2.9 Lesson Flashcards
A quick introduction to the present perfect, past perfect, and conditional.
What is a past participle?
The past participle is a verb form that is essential to the conjugation of compound tenses. Past participles are also often used as adjectives or for the passive voice. In English, past participles end in “-ed” or “-en”: “I’ve already cooked - Ya he cocinado. “I’ve already eaten” - Ya he comido.
How do you form a past participle?
The past participle for regular verbs is formed by adding -ado to the stem of -ar verbs or -ido to the stem of -er or -ir verbs.
Can past participles be used as adjectives?
Yes, past participles are often used as adjectives. When they do, they agree in number and gender: “The girls are tired” –> Las niñas están cansadas.
What is the present perfect tense in Spanish?
The present perfect tense is constructed by using the auxiliary verb haber (have) with the past participle of the primary verb:
- An immediate past: “She hasn’t eaten yet” –> Todavía no ha comido
- Information independent of time: “I haven’t gone out with Jorge” –> No he salido con Jorge
- A past inhabited by the speaker: “Recently, I’ve been very sad” –> Recientemente he estado muy triste
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I haven’t eaten yet
Todavía no he comido
I have (present perfect) - yo he. Notice that we already learned the impersonal conjugation of haber in the third person (hay–> there is, there are). When haber is used as an auxiliary verb, as it is used here, it can be conjugated for every person
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I’ve canceled the trip
He cancelado el viaje
canceled - cancelado. This is the past participle of the verb cancelar. Add -ado to the stem of the verb.
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You haven’t done your homework
No has hecho tu tarea
you have (present perfect) - tú has
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Repeat what you have learned
Repite lo que has aprendido
learned - aprendido. This is the past participle of the verb aprender. Add -ido to the stem of the verb.
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Monica has been happy lately
Monica ha estado contenta últimamente
he/she has (present perfect) - él/ella/ud ha
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She’s lived in 12 countries
Ella ha vivido en doce países
lived - vivido (-ir past participle)
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Eduardo, Miguel and I have not gone out yet
Eduardo, Miguel, y yo todavía no hemos salido
we have (present perfect) - nosotros hemos
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We’ve already explained it to her
Ya se lo hemos explicado
explained - explicado (-ar past participle)
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You (vosotros) have not loved
Vosotros no habéis amado
you have (present perfect) - vosotros habéis
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You all have not met my friend Alexander?
¿No habéis conocido a mi amigo Alejandro?
met - conocido (-er past participle)
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They have not finished their homework
Ellos no han terminado su tarea
they have (present perfect) - ellos/ellas/uds han
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His books have been translated into many languages
Sus libros han sido traducidos a muchos idiomas
translated - traducido (-ir past participle)
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TO HAVE (Present Perfect)
- I have (eaten)
- You have (eaten)
- He/She has (eaten)
- We have (eaten)
- You have (eaten)
- They have (eaten)
HABER (Tiempo Pretérito Perfecto)
- Yo he (comido)
- Tú has (comido)
- Él/Ella/Ud ha (comido)
- Nosotros hemos (comido)
- Vosotros habéis (comido)
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds han (comido)
What is the past participle ending for -ar verbs like amar?
Participio de verbos que terminan en -ar como amar (-ado)
- Yo he amado
- Tú has amado
- Él ha amado
- Nosotros hemos amado
- Vosotros habéis amado
- Ellos han amado
What is the past participle ending for -er and -ir verbs like comer?
Participio de verbos que terminan en -er e -ir como comer (-ido)
- Yo he comido
- Tú has comido
- Él ha comido
- Nosotros hemos comido
- Vosotros habéis comido
- Ellos han comido
What is the Past Perfect Tense in Spanish?
The Past Perfect Tense is formed by using haber as an auxiliary verb. Haber is conjugated in the imperfect tense with the past participle of the primary verb. It describes the past of the past:
- “They had already left” –> Ya se habían ido
- “They had eaten all of the food” –> Habían comido toda la comida
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When they got back, I had already eaten
Cuando volvieron, yo ya había comido
I had eaten (past perfect) - (yo) había comido. Note that in Spanish compound tenses, the helping verb haber and its participle are never separated.
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You had done a lot for them
Tú habías hecho mucho para ellos
you had done (past perfect) - habías hecho
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Monica had been happy
Mónica había estado feliz
he/she had been (past perfect) - (él/ella/Ud) había estado
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My brother and I had reserved a hotel room
Mi hermano y yo habíamos reservado un cuarto en el hotel
we had reserved (past perfect) - habíamos reservado
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You all had already left when they arrived
Ustedes ya se habían ido cuando llegaron
you had left (past perfect, Spain) - habíais ido
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They had sung for the president
Habían cantado para el presidente
they had sung (past perfect) - habían cantado
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I had moved to California for a year
Me había mudado a California por un año
I had moved (changed residence) - me había mudado. Recall that mudarse is a reflexive verb, and that the reflexive pronoun should go before the helping verb in compound tenses.
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Had you reserved a hotel room before your trip?
¿Habías reservado un cuarto en el hotel antes del viaje?
you had reserved (in a hotel, restaurant) - tú habías reservado
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She had bumped into an old friend in Berlin
Ella se había tropezado con un viejo amigo en Berlín
he/she had bumped into (past perfect) - él/ella/Ud se había tropezado con
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We had told her everything
Le habíamos contado todo
We had told (past perfect) - nosotros habíamos contado
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The teacher had posed a dificult problem to the class
La profesora había propuesto un problema difícil a la clase
she had posed, put forward (past perfect) - ella había propuesto
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They had announced the good news before the party
Habían anunciado las buenas noticias antes de la fiesta
they had announced (past perfect) - ellos/ellas/Uds habían anunciado
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I had already prepared it beforehand
Ya lo había preparado anteriormente
earlier, beforehand, previously - anteriormente
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TO HAVE (Past Perfect)
- I had (eaten)
- You had (eaten)
- He/She had (eaten)
- We had(eaten)
- You had (eaten)
- They had (eaten)
HABER (Tiempo Pluscuamperfecto)
- Yo había (comido)
- Tú habías (comido)
- Él/Ella/Ud había (comido)
- Nosotros habíamos (comido)
- Vosotros habíais (comido)
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds habían (comido)
What are irregular past participles?
Some past participles in Spanish are irregular in that they do not end in -ado or -ido. Instead, they have entirely irregular forms: “I’ve already returned the books George lent me” –> Ya he devuelto los libros que Jorge me prestó.
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You’ve opened my eyes to the truth
Me has abierto los ojos a la verdad
opened - abierto. Note that this is the irregular past participle of the verb abrir. The form abrido does not exsit.
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The boy covers the table with a tablecloth
El niño cubre la mesa con un mantel
to cover, conceal - cubrir
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The company has covered all the costs
La empresa ha cubierto todos los costos
covered, concealed (irregular past participle) - cubierto. The noun costo comes from the verb costar, “to cost.” An alternative is gasto, or “expense.”
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She’s told me everything about the trip
Me ha dicho todo sobre el viaje
said, told - dicho. Note that this is the irregular past participle of the verb decir. (The form decido does not exist.)
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I read (past tense) the words written on the piece of paper
Leí las palabras escritas en la hoja de papel
written - escrito (irregular past participle). Remember that past participles agree in gender and quantity with the verb that they modify. (e.g. palabras escritas, but un contrato escrito.)
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I like to fry eggs for breakfast
Me gusta freír huevos para desayuno
to fry - freír
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For breakfast I made fried eggs
Para el desayuno preparé huevos fritos
fried - frito (irregular past participle)
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The homework is well done
La tarea está bien hecha
made, done - hecho (irregular past participle)
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Did the machine print your name on the ticket?
¿Imprimió la máquina tu nombre en el boleto?
to print - imprimir
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Your name is printed on the ticket
Tu nombre está impreso en el boleto
printed - impreso (irregular past participle)
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He was sad because his dog had died
Estaba triste porque su perro se había muerto
dead, deceased - muerto (irregular past participle)
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I placed your books and pencils on the table
He puesto tus libros y lápices en la mesa
put, placed - puesto (irregular past participle)
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They want to resolve the problem
Quieren resolver el problema
to resolve - resolver
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The problem has been resolved
El problema se ha resuelto
resolved - resuelto (irregular past participle)
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All my pencils are broken
Todos mis lápices están rotos
broken - roto (irregular past participle)
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Does his work satisfy him?
¿Le satisface su trabajo?
to satisfy - satisfacer
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He’s satisfied by the work he’s doing.
Está satisfecho del trabajo que está haciendo.
satisfied - satisfecho
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I haven’t seen her in a long time
No la he visto en mucho tiempo
seen - visto (irregular past participle)
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The president has returned from Europe
Ha vuelto el presidente desde Europa
returned from somewhere - vuelto (irregular past participle)
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He has already returned the book to me
Ya me ha devuelto el libro
returned to someone - devuelto (irregular past participle)
What is the conditional tense in Spanish?
The conditional tense in Spanish generally corresponds to the English “would + (verb)” and expresses an uncertainity of the future. It is used to:
- Root a future action in the past: “Jorge told me that he’d go out at ten” –> Jorge me dijo que saldría a las diez
- Express hypothetical thoughts: “I would help you with your homework, but I am busy today” –> Te ayudaría con tu tarea, pero estoy ocupado hoy
- Allow room for a probability that may include conjecture: “With whom would Marta go out so late at night?” –> ¿Con quién saldría tan tarde Marta?
- Express a courteous request: “Would you allow me to use your car?” –> ¿Me dejaría usar su coche?
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I would talk but I don’t want to
Hablaría pero no quiero
I would talk - hablaría. Note that regular -ar, -er, and -ir ending verbs are conjugated the same way in the conditional tense, with the endings simply added onto the infinitive
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You would run, but you broke your leg
Correrías, pero te rompiste la pierna
you would run - correrías
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José would write a book on Mexican art, but he’s too busy
José escribiría un libro sobre el arte mexicano, pero está demasiado ocupado
he/she would write - escribiría
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With whom would we sing?
¿Con quién cantaríamos?
we would sing - cantaríamos
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You (vosotros) would understand, but you’re not listening
Vosotros entenderíais, pero no estais escuchando
you (vosotros) would understand - entederíais
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With whom would they talk to at this hour?
¿Con quién hablarían a esta hora?
they would talk - hablarían
What are the conditional endings for regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs?
Tiempo Condicional (-ar, -er, -ir)
- -ía (yo)
- -ías (tú)
- -ía (él)
- -íamos (nosotros)
- -íais (vosotros)
- -ían (ellos)
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Most men like sports
A la mayoría de los hombres les gustan los deportes
most - la mayoría de
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Good point
Buen punto
point - el punto. The word punto is also used to describe “points” in a sport or game, or to mean “period” in a sentence
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I will not go out with him. Period.
No voy a salir con él. Punto.
period - el punto
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Our teacher is in a coma
Nuestra maestra está en un coma
coma - el coma. Do not confuse this with la coma, which means “comma” (the punctuation mark)
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There are too many commas in your essay. You’re going to have to write it over again
Hay demasiadas comas en tu ensayo. Vas a tener que escribirlo de nuevo
comma - la coma. Do not confuse this with el coma, which means a “coma” (i.e. a vegetative state)
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Most sentences end in a period
La mayoría de las oraciones terminan con un punto
sentence - la oración
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This is the end of your Spanish lesson
Éste es el fin de tu lección de español
end - el fin
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You should go to the party
Deberías ir a la fiesta
should - deber (in conditional tense). Note that while deber in the present tense means “must”, any conjugation of deber in the conditional means “should”. e.g. “We should talk” - Deberíamos hablar
