SPANISH VERB TENSES AND MOODS
Subjunctive
mood
(past and
present
tenses)
Past subjunctive (after
preterite, imperfect or
conditional clauses: Take the
3rd person (ellos) form of the
preterite Ô , drop the “-ron”
and add the following:
ra
ras
ra
’ramos
rais
ran
Subjunctive indicators
1. Desire, want, hope
2. Impersonal expressions (es importante, etc.)
3. advice, recommendation, suggestion
4. doubt or uncertainty (probablemente, quizá(s), tal vez, etc.)
5. emotion
6. antes de que, para que, sin que, con tal de que, ojalá, etc.
Subjunctive indicator + que + Subjunctive clause (2 different people!)
(INDICATIVE)
(SUBJUNCTIVE)
The “past tenses”
Indicative
mood
(past, present,
future and
conditional
tenses)
Imperfect: Take off the last 2
letters and add:
aba
abas
aba
AR
ábamos
abais
aban
Preterite: Take off the last 2 letters and add:
AR
ER/IR
é
amos
í
imos
aste
asteis
iste
isteis
ó
aron
ió
ieron
Subjunctive: The subjunctive is formed
by taking the “yo” form of the
present-tense for a verb and adding the
opposite endings.
AR
ER/IR
e
emos
a
amos
es
éis
as
áis
e
en
a
an
© 8/2009, Richard Tate
Irregular subjunctive verbs:
Group 1: Any verb that is irregular in the yo of the present uses that root to build on for all
forms (tener: tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan)
Group 2: e:i stem-changing verbs retain a one letter change (o:u, e:i) in the nosotros/vosotros
forms
Group 3: ir (vaya, etc.), ser (sea, etc.), saber (sepa, etc.), estar (esté, etc.), dar (dé)
Group 4: When used as commands, remember that the present indicative of “usted” is used
for positive commands with the following exceptions: decir (di), hacer (haz), poner (pon),
salir (sal), ser (sé), tener (ten), venir (ven) and ir (ve). True subjunctive is used for negative
commands.
The “present” tense
The “indefinite” tenses (built on infinitive)
Present: Take off the last two letters and add the following
endings:
-ar
-er
-ir
o
amos
o
emos
o
imos
as
áis
es
éis
es
ís
a
an
e
en
e
en
Future: add the
following endings on
to the infinitive (do
not drop the last 2)
é
emos
ás
éis
á
án
Conditional: add the
following endings on
to the infinitive (do not
drop the last 2)
ía
íamos
ías
íais
ía
ían
This tense is the
“will” tense
This tense is the
“would” tense
Irregulars:
ía
ías
ía
ER / IR
íamos
íais
ían
Irregulars:
ir:
ser:
ver:
Progressive
tenses
(with estar as a
helping verb)
Perfect
tenses
relate to two
times
simultaneously
(with haber as a
helping verb)
iba, ibas, iba, íbamos,
ibais, iban
era, eras, era, éramos,
erais, eran
veía, veías, veía,
veíamos, veíais, veían
group 1: yo-form spelling: (-gar→-gué, -car→-qué, -zar→-cé)
group 2: other spelling: “i” changes to “y” when in the middle of
two vowels (ex: leyó, leyeron, creyó, creyeron, oyó, oyeron)
group 3: very irregular. (ir, ser, ver, dar)
group 4: stem-changing. -ir stem-changing verbs change oÞu and
eÞi in the él and ellos forms (ex: dormir: durmió, durmieron)
group 5: regular-irregulars: root changes and new endings are
used:
new endingstener: tuv
poner: pus
e
imos
andar: anduv
poder: pud
iste
isteis
estar: estuv
saber: sup
o
(i)eron hacer: hic(z)
decir: dij
querer: quis
traer: traj
venir: vin
conducir: conduj
Irregulars:
group 1: yo-form only (caer:caigo, conocer: conozco, conducir:
conduzco; dar: doy, hacer: hago, poner: pongo, saber: sé,
salir:salgo, traer: traigo, valer: valgo, ver: veo)
group 2: totally irregular (ir, ser, estar, tener, venir, haber, decir, oír,
oler)
group 3: stem-changing. The 2nd to last vowel in the infinitive changes
from e:ie or o:ue or e:i in all forms (yo, tú, él/ella, ellos)
except for nosotros and vosotros.
group 4: spell-changing: Watch out for g/j, c/qu, c/z, g/gu
group 5: reflexives: Add me, te, se, nos, os or se prior to the verb. The
verb then must be conjugated to match the pronoun.
group 6: verbs like gustar. Add me, te, le, nos, os or les prior to the
verb but only the él/ella or ellos form is used.
future &conditional irregulars:
change the root to the following and add the
appropriate endings.
caber: cabrpoder: podrsaber: sabrhaber: habrquerer: querrponer: pondr-
salir: saldrtener: tendrvaler: valdrvenir: vendrdecir: dirhacer: har-
Conjugate “estar” in the respective form (note that the preterite is not used for progressive tenses) and
then add the participle of the main verb. The participle is formed by dropping the -ar/-er/-ir ending and
adding -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -er/-ir verbs. Note: the progressive tenses usually stress that
an action is happening right now. The indicative tenses are often used in expressing the English -ing
construction.
The following verbs have irregular participles:
group 1: -ir stem changing verbs: these verbs have a one-letter change (o:u or e:i) in the participle. (dormir: durmiendo,
morir: muriendo, sentir: sintiendo, preferir: prefiriendo, pedir: pidiendo, decir: diciendo, venir: viniendo, etc.)
group 2: spell-changing verbs: when a participle would have an “i” between two vowels, change the “i” to a “y” (construir:
construyendo, creer: creyendo, leer: leyendo, oír: oyendo, distribuir: distribuyendo, etc.)
The perfect tenses are created
by using a form of “haber” with
the past-participle. To create
the past-participle, drop the last
two letters of the verb and add
-ado for -ar verbs and -ido for
-er/-ir verbs
preterite perfect tense: (had) rarely used
in speech
hube
hubimos
hubiste hubisteis
hubo
hubieron
Irregular past-participles:
abrir: abierto, cubrir:
cubierto, decir: dicho,
escribir: escrito, hacer:
hecho, morir: muerto,
poner: puesto, romper:
roto, ver: visto, volver:
vuelto
past perfect tense: (had)
había
habías
había
habíamos
habíais
habían
+ PAST PARTICPLE
“yo había estudiado”
+ PAST PARTICIPLE
“él hubo hablado”
Present perfect: (have)
he
has
ha
hemos
habéis
han
+ PAST PARTICIPLE
“nosotros hemos vivido”
future perfect: (will
have)
Conditional perfect:
(would have)
habré
habrás
habrá
habría
habrías
habría
habremos
habréis
habrán
+ PAST PARTICIPLE
“Ellos habrán hecho”
habríamos
habríais
habrían
+ PAST PARTICIPLE
“tú habrías dicho”
Chart of regular and irregular verbs in the “yo” form (only). Remember, most tenses (except preterite) simply add “‐s, ‐mos or ‐n” to change the person. present preterite imperfect future / cond. Progressive subjunctive past subjunctive posivite tú command REGULAR VERBS comprar compro compré compraba
comprara
compra / no compres
vendo vendí vendía
estoy comprando estoy vendiendo compre
vender venda
vendiera
vende / no vendas
escribir escribo escribí escribía
compraré /
compraría venderé / vendería escribiré / escribiría estoy escribiendo escriba
escribiera
escribe / no escribas
**
**
estoy yendo
**
fuera
estuviera
fuera
hubiera
sé / no seas
IRREGULAR VERBS 1.
2.
3.
4.
ser ( to be) soy fui era
estar (to be) estoy estuve ir (to go) voy fui iba
haber (to have – he hube helping verb)@@@ 5. leer ( to read) ## (i:y) 6. decir (to say) digo dije 7. poder (to be able to) puedo pude 8. poner (to put) pongo puse 9. saber (to know) sé supe 10. tener (to have) tengo tuve 11. ver (to see) veo vi veía
12. venir (to come) vengo vine 13. hacer (to do / make) hago hice 14. querer (to want) quiero quise 15. dormir (to sleep) duermo ## ( stem) 16. pedir (to ask for) pido ## (stem) 17. jugar (to play) juego jugué 18. tocar (to touch/play) toqué 19. dar (to give) doy di 20. salir (to leave) salgo ** not used ## irregular in other forms besides “yo” habré / habría
diré / diría
podré / podría
pondré / pondría
sabré / sabría
tendré / tendría
vendré / vendría
haré / haría
querré / querría
saldré / saldría
estoy leyendo estoy diciendo **
sea
esté
vaya
haya
diga
pueda
ponga
sepa
tenga
vea
estoy viniendo venga
haga
quiera
estoy durmiendo duerma
estoy pidiendo pida
juegue
toque
dé
salga
leyera
dijera
pudiera
pusiera
supiera
tuviera
viera
viniera
hiciera
quisiera
durmiera
pidiera
jugara
tocara
diera
saliera
ve / no vayas
di / no digas
pon / no pongas
ten / no tengas
ven / no vengas
haz / no hagas
sal / no salgas
Blank boxes mean that the verb is conjugated according to the regular pattern in that mood/tense @@@Irregular past participles: (after haber) – abrir (to open) - abierto (open), cubrir (to cover) - cubierto (covered), decir (to say) - dicho (said), escribir (to write) - escrito (written),
freír (to fry) - frito (fried), hacer (to do) - hecho (done), morir (to die) - muerto (dead), poner (to put) - puesto (put), resolver (to resolve) - resuelto (resolved),
romper (to break) - roto (broken), ver (to see) - visto (seen), volver (to return) - vuelto (returned)