UNIT NINETEEN
Perfect and pluperfect tenses
Perfect tenseThe perfect tense in Spanish is used in a similar way to the perfect tense in English, i.e. to
translate ‘has/have + past participle’, for example:
I have bought
They have eatenIt is formed in Spanish by using the present tense of the verb haber (to have) and the past
participle of the verb. The present tense of the verb haber is as follows:
he hemos
has habéis
ha han
The verb haber is called an ‘auxiliary verb’, because it is only used to help with the
formation of other tenses, and not as a verb in its own right, except in a few exceptional
cases. The usual verb ‘to have’ is tener, as has been seen previously.
The past participle of regular verbs is formed as follows:
comprar comprado
beber bebido
vivir vivido
Here are some examples of the perfect tense of regular verbs:
He comprado un coche nuevo.
I have bought a new car.Ramón ha bebido demasiado.
Ramon has drunk too much.¿Siempre has vivido aquí?
Have you always lived here?