The Spanish Past Tense for Beginners
In English, one way we can talk about the past is using the verb ‘to have’ in the present tense:
I have been
I have seen
I have eaten
This tense is called the present perfect.
The same tense exists in Spanish:
He comido = I have eaten
Ha perdido = She(he) has lost
Has vivido = You have lived
There is more than one past tense in Spanish, and as you learn more and more Spanish, you’ll get familiar with all of them, but we recommend you start by learning the present perfect for a few reasons:
1. It’s the easiest to learn since there’s less to memorize
2. It’s very commonly used (more often than in English)
3. Even if you use it incorrectly, you’ll still be understood
To form the present perfect:
use the present tense of the verb haber + the past participle
HABER
to have
(yo)
(tu)
(el/ella)
(nosotros)
(vosotros)
(ellos/ellas)
he
has
ha
hemos
habéis
han
The conjugation of haber is relatively simple. Memorize it, because it will come up again, and again, and again 😉
Note: Haber means ‘to have’, but is almost exclusively used as an auxiliary verb (a verb used in forming tenses). For possessive situations use tener, which also means to have (Ex: I have two cats / tengo dos gatos)
THE PAST PARTICIPLE
AR -> ADO
cantar -> cantado
hablar -> hablado
ER/IR -> IDO
conocer -> conocido
vivir -> vivido
There is only a single conjugation for a verb when it’s in the past participle. That’s what makes this tense easier than others – you only need to memorize the conjugations of haber, and a single conjugation for all other verbs!
In general, the rule is:
ar verbs change their ending to ado
both er and ir verbs change their ending to ido
comer -> He comido = I have eaten
perder -> Ha perdido sus llaves= She(he) has lost her keys
vivir -> ¿Has vivido en España? = Have you lived in Spain?
Irregular Past Participles
There is a general rule for past participles, in which ar verbs end in ado and er/ir verbs end in ido, but there are also irregulars that have their own unique conjugation.
| AR (ado) | ER (ido) | IR (ido) |
|---|---|---|
| cantar –> cantado | conocer –> conocido | vivir –> vivido |
| empezar –> empezado | creer –> creído | ir –> ido |
| llamar –> llamado | vender –> vendido | dormir –> dormido |
| Irregulars |
|---|
| abrir – abierto |
| decir – dicho |
| escribir – escrito |
| hacer – hecho |
| poner – puesto |
| ver – visto |
| volver – vuelto |
Download the Spanish past tense cheat sheet, get more past participles and exercises
