Skip to main content
Loading Explore guides…
Spanish Verb Tenses · Acedra
Home
Explore
Languages
Spanish Verb Tenses
Sign in to save
Chat
If YouTube asks you to sign in, open the video on YouTube.
Watch on YouTube
Reload player
Transcript
60 segments
Copy
Hide video
0:00
Welcome to the complete Spanish verb tenses guide. I will explain every single verb tense in 20 minutes. After watching this video, you will have a way better understanding of Spanish grammar, whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner looking for a refresher, today’s lesson is made for you. To help you with this, I've created a free PDF with all the Spanish verb tenses. I've also included some irregular verbs there to complete the explanation of this video. So let's go.
0:30
I'll explain all the tenses first and after that I'll put examples of each tense for you to process the tenses better. And to finish, a quick recap that will make things very easy for you. So watch till the end.
0:44
In Spanish we have three types of verbs. Verbs that end in -ar, verbs that end in -er and verbs that end in -ir. We also have three different moods, tres modos
1:04
El indicativo has 10 tenses El subjuntivo has six tenses, and el imperativo has just one tense. Let's learn them all, starting with the non-finite verb forms.
1:20
The verb ending in -ar, -er or -ir Today we’ll use
2:15
We use the indicative mood to talk about anything factual, true events. It is the mood we use the most. We have five simple tenses and five perfect tenses. Let's start with the present.
2:30
“Cantar” would be:
2:57
you all plural
3:07
You might ask; “where is all ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’?
3:13
uses the same form as ‘él’ and ‘ella’ And ‘ustedes’, “you all” formal, uses the same form as ’ellos’ and ‘ellas’.
3:42
If the verb is regular, the verbs of the same group -ar, -er or -ir will have the same endings. You have the endings of each tense in green, so you can note them. We use the present tense for facts, descriptions and things that you usually do. Like in English.
4:12
Each simple tense is related to a perfect sense
4:21
This tense is made with the verb ‘haber’ which is irregular, in the present tense, plus the participle of the verb you are conjugating. So you only need to learn this verb ‘haber’. It means “there is”, “there are” and it works like ‘have’ in English. If you use it alone, it doesn't mean anything. So it is:
4:48
plus the participle
4:56
We generally use the present perfect for actions related to the present or that have taken place immediately before the present moment. We can use it for things that we did today.
5:22
Now, how do you talk about actions that happened yesterday or even 10 minutes ago? That's where the past tenses come into play. Up next, we tackle the preterite and imperfect and you'll learn when to choose the right past tense every time.
6:04
We use it to talk about completed actions in the past and actions that took place in a specific time in the past.
6:25
The perfect tense related to the simple past is:
6:30
This is formed with the verb ‘haber’ conjugated in pretérito perfecto simple plus the participle of the verb you are conjugating Good news for you, we don't really use the pretérito anterior nowadays, Just in literature. But here it is
6:58
The pretérito anterior expresses that a past action took place before another action in the past. But for that we use another tense. Stay tuned.
7:17
We use the pretérito imperfecto to talk about an action that was ongoing or that was habitual in the past.
8:06
The perfect form derived from the pretérito imperfecto is
8:13
We use it to talk about an action that took place before another action in the past. We conjugate the verb ‘haber’ in pretérito imperfecto and add the participle like ‘had sung’, ‘had eaten’...
9:01
Let's draw the map of the past tenses. So generally, if the present is here, presente,
9:08
things that happened in the immediate past and ended use pretérito perfecto compuesto
9:16
things that happened and little or long before that and had an end use pretérito perfecto simple Things that happened before another thing in the past we are talking about use pretérito pluscuamperfecto
9:33
and things that we did for some time in the past, or that didn't have a clear end use pretérito imperfecto
9:42
And what about the future plans? I bet you have some future plans. So let's go with the futuro simple
10:10
we use it to talk about what we will do and action in the future or suppositions about an action in the present or future
10:32
and from the future we build the perfect future
10:37
We conjugate the verb ‘haber’ in the futuro simple
10:55
with this tense we can make suppositions about a completed action or tell an action that will have been completed by a certain time in the future ‘will have’ plus participle
11:25
We also think of probabilities and hypothetical scenarios. What do we use for that? In English, the conditional is a different mood itself, but in Spanish it is a tense inside the indicative mood. Let's check the condicional simple We use the condicional simple to talk about hypothetical situations, to give advice and make requests
12:21
that ‘fuera’ is a subjunctive tense. Stay tuned.
12:35
and what do we make out of the simple conditional? The perfect conditional
12:42
We build it by conjugating ‘haber’ to the conditional and adding the participle. Like in English ‘I would have...’’
13:06
We use the perfect conditional to talk about what one would have done or what would have happened in a hypothetical situation.
13:19
subjunctive with conditional
13:38
subjunctive with conditional again
13:41
If you're a little lost in Spanish grammar something that will help you a lot is this free study guide that you can download on our web page. It will guide you step by step while you learn Spanish on your own. You have the link in the description.
13:56
Now, the most hated mood by Spanish learners. All Spaniards also hate it when we study it a school, but you get used to this tenses pretty quickly when you hear them being used. And I'm going to give you good news in a little while. Let's dive into the subjunctive mood
14:14
We use it to give a subjective thought and communicate things like wishes and doubts. ‘Ojalá’,, I wish, is always accompained by a subjunctive form. We also see ‘Si...’ if, followed by subjunctive a lot and subordinate clauses that start with ‘que’
14:31
Using the subjunctive well will make you advance. So pay attention.
15:06
mainly used to express wishes and doubts
15:24
with the present we can form the
15:30
we conjugate the verb ‘haber’ to present subjunctive. Remember it is irregular
16:08
I really like this tense but I have something sad to tell you There are two different forms for this tense, and both are always interchangeable. But they are very easy to remember.
17:16
also used for thoughts and wishes. Here are some examples for you to see when we use it.
17:39
And the perfect tense that uses this pretérito imperfecto is
17:47
if the imperfecto has two forms the pluscuamperfecto also has two forms We conjugate ‘haber’ to the pretérito imperfecto del subjuntivo and add the participle
18:17
We use it to reflect on actions in the past that were followed by another Most commonly to wish something had or hadn't happened or to give thoughts
18:46
Hey, if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. ¡Gracias! And now the good news next is the future and future perfect of the subjunctive mood, but we don't use them. Yay! I think those might be used only in court. A normal person like me never uses these tenses. Now it's old Spanish. But in case you need, here it is.
19:37
The only sentence I've heard with future subjunctive if is a Spanish proverb that says:
19:48
and the
19:53
‘Haber’ in futuro simple de subjuntivo plus participio. Never heard this tense in any conversation. Never.
20:11
let's cut the examples because you won’t use this tense. And now the last one
20:19
And this is just one tense and just for the second person ‘you’! Is this paradise? Is this paradise? So for the pronouns we have ‘tú’, ‘vosotros’, ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’.
21:09
Great job on following all the tenses with me. I know it was a lot. So let's review it in a more simple way. In a quick recap for you to remember, using the sentence ‘hablar español’
21:22
and using just the first person, ‘yo’.
23:16
Review them every now and then and you'll remember them all yes! It would be great if you read or listen to Spanish and analyze all the verb tenses they use there. I have this video. vlogs speaking slow Spanish that will help you a lot. Watch it and have a look at the tenses I’m using. Keep on practicing.
Here to help you learn
Sign in to keep a private conversation with your course tutor.
Ask me anything about the material…
Sign in to chat