movie when I came
Ellos todavĂa no lo habĂan visto - They still hadnât seen it
Ellas ya habĂan comido cuando su mamĂĄ las preguntĂł - Theyâd already eaten when their mom asked them
Ustedes habĂan leĂdo el libro - You all had read the book
A note about the usage of the pluperfect:
If an direct or indirect pronoun is used alongside the pluperfect, it will never cut between the conjugated haber and the past participle. For example, to say ya habĂa se lo dido would be incorrect, the correct way would be ya se lo habĂa dido (Iâd already given them it.) The direct and/or indirect object pronoun is placed before the conjugated haber, not after.
Disclaimer: Iâm not a native speaker of Spanish, just a lover of the language. If there are any mistakes or things you think I missed please let me know so I can correct this post! đ
