Perfect tenses
General rules:
● The past participle does change gender or number.
Ex: He leíd o los libros
He leíd o el libro
He leíd o la novela.
● Pronouns will never be attached to the participle.
Ex: Lo he leído.
1. El pretérito perfecto
The pretérito perfecto is very similar to the English present perfect tense.
H OW TO F ORM IT :
To form the present perfect tense, you will need the preterit conjugated
form of haber followed by the past participle.
Ella ha comprado su pasaje de avión.
She has already bought her plane ticket.
HOW TO USE IT :
The present perfect is used to describe an event in the past that influences
the present, or continues in the present.
Ya he visto la película.
I have already seen the movie.
2. El pretérito pluscuamperfecto
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto is very similar to the English past perfect tense.
H OW TO F ORM IT :
To form the past perfect tense, you will need the imperfect conjugated
form of haber followed by the past participle.
Ella había comprado su pasaje de avión…
She had bought her plane ticket…
HOW TO USE IT :
The past perfect is used to describe an event in the past that happened
before another past event.
Ya había visto la película, cuando ella llegó.
I had already seen the movie when she arrived.
