Present Perfect and Pluperfect

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Present Perfect and Pluperfect
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• Lets look at the present perfect in English
  first
• I have read that book.
• I have lived here for five years.
• Perfect means complete. All perfect tenses
  are by definition, therefore, past tenses.
• So whats the difference between
• I have read that book.
• And simply
• I read that book?
• The difference in this case is how we view the
  action. If we say, I have (or Ive) read that
  book, we see it as complete but having influence
  on the present. We might want to discuss it. I
  read that book means that its over and done
  with.
• The second sentence is a little easier to
  explain
• I have lived here for five years.
• That means not only have I inhabited this place
  for the past five years but also that I continue
  to live here. Sometimes the present perfect
  means that the action is complete but still going
  on in the present, and sometimes it means that
  the action still has influence on the present.

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• The past perfect is easier to explain, but we
  dont always use it when we should. The past
  perfect (also called pluperfect) is the past of
  the past.
• Juan had already eaten when we arrived.
• Both actions (eaten and arrived) are in
  the past. But the eating happened before the
  arriving. So arrived is past, and had eaten
  is the past of thatthe past of the past.

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Past Participle

• All perfect tenses are made up of two parts the
  helping verb and the past participle of the main
  verb
• helping verb past participle
  helping verb past
  participle
• He has eaten. We have seen.
• They have left. You have finished.
• I have studied. She has fallen.

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• This is how you form the past participle in
  Spanish
• Drop the ar and add ado
• hablar hablado nadar nadado
• pensar pensado almorzar almorzado
• llegar llegado estar estado
• Drop the er or ir and add ido
• comer comido poder podido
• leer leído querer querido
• asistir asistido venir venido

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• Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.

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• There are, of course, irregular past participles
  in Spanish as there are in English.
• call have called
• jump have jumped
• look have looked
• eat have eated???? have eaten
• bring have bringed???? have brought

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• You have to memorize the irregular past
  participles in Spanish just as you do in English.
• volver vuelto (NOT volvido)
• poner puesto (NOT ponido)
• abrir abierto etc.
• cubrir cubierto
• escribir escrito
• ver visto
• morir muerto
• decir dicho
• hacer hecho
• romper roto

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Helping Verb

• Now you need a helping verb to go with your past
  participles. What we use is the present tense of
  the verb haber.
• he hablado hemos hablado
• has hablado habéis hablado
• ha hablado han hablado
• Use these verb forms with all your past
  participles he comido, has querido, ha vuelto,
  hemos trabajado, etc.

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• Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.

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Pluperfect(Past Perfect)(Pluscuamperfecto)

• The past perfect (also called the pluperfect
  and, in Spanish, the pluscuamperfecto), remember,
  is the past of the past and translates with had
  in English. ALL perfect tenses get a helping
  verb and a past participle
• present perfect he has eaten
• past perfect he had eaten
• future perfect he will have eaten
• conditional perfect he would have eaten

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• As you saw, the present perfect tense has a set
  of helping verbs that come from haber
• he hemos
• has habéis
• ha han
• The same is true of the past perfect. The
  helping verbs for the past perfect are the
  imperfect form of haber
• había hablado habíamos hablado
• habías hablado habíais hablado
• había hablado habían hablado

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• Note that the endings on haber for the past
  perfect are the endings for the imperfect tense
• había habíamos
• habías habíais
• había habían
• The present perfect is the PRESENT tense of
  haber the past participle.
• The past perfect tense is the IMPERFECT (PAST)
  tense of haber the past participle.
• Guess what the future perfect tense is composed
  of. But thats another lesson.

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• Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.