Spanish: Compound Tenses

Spanish Compound Tenses

• Perfect Tense

• Pluperfect Tense

• Future Perfect

• Conditional Perfect

Perfect Tense

• Present Progressive Tense

• Past Progressive Tense

• Future Progressive Tense

• Conditional Progressive Tense

Progressive Tenses

Compound Tenses

What are compound tenses?

More than one word to make the tense (auxiliary verb + participle)

Examples:

(1) I am going to the beach. Auxiliary verb = am / participle = going

(2) I have gone to the beach. Auxiliary verb = have / participle = gone

(3) I would have gone to the beach. Auxiliary verb = would have / participle = gone

Present Progressive Tense

The present progressive is formed by combining the verb “to be” with the present participle.

Auxiliary Verb + Present Participle

English example:

I am jumping.

Subject Pronoun = I
Auxiliary verb = am (to be)
Present Participle = jumping

Presente Progresivo

Auxiliary Verb + Present Participle

Spanish example:

Yo estoy saltando.

Subject Pronoun = Yo
Auxiliary verb = estoy (estar)
Present Participle = saltando

Auxiliary Verb = Estar

While the present participle will always end in the letter ‘o’.

Estar has to be conjugated to agree with the speaker or the subject of the verb.

ESTAR

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1st Person

Estoy

Estamos

2nd Person

Estás

3rd Person

Está

Están

Present Participles

To form the present participle of regular -ar verbs, add -ando to the stem of the
verb.

●Hablar = Hablando

●Trabajar = Trabajando

●Estudiar = Estudiando

To form the present participle of regular -er and -ir verbs, add -iendo to the stem
of the verb.

●Comer = Comiendo

●Hacer = Haciendo

●Vivir = Viviendo

Present Participles (Stem Changing)

Only happens with -IR stem changing verbs.

To form the present participle of -ir stem changing verbs, change e:i and o:u in the
stem, and then add -iendo to the stem of the verb.

servir

sirviendo

pedir

pidiendo

decir

diciendo

dormir

durmiendo

morir

muriendo

poder*

pudiendo

Present Participles (Orthographic)

Verbs that have 2 vowels in the ending exchange the ‘i’ for a ‘y’.

caer

cayendo

influir

influyendo

creer

creyendo

oír

oyendo

huir

huyendo

traer

trayendo

ir

yendo

leer

leyendo

Summary of the Present Progressive Tense

To summarise: When you want to say that you are in the process of doing
something use the PresentProgressive Tense.

Example: Somebody calls on the phone and asks what you are doing
now?

●

Estoy estudiando. - I am studying.

●

Estoy mirando la televisión. - I am watching TV.

●

Estoy leyendo una novela. - I am reading a book.

Summary of the Present Progressive Tense

To summarise: When you want to say that you are in the process of doing
something use the PresentProgressive Tense.

Example: Somebody calls on the phone and asks what you are doing
now?

●

Estoy estudiando. - I am studying.

●

Estoy mirando la televisión. - I am watching TV.

●

Estoy leyendo una novela. - I am reading a book.

Other forms of the Present Progressive Tense

The other forms of the Perfect Tense are:
● Past Progressive Tense
● Future Progressive
● Conditional Progressive

Example:

Past Progressive = Estaba estudiando español. - I was studying Spanish.

Future Perfect = Estaré estudiando español. - I will be studying Spanish.

Conditional Perfect = Estaría estudiando español - I would be studying Spanish.

Present Perfect Tense / Pretérito Perfecto

The Present Perfect is formed by combining the verb “to have” with the past
participle.

Auxiliary Verb + Past Participle

​In English:
● I have studied.

Breakdown:

Subject Pronoun = I

● Auxiliary verb = have (to have)

● Past Participle = studied

Present Perfect Tense Examples

In Spanish:

● Yo he estudiado. (I have studied.)

Breakdown:

● Subject Pronoun = Yo (can be omitted)
● Auxiliary verb = he (haber)
● Past Participle = estudiado (studied)

Auxiliary Verb = Haber

While the past participle will always end in the letter ‘o’.

Haber has to be conjugated to agree with the speaker or the subject of the verb.

HABER

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1st Person

He

Hemos

2nd Person

Has

3rd Person

Ha

Han

Past Participles

To form the past participle of regular -ar verbs, add -ado to the stem of the verb.

●Hablar = Hablado

●Trabajar = Trabajado

●Estudiar = Estudiado

To form the past participle of regular -er and -ir verbs, add -ido to the stem of the
verb.

●Comer = Comido

●Vivir = Vivido

Irregular Past Participles

abrir (to open) - abierto (open)

morir (to die) - muerto (dead)

cubrir (to cover) - cubierto (covered)

poner (to put) - puesto (put)

decir (to say) - dicho (said)

resolver (to resolve) - resuelto
(resolved)

escribir (to write) - escrito (written)

romper (to break) - roto (broken)

freír (to fry) - frito (fried)

ver (to see) - visto (seen)

hacer (to do) - hecho (done)

volver (to return) - vuelto (returned)

Summary of the Perfect Tense

To summarise: When you want to express things in the past in a general
manner or to talk about things that started in the past, but are not finished,
use the PresentPerfect Tense.

Example:

●

He sido a Colombia. - I have been to Colombia.

●

He estudiado Español. - I have studied Spanish.

●

He vivido aquí por mi toda vida. - I have lived here for my whole life.

Other forms of the Perfect Tense

The other forms of the Perfect Tense are:
● Plu Perfect Tense / Pluscuamperfecto
● Future Perfect / Futuro Perfecto
● Conditional Perfect / Condicional Perfecto

Example:

●

PluPerfect = Había estudiado español. - I had studied Spanish.

●

Future Perfect = Habrá estudiado español. - I will have studied Spanish.

●

Conditional Perfect = Habría estudiado español - I would have studied Spanish.