Spanish Prep

Regular Verbs

There are various tenses in Spanish, and for regular verbs, it is generally required to modify the ending. We will review the various tenses, provide patterns and give examples. Most regular verbs follow the patterns below, but there are certain verbs, such as the verb gustar (to like) that, when conjugated, follow a different pattern; to see this, please click here go to the Gustar page.

Although we will only use four verbs in our examples, the following verbs are among other regular verbs that follow the same patterns when conjugated: vivir (to live), correr (to run), amar (to love), limpiar (to clean), barrer (to sweep), caminar (to walk), manejar (to drive), aspirar (to vacuum), estudiar (to study), esperar (to wait, to hope), cocinar (to cook), cortar (to cut), pintar (to paint), dibujar (to draw), mirar (to look), nadar (to swim), cambiar (to change), bailar (to dance), tomar (to drink, to take), cantar (to sing), cenar (to eat dinner), desayunar (to eat breakfast), terminar (to finish, to end), acabar (to finish, to end), comprar (to buy), llorar (to cry), beber (to drink), robar (to steal), esconder (to hide), controlar (to control), contratar (to hire), saludar (to greet, to say hi), planchar (to iron), enseñar (to teach), aprender (to learn), asistir (to attend), trabajar (to work), viajar (to travel), escuchar (to listen, to hear). There are other verbs that are regular and follow these patterns when conjugated; we only listed some of the verbs we think you are likely to encounter in your classes.

The following are the regular verbs we will use in our examples: hablar = to talk; lavar = to wash; comer = to eat; sacudir = to dust

Present tense

Preterite

This tense is used to talk about past actions/events.

Future

This tense is used to talk about actions/events that will happen in the future. There are two ways to do this: we can talk about things that will happen sometime in the future or things that will happen in the immediate future.

To talk about things that will happen sometime in the future, we change the verb's ending (in English, this means will + verb). Examples:
1) Hablaré con Tommy. (I will talk to Tommy)
2) Juan lavará los platos. (Juan will wash the dishes)

To talk about things that will happen in the immediate future, we use the verb "ir" in the present tense + the verb (in the infinitive) that indicates the action/event. Examples:
1) Ella va a hablar con Tommy. (She is going to talk to Tommy)
2) Ana va a lavar los platos. (Ana is going to wash the dishes)

Conditional

Conditional: when do we use it? The conditional tense is used to talk about what someone would do under certain circumstances. Please note that even though the conditional in Spanish is generally translated into the English "would," the English "would" is not always translated into the Spanish conditional tense: if you are talking about an activity that was a repeated past event (ie, something you "used to do," then the Spanish imperfect is used). Examples:

1) Juan hablaría con su vecino todos los días, pero no tiene suficiente tiempo. (John would talk to his neighbor every day, but he does not have enough time). Note that "hablaría" is in the Spanish conditional tense.

2) Cuando Juan tenía 10 años, hablaba con su vecino todos los días. (When John was 10 years old, he would (used to) talk to his neighbor every day). Note that "hablaba" is in the Spanish imperfect (indicative) tense.

Here are the endings when we use the conditional tense:

Conditional Perfect

Conditional perfect: when do we use it? This tense is used to describe an action in the past that would have happened but did not due to some other event.
Examples:

1) Juan habría hablado con su vecino pero no tenía tiempo. (John would have talked to his neighbor but didn't have time).

2) Juan habría sacudido la mesa pero no tenía tiempo. (John would have dusted the table but didn't have time).

3) Habríamos sacudido los muebles pero no teníamos tiempo. (We would have dusted the furniture but didn't have time).

We form the conditional perfect tense by using the verb "haber" in conditional form plus the verb in past participle:

Present Perfect

When do we use it? We use the present perfect to talk about things that have happened recently OR about things that started in the past and that continue in the present. We form the present perfect tense by having the verb haber in the present tense plus the main verb in the past participle. Examples:

1) Esta semana he hablado con mi mamá todos los días. (This week, I have talked to my mom every day)
2) María ha sacudido los muebles toda la mañana y seguirá sacudiendo hasta que termine. (María has dusted the furniture all morning and will continue dusting until she is done.)

Preterite Perfect

The preterite perfect tense is used to describe an action in the past that happened just before another action in the past. This tense is used mostly in literature, and it is not commonly used in spoken modern Spanish. We form the preterite perfect tense by having the verb haber in the preterite tense plus the main verb in the past participle. Examples:

1) En cuanto Juan hubo sacudido el sillón, nos sentamos a ver la tele. (As soon as Juan had dusted the sofa, we sat down to watch TV).
2) Después de que Patty hubo hablado con su vecina, decidieron contratar al mismo jardinero. (After Patty had talked to her neighbor, they decided to hire the same gardener).

Future Perfect

The future perfect is used to talk about an action that will have been completed at some point in the future. The future perfect is formed by using: the verb haber in the future tense plus the other verb in the past participle. Examples:

1) Cuando llegues al colegio, ya habré hablado con la directora. (By the time you get to school, I will have already talked to the principal)
2) Ana habrá comido cuando su novio llegue a visitarla. (Ana will have eaten when her boyfriend arrives for a visit)

Pluperfect

The pluperfect is formed by having the verb haber in the imperfect tense + the other verb in the past participle, and it is used to talk about a past action that happened prior to another action in the past. Pluperfect is also called the past perfect. Note that this is different from the preterite perfect tense discussed above. One way to think about these two tenses: the preterite perfect is mostly used in literature, whereas the pluperfect (past perfect) is what people commonly use in modern Spanish. Examples:

1) Ya había comido cuando llegó mi mamá. (I had already eaten when my mom arrived.)
2) Juan había lavado su coche antes de salir de su casa. (Juan had washed his car before leaving his house).

Present Subjunctive

We use the present subjunctive when we talk talk about the unknown, or about situations of uncertainty, doubt, emotion, hope, necessity, or desire. The word que usually follows right after the verb that indicates the uncertainty, need, desire, etc. Examples:

1) Ana quiere que Juan lave el carro. (Ana wants John to wash the car). Note: here, quiere is the verb that indicates desire.
2) Ana necesita que Juan sacuda la mesa. (Ana needs John to dust the table). Note: here, necesita is the verb that indicates need.
3) Espero que Juan coma conmigo este fin de semana. (I hope Juan eats with me this weekend). Note: here, espero is the verb that indicates hope.

Past (or Imperfect) Subjunctive (verbs that end in "ar")

The past subjunctive, also known as the imperfect subjunctive, usually refers to a previous experience, but sometimes it is used to refer to unlikely events or possibilities. Examples:
1) Si Juan lavara el carro, le pagaría 10 dólares. (If John washed the car, I would pay him ten dollars)  
2) Ana quería que Juan lavara el carro. (Ana wanted John to wash the car)
3) Me daría mucho gusto si lavases los platos. (I would be very happy if you washed the dishes).
4) No quería que hablases de mis problemas. (I didn't want you to talk about my problems.)
5) Si hablara francés, viviría en París. (If I spoke French, I would live in Paris)

Past (or Imperfect) Subjunctive (verbs that end in "er"/"ir")

Examples:
1) Si Juan sacudiera la mesa, le pagaría 10 dólares. (If John dusted the table, I would pay him ten dollars)  
2) A Patty le hubiera gustado que Juan comiera con ella . (Patty would have liked it if John ate with her.)
3) Si Juan sacudiese la mesa, le pagaría 10 dólares. (If John dusted the table, I would pay him ten dollars)  
4) A Patty le hubiera gustado que Juan comiese con ella . (Patty would have liked it if John ate with her.)

Present Perfect Subjunctive

We use the present perfect subjunctive when we talk about past actions that are relevant to the present; we also use this tense to talk about actions that will have been completed in the future. The present perfect subjunctive is formed by using the verb haber in the present subjunctive + the main verb in the past participle. Examples:

1) Dudo que Juan haya sacudido los muebles. (I doubt that Juan has dusted the furniture)
2) Me alegra que hayamos hablado. (I am glad we talked)
3) Es posible que ya haya comido cuando regreses del trabajo. (It is possible that I will have already eaten when you get back from work).
4) Quiero que hayas lavado toda tu ropa para el viernes. (I want you to have washed all your clothes by Friday)

Past Perfect Subjunctive (Pluperfect subjunctive)

We use the past perfect subjunctive, also known as the pluperfect subjunctive, when we talk about a past situation that is also hypothetical; we also use this tense when we talk about past actions that preceded other past actions and when we talk about past conditionals. We form the past perfect subjunctive by having the verb haber in imperfect subjunctive plus the main verb in past participle. Examples:

1) Si Ana hubiera hablado con Juan, habría entendido lo que pasó. (If Ana had talked to Juan, she would have understood what happened) - this is a conditional
2) No creí que hubieras lavado el coche. (I didn't believe that you had washed the car) - this is a past action that preceded a second past action
3) Ojalá hubieras sacudido la mesa. (I wish you had dusted the table) - this is a hypothetical.

Imperfect (Indicative)

We use the imperfect (indicative) tense to describe past habitual actions, such as things one used to or would do. We also use this tense to talk about what someone was doing when something else happened: the action that was in progress is in the imperfect, and the something else that happened is in the preterite. Examples:

1) Mi papá y yo hablábamos todos los fines de semana. (My dad and I used to talk every weekend) - this is a habitual action
2) Juan sacudía los muebles cuando llegué a la casa. (Juan was dusting the furniture when I got home) - this is an action (sacudía) that was in progress when another action (llegué) took place.

Imperative (affirmative commands)

We use the imperative to tell someone to do something, ie, a positive command. Examples:

1) Sacude la mesa. (Dust the table) - command to someone (tú)
2) Lave los platos. (Wash the dishes) - command to someone (usted)
3) Hablemos con Ana. (Let's talk to Ana) - command to someone (nosotros)
4) Comed toda la sopa. (Eat all the soup) - command to someone (vosotros)

Imperative (negative commands)

We also use the imperative to tell someone not to do something, ie, a negative command. Examples:

1) No sacudas la mesa. (Don't dust the table) - negative command to someone (tú)
2) No lave los platos. (Don't wash the dishes) - negative command to someone (usted)
3) No comamos en un restaurante. (Let's not eat in a restaurant) - negative command to someone (nosotros)
4) No habléis con Ana. (Don't talk to Ana) - negative command to someone (vosotros)
Please note that the imperative tense for reflexive verbs that are also regular is similar to what we discussed above, but we use reflexive pronouns.

Imperative tense - Reflexive verb "lavarse"

Past Participle

We already saw above that tenses such as the present perfect, preterite perfect, etc, use the verb haber in the appropriate tense plus the main verb in the past participle. Verbs that are regular in the past participle, such the examples we used, form this tense by replacing their ending with ado if the regular verb ends in ar (ex: hablado) and with ido if the regular verb ends in ir or er (ex: sacudido, comido).

There are some verbs, such as escribir (to write), abrir (to open), cubrir (to cover), that are irregular in the past participle but regular in the other tenses. We can conjugate these verbs following the above patterns (escribo, abro, cubro, etc), but when we use these verbs in tenses that require the past participle, we need to remember that they are irregular in this tense. Their past participle is as follows:

1) escribir - escrito
Example: Juan ha escrito libros desde que tenía 20 años. (Juan has written books since he was 20 years old)

2) abrir - abierto
Example: Esta tienda siempre ha abierto en Navidad. (This store has always opened on Christmas Day)

3) cubrir - cubierto
Example: Hemos cubierto la alberca para que no se ensucie. (We have covered the pool so it does not get dirty)