Guide to tenses for AS Spanish
INDICATIVE TENSES (ie not subjunctive)
1.Present (key words: is /does):
For general statements eg Salisbury is in England, sugar is sweet, things that
happen as routine, I go to school by bus.
Regular endings:
-AR verbs: -o,-as –a –amos –ais –an, ER /IR verbs: -o,-es ,-e ,emos ,eis ,( ís
for IR verbs) –en
Watch out for: G trouble (tengo, pongo etc) , RADICAL CHANGING “boot”
verbs eg tienes (tener)3 main groups , digo (decir) , vuelvo (volver)
Past tenses
2.Preterite (Key word did/said etc –one word past tense as in English ) :
Main narrative past tense used in novels , history books etc for completed
events in the past usually at a specified time. Eg “last weekend I saw a film””
Regular endings:
Lots of irregular ones TO LEARN IF YOU FAILED TO DO SO LAST YEAR!
Watch out for: (a) spelling changes to allow correct pronunciation: Infinitives
ending in –gar, car,etc will need (eg)jugar –jugué, buscar –busqué- very easy
to remember and logical if you sound them out.
(b) Graves: have completely irregular stems and their own set of endings (no
accents) eg ver-vi , poner –puse, decir –dije etc. LEARN as above.
(c ) Completely irregular ones :
3.Imperfect ( Key word “was”/were ) but be careful!( NOT passive eg “was
announced”)
Descriptive tense used alongside preterite in narrative.
The bad news: Quite tricky to decide whether to use preterite or imperfect in a
narrative.
Used to describe: moods , weather , (except for sudden
outbreaks),continuous action in the past , habitual action , used to , repeated
action , interrupted action.
Watch out for: false “was” or “were” eg “he was killed”, “you were seen “(use
passive)
Good news: only 3 irregular ones, and of them, only ser -“era” is slightly tricky.
4.Perfect tense ; Key words : “have done “ A 2 word past tense for
actions not at a specific time . eg “Have you ever been to Spain ?” or “I have
not done my homework”
Watch out for: 12 irregular past participles (not many to learn)
5..Pluperfect (Key word “had done” Compound tense ie 2 words) . Used for
events farthest back in the past before the narrative period begins.
Watch out for 12 irregular past participles, same as for perfect tense (not too
bad)
Future Tense: Key: will do
6. Official future Tense: very simple to learn, all endings the same for the 3
conjugations.
Only 12 irregular stems otherwise just take the whole infinitive and add
endings (from “haber”)
7. Baby future: Key :”going to do” Use present tense of “IR” plus infinitive
of verb required. Officially called Immediate future as it is often used for
imminent events, but can be used in place of future.
8.Conditional: Key word : “would do”
Good news: same stem as future, same list of 12 irregular stems, imperfect
endings , ían ones only.
Watch out for: (a) “would” in English- sometimes means”” used to” if referring
to a habitual or repeated action , so use imperfect for these.“ ”if clauses “if in
past tenses and hypothetical/did not actually happen, then subjunctive
needed. Eg “If Cecil had done some homework, I would not have got a
detention”(more relevant to conditional perfect)
Obscure but useful compound tenses:
9. Future Perfect key “will have done “
10. Conditional perfect “would have done” rarely used see note on
subjunctive above.
11.Continuous tenses
a) Present continuous Key “I am doing” (present continous) as in English ,
uses estar in present tense + gerund (present participle) , eg estoy hablando
, estoy comiendo , estoy viviendo
b) Imperfect continuous:Key :”I was doing” Imperfect tense of “estar”
+gerund (present participle)
c) Past anterior (only used in novels): estuve hablando (preterite of estar
+gerund) very obscure , don’t go looking for it !
Subjunctive MOOD (has its own tenses : Key words : might /may /should
eg “he said that I should go”/he told me to go –dijo que me fuera
Present : Formation is based on yo form of present indicative , then swap
endings.
Eg 1: tener >yo tengo>tenga (take an a at the end instead of an e in indicative
(non subjunctive, normal present tense) for ir/er verbs)
Eg 2: hablar > yo hablo >hable (swap an a for an e in indicative)
Eg 3: vivir >yo vivo>viva as with tener.
Imperfect: stem is from the 3rd person plural of the preterite (indicative) (they)
Eg 1 tener>tuvieron (they had)> tuviera or tuviese
Eg 2 hablar >hablaron(they spoke)>hablara or hablase
Eg 3 vivir >vivieron (they lived)>viviera or viviese (as for tener)
BAD or good news: it is the only tense with alternative endings, it doesn’t
matter which one you use- they are interchangeable.
Perfect : like perfect indicative, but use “haber” in the present subjunctive with
past participle eg haya tenido, hayais hecho, hayamos dicho etc.
Pluperfect
Use imperfect subjunctive of haber: hubiera eg hubiera tenido , hubiera
hablado. Often used instead of conditional perfect, ie he would have done (but
he didn’t)
Uses of the subjunctive –see separate summary sheet.
Tricky ones: si and aunque (think about whether they are likely-not
subjunctive or hypothetical/conjecture-subjunctive), otherwise, there is no
choice - the list of structures and conditions requiring subjunctive is invariable.
Which tense to use? See “sequence of tenses “grid on other sheet.
Basic summary: present or future in main clause > present subjunctive
Past tenses in main clause > imperfect subjunctive
Has or had done > perfect or pluperfect subjunctive.
You must be able to use this mood when necessary for an “A” or “B” grade at
AS. You cannot get by without it if you want to produce correct Spanish at A
Level.
Bad news: you could get subjunctivitis .This is only temporary if you are
vigilant.
Good news: once you know when to use it, it is not difficult to form, especially
if you know your basic irregular tenses.
There is no more difficult grammar after the subjunctive-not even in A2,
although POR and PARA, Ser and ESTAR remain elusive.