In English, the compound tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb to have + the past participle: I have read, he had slept, etc. | |||||
In Spanish, the compound tenses are also formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb haber, to have + the past participle. In Spanish, the conjugated form of haber is used only to form the compound tenses. There are five compound tenses in the indicative. The fifth tense, the preterite perfect, is used strictly in literary works. | |||||
Los participios pasados |
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In English, the past participle usually ends in -ed, as in, walked or cooked. However, there are many irregular past participles, such as, written, read, or done. Spanish also has both regular and irregular past participles. | |||||
Regular: |
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The past participle of all -ar verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding -ado to the infinitive stem. The past participle of regular -er and -ir verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding -ido to the infinitive stem. | |||||
amar = amado - loved | vivir= vivido - livedvxxxxxxxivido - | ||||
comer = comido - eaten | comido - eaten | ||||
Irregular: |
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Past participles ending in -to |
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abrir | abierto - opened | poner | puesto - put | ||
cubrir | cubierto - covered | resolver | resuelto - resolved | ||
descubrir | descubierto - discovered | romper | roto - broken | ||
escribir | escrito - written | ver | visto - seen | ||
freír | frito - fried | volver | vuelto ' returned | ||
morir | muerto - died | ||||
Past participles ending in -cho |
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decir | dicho - said, told | ||||
hacer | hecho - done, made | ||||
satisfacer | satisfecho - satisfied | ||||
Note: Some verbs such as caer, creer, leer, oír, and traer require an accent over the i of - ido: caído, creído, leído, oído, traído. The past participle of ir is ido. | |||||
Ejemplos usando yo: | |||||
Yo he ido a la playa. | - I have gone to the beach. | ||||
Yo habré ido a la playa | - I will have gone to the beach. | ||||
Yo había ido a la playa. | - I had gone to the beach. | ||||
Yo habría ido a la playa. | - I would have gone to the beach. | ||||
Reflexive verbs with the compound tenses |
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Reflexive pronouns are almost always placed directly before the conjugated form of the auxiliary verb haber. In negative sentences, the negative is placed directly before the reflexive pronoun. If the complete verb form contains either an infinitive or a present participle (gerund, -ando, -iendo), the reflexive pronoun can be attached to the end of the infinitive or present participle. | |||||
Mario se había levantado temprano aquella mañana. | - Mario had gotten up early that morning. | ||||
Mario no se había levantado temprano aquella mañana. | - Mario had not gotten up early that morning. | ||||
He tenido que levantarme temprano toda la semana. | - I've had to get up early all week. | ||||
Nos hemos estado preocupando mucho de Elena or | - We've been worrying a lot about Elena. | ||||
Hemos estado preocupándonos mucho de Elena. | |||||
Poder and deber + the compound tense |
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Poder and deber are conjugated in the imperfect with haber + past participle to express the idea of "what might have been." | |||||
Yo podía haber dormido veinticuatro horas seguidas. | - I could have slept 24 hours straight. | ||||
No debíamos haber salido tan pronto. | - We shouldn't have left so soon. | ||||
Me podía haber levantado a las seis. or | - I could have gotten up at six. | ||||
Podía haberme levantado a las seis. |
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