G - The Perfect Tenses

For English speakers, the perfect tenses in Spanish are easy. They are formed and function identically with their English parallels. In contrast with many features of Spanish, they can be translated correctly into English by going "word by word."

Formation of the Perfect Tenses.

The perfect tenses are formed using the auxiliary verb haber and a past participle.

The auxiliary verb haber. Haber is the only auxiliary verb in Spanish. It means to have, but is only used

1) to mean "there is" or "there are," or the equivalent in the past or future,

2) in certain idioms,

3) and in forming compound tenses.

("To have" in the sense of possess is tener.)

Present: he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han (hay is a special form of the 3rd person present of haber).

Imperfect (regular): había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían.

Preterite (seldom used): hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron.

here is also a future perfect, which will be briefly discussed when we deal with the future tense.

The Past Participle

Forms. Regular

past participles end in -ado (-ar verbs) or -ido (-er/-ir verbs): hablado, comido, vivido.

Forms. Irregular past participates are not uncommon.

abierto (abrir, to open)
frito (freír, to fry)
visto (ver, to see)

Many of them are a syllable shorter than they would be if regular.

dicho (decir, to say)
escrito (escribir, to write)
hecho (hacer, to do or make)
muerto (morir, to die)
preso (prender, to seize or arrest)
puesto (poner, to put)
roto (romper, to break)
vuelto (volver, to return)

Look in your 501 book for Irregular verbs stem

Verbal Use of Past Participles.

Past participles used in perfect tenses are invariable. .

El muchacho ha venido. (The boy has come.)

La muchacha ha venido. (The girl has come.)

Los muchachos han venido. (The boys have come.)

Las muchachas han venido. (The girls have come.)

Adjectival Use of Past Participles.

Just as in English, past participles are also used as adjectives. When so used, they do change their ending to agree with the noun modified in gender and number.

Past participles are adjectives unless they are immediately preceded by a form of haber.

La puerta está abierta. (The door is open.)
Los empleados fueron despedidos. (The employees were fired.)

Meaning of the perfect tenses.

The translation of the perfect tenses is identical with English. That is, one uses the appropriate tense of the English verb have, plus the English past participle.

He tomado --> I have taken.
Habíamos vivido --> We had lived.
He dicho --> I have spoken (a way to conclude a formal speech).

Tarea 1
Exercise on perfect tenses and past participles. Translate each of the following into English. One sentence has two possible translations

Cuando llegamos, ya habían comido.
En Francia comen patatas fritas.
Mis amigos y yo vivimos rodeados de mujeres bonitas.
Esta noche el Primer Ministro ha hablado.
Estas novedades han interesado a los militares.
Hemos vivido en Francia.
Vivimos en Francia.
Habíamos vivido en Francia.
Pedro salió porque había estado demasiado tiempo en casa.
Los niños cansados han podido dormir.

Tarea 2

Go to the Spanish newspaper El País or the Mexican newspaper El Universal. Pick a story on a topic you are familiar with (international news is best). Look for and report on examples of 1) past participles used with a form of haber (a perfect tense), or a past participle used as an adjective. Translate up to five examples. Don't try to translate the entire sentences in which these are found; but in Spanish tell the class what story did you pick.

Cliff Notes Ahi puedes repasar otra vez. Tiene graficos.

Credits given to: Daniel Eisenberg