The Perfect Tenses Across Time
Master haber in all its tenses combined with irregular past participles to form every Spanish perfect tense.
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Questions Covered in This Set
10 cards to master
What is the universal formula for any perfect tense?
haber (conjugated) + past participle (invariable, always ends in ‑o)
Does the participle agree in gender/number in a perfect tense?
No — it is frozen: 'Ellas han vuelto', never 'vueltas'. It only agrees as an adjective (las ventanas están abiertas) or in the passive with ser.
Where do object pronouns and 'no' go in a perfect tense?
Before haber — nothing may come between haber and the participle: 'No me lo han dicho', '¿Los habías visto?'
What are the four stems of haber (besides the present)?
hab- (imperfect), hub- (preterite & imperfect subjunctive), habr- (future/conditional), hay- (present subjunctive)
Conjugate haber in the present tense.
he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han
Conjugate haber in the present subjunctive.
haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan
What is a very common secondary use of the future perfect?
Probability about the past: '¿Dónde está Luis? — Se habrá dormido.' ('He must have fallen asleep.')
Give the sentence frame for unreal past conditionals.
Si + hubiera/hubiese + participio, habría/hubiera + participio — 'Si hubiera sabido, te habría escrito.'
When is the pluperfect (había hecho) used?
For the past before the past: 'Cuando llegué, ya se habían ido.'
What is the preterite perfect (hube hecho) and when does it appear?
A literary tense you should recognize but never produce; it survives only after apenas, en cuanto, tan pronto como.
