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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.

Present perfect

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.

Pluperfect

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.

Preterite perfect

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.

Future perfect

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.

Conditional perfect

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.

Subjunctive compound tenses

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:

Present perfect subjunctive

Pluperfect subjunctive

See also

If constructions
Present subjunctive
Imperfect subjunctive
Verbs