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Compound Tenses
- Present perfect
- Pluperfect
- Preterite perfect
- Future perfect
- Conditional perfect
- Subjunctive compound tenses
Compound tenses in Spanish are similar to compound, or perfect, tenses in English. They both make use of an auxiliary verb (haber) plus a past participle. When used as part of a compound tense the past participle never changes from the masculine singular form. Contrast this stability with the variability of the past participle when used as an adjective.
Formation
The present perfect indicative is a compound tense formed with the
present tense of the auxiliary verb to have, which for these
purposes is haber (he, has, ha,
hemos, habéis, han), followed by the past
participle. That is:
He hablado.
Hemos tomado.
Has comido.
Habéis bebido.
Ha vivido.
Han acudido.
Use
The sentences above are expressed in English as I have spoken, You have eaten, She has lived, etc.
Formation
The pluperfect is a compound tense formed with the imperfect
tense of the auxiliary verb to have, which for these
purposes is haber
(había, habías, había, habíamos,
habíais, habían), followed by the past
participle:
Había quedado.
Habíamos llegado.
Habías tenido frío
Habíais puesto la mesa.
Había pedido un favor.
Habían ido temprano.
Use
The sentences above are expressed in English as I had remained, You had been cold, He had asked a favor, etc.
Formation
The preterite perfect tense is a compound tense formed with the
preterite tense of the auxiliary verb
to have, which for these purposes is haber
(hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron), followed
by the past participle:
Así que me hube levantado...
Así que hubimos escuchado...
Apenas hubiste sabido...
Apenas hubisteis tenido...
Después que hubo perdido...
Después que hubieron oído...
Use
The preterite perfect is used infrequently in Spanish and only after conjunctions that refer to time, such as así que, apenas, and después que. The sentences above are expressed in English as As soon as I had gotten up..., Scarcely had you found out, After he had lost..., etc.
Formation
The future perfect is a compound tense formed with the future
tense of the auxiliary verb to have, which for these
purposes is haber
(habré, habrás, habrá, habremos,
habréis, habrán), followed by the past
participle:
Ya me habré marchado.
Ya lo habremos tocado.
Lo habrás sabido para las dos.
Las habréis conocido.
La habrá abierto.
Habrán preferido otro.
Use
The future perfect is generally used to distinguish one future event
that precedes another. The sentences above are expressed in English
as I will already have left, You will have
discovered it by two o'clock, She will have opened it,
etc.
Formation
The conditional perfect is a compound tense formed with the
conditional tense of the auxiliary verb
to have, which for these purposes is haber
(habría, habrías, habría, habríamos,
habríais, habrían), followed by the past
participle:
Habría estudiado más.
Nos habríamos acostado tarde.
Habrías podido ir con nosotros.
Habríais vendido el coche.
Lo habría elegido.
Ya habrían pedido la cuenta.
Use
The conditional and conditional perfect tenses are used to express hypothetical or "contrary to fact" statements. In English we use the conditional perfect tense to express sentences such as I would have studied more, You would have been able to go with us, You would have elected him, etc.
Compound tenses in Spanish conform to the general rules that pertain to the use of the subjunctive in Spanish.
Dependent clauses that contain compound tenses may require the use of either the present perfect subjunctive or the pluperfect subjunctive. Following are some examples:
- Esperamos que hayan reservado el cuarto. (We hope that they've reserved the room.)
- Dudo que hayas escogido bien. (I doubt that you've chosen well.)
- Me alegro de que haya decidido acompañarnos. (I'm glad that you've decided to come with us.)
- El director quería que ya hubiéramos terminado la tarea. (The director wanted for us to have finished the work.)
- Buscábamos a alguien que ya hubiera tenido esa experiencia. (We were looking for someone who had had that experience.)
- Era triste que hubieran muerto en la guerra.
(It was sad that they had died in the war.)
Also, in the same way that the an "if-clause" and a "result clause" can be rendered with the imperfect subjunctive and the conditional tense (Si tuviera tiempo lo haría), the conditional perfect is used with the conditional perfect subjunctive.
- Si hubiera sabido qué tiempo hacía, no habría salido.* (If they had known what the weather was like, they wouldn't have gone out.)
- No habríamos pagado* la cuenta si nos
hubieran servido esa comida. (We wouldn't
have paid the bill if they had served us that meal.)
Similarly, in the same way that the imperfect subjunctive usually follows "como si," if an auxiliary verb is required the pluperfect subjunctive will follow.
- Los políticos hablan como si nada hubiera
pasado. (The politicians are talking as if nothing had
happened.)
*Note that the "result clause" is often also rendered in the pluperfect subjunctive. That is, both clauses contain the subjunctive mood in this kind of construction: Si hubiera sabido qué tiempo hacía, no hubiera salido.
Related topics:
If constructions
Present subjunctive
Imperfect subjunctive
Verbs
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