
Again we have one of the indicative past tenses in Spanish that can be find in English: the past perfect. So, what the pluscuamperfecto expresses is a past action that happened before another past action. It actually means ‘more than perfect’ in Latin. We’re going to finish with the strangest name of a verbal tense. Nunca he hecho este examen y por eso me he sentido un poco nervioso. Hoy he estudiado todo el día para el examen DELE. How can you put it in practice? Let’s have a look: You just need to know el presente de indicativo of the verb haber and the participle of the main verb.

Expressing experiences in somebody’s life and past actions in a non-finished period of time are their most common uses. This is one of the indicative past tenses in Spanish that has an equivalent in English: the present perfect.

We also call it pretérito perfecto compuesto. Let’s see the regular form:įor example: Cuando era un niño, hacía deporte a diario. It’s form is very easy to learn and there are only few irregular verbs. The imperfect tense in other of the indicative past tenses in Spanish that is used to describe and to express past habits, among other uses. This is the other side of the past simple in English. There are tons of irregular verbs to learn, with changes, not only in their roots but also in their endings.Īnd now some examples of irregular verbs:įinally, here you can find some sentences with the pretérito indefinido.įor example: Ayer fui a la oficina a las ocho. Regarding its constructions, students often struggle to form it.
#Spanish past tense series
It’s very used in narrative when we enumerate series of events. Using it, we can express finished past actions at a specific moment in the past. How can you express past actions? What about descriptions in the past? Do habits work with the same tenses? Pretérito indefinido in SpanishĪlso known as pretérito perfecto simple is mostly used as the past simple in English. You will need to master the contrast of all the tenses that allow you to speak about the past, properly. Indicative past tenses in Spanish is one of the steps that you will need to climb if you want to reach the intermediate level (B1).
#Spanish past tense how to
But verb drills are important as they’ll help you gain confidence with any conjugation.Īdd a few writing exercises to your practice and you’ll get there in no time!Ĭontinue practicing and you’ll get there.Spanish Grammar A1 ⮟ Ser and Estar in Spanish for Beginners Está and Hay in Spanish to Express Location The Present Indicative in Spanish The verb querer in Spanish: how to use it The Verb Gustar in Spanish Demonstratives in Spanish and Adverbs of Place Possessive Adjectives in Spanish The Present Continuous in Spanish: Estar + Gerund The Gerund in Spanish: Form and Basic Uses Expressions of Quantity in Spanish: Muy and Mucho Spanish Grammar A2 ⮟ Present Perfect Indicative in Spanish The Past Simple in Spanish The Preterite Imperfect Indicative in Spanish Indicative past tenses in Spanish How to Express Future in Spanish How to use por and para in Spanish Possessive Pronouns in Spanish Comparative Adjectives in Spanish Ya in Spanish: Meaning and Usage Subject Personal Pronouns in Spanish Spanish Grammar B1 ⮟ The Pluperfect Indicative in Spanish The Future Simple in Spanish The Conditional Simple in Spanish The imperative mood in Spanish The present subjunctive in Spanish Verbal Periphrasis in Spanish General Rules of Accentuation in Spanish Expressing Wishes with the Subjunctive in Spanish The Use of Cuando with Indicative and Subjunctive Spanish Grammar B2 ⮟ Advanced Uses of Conditional Simple The Future Perfect in Spanish The Conditional Perfect in Spanish Present Perfect Subjunctive in Spanish How do I use the past imperfect subjunctive? The Pluperfect Subjunctive in Spanish How to express probability in Spanish Conditional Clauses in Spanish Verbs of Change in Spanish Reported Speech in Spanish Spanish Grammar C1 ⮟ The passive Voice in Spanish Adverbial Clauses of Manner in Spanish Adverbial Clauses of Cause in Spanish Clauses of Purpose in Spanish Conditional Conjunctions in Spanish Uses of the Pronoun SE with Syntactic Function Uses of the Pronoun Se as a Verb Mark The Indeterminate Feminine in Spanish It’s easy to confuse the usted and ustedes forms of conjugated verbs in the past tense. It’s common if you’re just beginning to mix up fui and fue. It’s over to you! The Spanish past tense is not easy, and you won’t get it without practice. So, if you wanted to say ‘Before I left, I had left my keys at home, you would say:Īntes de irme, había dejado mis llaves en casa. Don’t forget the participle part, though.Īs with the Spanish present perfect, the main or action verb should take the participle form (which is where you’ll need to add -ido or -ado to the end of the main verb).
