The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) (27 page)

In compound tenses,
haber
is conjugated to agree in number and person with the subject; the participle form always remains the same.

ESSENTIAL

The Past Participle

We’ve covered past participles in Chapter 9, but let’s do a quick review. To form a past participle, choose one of two different endings:

Only a handful of verbs have irregular past participle forms:

Present Perfect

The most common perfect tense is the the present perfect. It’s called “present” because it uses the present-tense form of the auxiliary verb
haber.
You are familiar with the English version of this tense—the compound made up of the present form of the verb “to have” and the past participle: “I have done,” “she has taken,” “they have finished.” In English, we use this tense to talk about actions that were done in the recent past and may continue into the present. The same is true for the Spanish equivalent of this tense,
el perfecto de indicativo
.

To form the present perfect, use the present-tense form of the verb
haber
:

Le he escrito una carta a Patricio.

I have written a letter to Patricio.

Ellos han preparado una cena para los invitados.

They have prepared a dinner for the guests.

Nosotros nos hemos quejado del mal tiempo.

We have been complaining about the bad weather.

Past-Tense Forms

Since Spanish has two past tenses, preterite and imperfect, it’s no surprise that there are also two past perfect compound tenses: past perfect or pluperfect
(pluscuamperfecto)
and preterite perfect
(pretérito anterior o perfecto).

Past Perfect: A Past Before the Past

Past perfect tense is used to describe an action that occurred before another past-tense action. In English, the past perfect tense uses the past tense of the verb “to have” plus the participle: “I had done,” “she had taken,” “they had finished.” In Spanish, the imperfect form of the verb
haber
is used. Here’s a review of the past-perfect conjugations of
haber:

Yo me había levantado antes que ellos me llamaran.

I had gotten up before they called me.

Nosotros habíamos acabado con nuestra cena cuando ella llegó.

We had finished our dinner with she arrived.

Ellos se habían casado antes de que yo los conociera.

They had gotten married before I met them.

Preterite Perfect

The preterite perfect is used much less frequently than the past perfect; generally, you might encounter this tense in literary works (hence it’s sometimes known as the literary past tense). The preterite perfect is similar to past perfect, because it refers to actions that had occurred before other actions that took place in the past. However, in the case of the preterite perfect, the action had to have happened just prior to the main event. This is why preterite perfect is generally accompanied by words like
apenas
(scarcely),
en cuanto
(as soon as), and
cuando
(when).

The preterite perfect uses preterite conjugations of the verb
haber
as the auxiliary verb. Here are the conjugations:

Apenas hube terminado de vestirme cuando ellos llegaron.

I had barely finished getting dressed when they arrived.

En cuanto hubieron llegado a casa, el teléfono empezó a sonar.

As soon as they had gotten home, the phone began to ring.

Future and Conditional

The last two pefect tenses in the indicative mood are the future perfect
(futuro perfecto)
and conditional perfect
(potencial com-puesto).
Both forms are fairly straightforward: Use the future perfect to talk about actions that “will have happened” and the conditional perfect to talk about “what would have happened.”

Future Perfect

The future perfect uses the future tense conjugations of
haber
. This compound tense may be used to discuss an event or action that will have happened before another event or action (or before a particular point) in the future.

FACT

Here are the future-tense conjugations of
haber,
followed by a few examples:

Yo habré terminado el ensayo mañana.

I will have finished the essay by tomorrow.

Ustedes habrán limpiado la mesa antes de salir.

You will have cleaned the table before leaving.

Conditional Perfect

The conditional perfect is used to describe actions that didn’t actually take place, but would have, pending a particular condition. Here are the conditional-tense conjugations of the verb
haber:

Si me lo preguntara, yo le habría contestado.

If she had asked me, I would have answered her.

Usted no lo habría hecho, ¿verdad?

You wouldn’t have done it, right?

ALERT

In the Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood also offers two perfect tenses: the present perfect and past perfect. Generally, the rules for using subjunctive in the perfect compound tenses is the same as in the simple tenses.

Present Perfect Subjunctive

Choosing between indicative and subjunctive mood is the same in the present perfect as it is in the present. Use the subjunctive present perfect when the statement expresses opinion, feeling, or attitude, rather than describing real situations. Here are the present-perfect conjugations of
haber:

Espero que hayas escrito la carta.

I hope you have written the letter.

Necesito hablar con alguien que haya visitado Madrid.

I need to speak with someone who has visited Madrid.

Past Perfect Subjunctive

Similarly, the past perfect subjunctive is used when the main verb of the sentence is in preterite, imperfect, or conditional tense. Here are the past perfect subjunctive conjugations of
haber:

No era cierto que Ramiro y Martín hubieran estado allá.

It wasn’t certain that Ramiro and Martin had been there.

Si ellos hubieran estado allá, yo se lo diría a ellos.

If they had been there, I would have told it to them.

Practice Makes Perfect

Fill in the right past participles and translate the sentences into English:

1.
Tú has ___________________ (acabar) con la cena.