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4.5.1 Formation of pretérito perfecto, pretérito plusquamperfecto and pretérito anterior
pretérito perfecto
| present of haber |
+ participle |
= pretérito perfecto |
| yo he |
comido |
he comido |
| tú has |
comido |
has comido |
| él ha |
comido |
ha comido |
| nosotros hemos |
comido |
hemos comido |
| vosotros habéis |
comido |
habéis comido |
| ellos han |
comido |
han comido |
pretérito plusquamperfecto
| imperfecto of haber |
+ participle |
= pretérito plusquamperfecto |
| yo había |
comido |
yo había comido |
| tú habías |
comido |
tú habías comido |
| él había |
comido |
él había comido |
| nosotros habíamos |
comido |
nosotros habíamos comido |
| vosotros habíais |
comido |
vosotros habíais comido |
| ellos habían |
comido |
ellos habían comido |
pretérito anterior
| indefinido of haber |
+ participle |
= pretérito anterior |
| yo hube |
comido |
yo hube comido |
| tú hubiste |
comido |
tú hubiste comido |
| él hubo |
comido |
él hubo comido |
| nosotros hubimos |
comido |
nosotros hubimos comido |
| vosotros hubistéis |
comido |
vosotros hubistéis comido |
| ellos hubieron |
comido |
ellos hubieron comido |
4.5.2 Use of pretérito perfecto, pretérito indefinido and pretérito imperfecto
Actually it's quite easy to differentiate the pretérito plusquamperfecto from the other tenses, but we'll have a look at this a little later in the next lesson. The pretérito perfecto is again quite simple to recognise since - as you will see it is very similar to the English present perfect . For most of us it's a bit tricky to find the difference between pretérito imperfecto and pretérito indefinido. Here you will have an overview over all the three tenses:
Use of the three tenses
| pretérito imperfecto |
pretérito indefinido |
pretérito perfecto = present perfect |
| 1. There are two actions in the past that happen at the same time. |
1. It is an action in the past that was finished in the past and does not have any influence on the present anymore. |
1. The action happened in the past, nevertheless, it still has an influence on the present for the speaker. |
| 2. There is an action in the past that is disrupted by another action in the past. |
2. There are more than one actions in a sequence in the past. |
2. The speaker is in the same time frame / time "zone" like the action he is talking about. |
| 3. The action is repeated in the past. |
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| 4. It's not clear whether the action that started in the past still continues or not. |
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| 5. It's not actually important when it happened. It's just in the past. |
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Just have a look at the table to find some significant examples
pretérito imperfecto, pretérito perfecto and pretérito indefinido
Let us have a look at the implications, which the different tenses have and what kind of association they give:
| Él estuvo enfermo |
Él año pasado estuvo enfermo. |
Last year he was ill. |
| Él estaba enfermo |
Él estaba enfermo, cuando sus padres construían la casa. |
When his parents built the house, he was ill. |
| Él ha estado enfermo |
Al principio de este año él ha estado enfermo, pero ahora está bien. |
At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again. |
pretérito imperfecto and pretérito indefinido
| English sentence |
Spanish correct |
Spanish incorrect |
explanation |
| There was a little village, but the people were happy. |
Era un pueblo pequeño, pero la gente era feliz. |
Fue un pueblo pequeño, pero la gente fue feliz. |
It's not important when the village existed and whether it is still on this planet. It just was. |
| There was a little, beautiful village, but the bomb destroyed it completely. |
Fue un pueblo pequeño y bonito, pero la bomba lo destruy´ completamente. |
Era un pueblo pequeño y bonito, pero la bomba lo destruy´ completamente. |
The finality of the action is the main point. The village doesn't exist anymore. |
| While he told me the story of his life, I was bored to death. |
Mientras él me contaba su vida, yo me aburría a muerte. |
Mientras me cont´ su vida, yo me aburrí a muerte. |
The "classic" case: there are two actions at the same time. |
| I was walking on the street when suddenly the accident happened that changed my life. |
Me paseaba por la calle, cuando de repente ocurri´ este accidente, que cambi´ mi vida. |
Me pasé por la calle, cuando de repente ocurri´ este accidente, que cambi´ mi vida. |
There is the basic action - walking on the street - that is interrupted / disturbed by a second action - the accident, that changed my life. |
| He drank his beer, paid and left. |
Bebi´ su cerveza, pag´ y se fue. |
Bebía su cerveza, pagaba y se iba. |
More than one action that occurs in succession. |
We already had a short glance at the verbs that have a different meaning when used in imperfecto in comparison to the indefinido.
saber
| saber in imperfecto = to know |
saber in indefinido = get to know |
| Cuando la viste, sabías ya que se había muerto su marido? |
Si, lo supe el domingo, cuando María me lo dijo |
| When you saw her, did you already know that her husband had died? |
Yes, I heard about it on Sunday, when María told me. |
conocer
| conocer in imperfecto = to know |
conocer in indefinido = to get to know, to meet |
| A María, la conocía ya cuando todavía vivía en Paris. |
A María, la conocí en Paris |
| I knew María already when living in Paris. |
I met María in Paris |
tener
| tener in imperfecto = to have, to own |
tener in indefinido = to get |
| Tenía una casa muy linda en Berlín, pero vivía en Munich |
Cuando tuvo la casa en Berlin, se mud´ |
| He had a very nice house in Berlin, but he lived in Munich. |
When he got a house in Berlin he moved right away. |
4.5.3 Exercise (indefinido, imperfecto, perfecto)
Listen to the words and repeat them
| mirar = to look at |
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| demasiado = to much |
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| hoy = today |
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| hoy día = this day |
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| la película = film |
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| por la mañana = morning |
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| por la tarde = afternoon |
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| por la noche = evening, night |
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| quebrar = to break |
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| pierna = leg |
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| quebrarse una pierna = to break a leg |
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Translate the following sentences into Spanish
| He worked and lived a long time in Paris. |
Translate |
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| She looked him in the eyes and left. |
Translate |
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| I ate too much today. |
Translate |
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| Yesterday we went to a restaurant to eat Paella. |
Translate |
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| In the morning we went to the beach, we ate ice cream at noon and in the evening we watched a film. |
Translate |
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| Pedro broke a leg, now he is in hospital. |
Translate |
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| They were startled when they received the message. |
Translate |
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| Did you know, that he went to Spain? |
Translate |
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| This morning I have bought a car, now I do not have any money left. |
Translate |
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| Thomas Mann slept, when the phone rang and he got to know that he received the Nobel Price for literature. |
Translate |
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