Times in Spanish: Rules and Examples

Unlike the Russian language, the system of tenses of the Spanish verb is much more complicated. The main difference is the lack of contrast of verbs by type - perfect and imperfect. The two Russian verbs “do” and “do” in Spanish correspond to one: hacer. However, the Spanish language has other means of expressing an ongoing or completed action.

Inclination

There are four moods in Spanish : indicative (Indicativo), subjunctive (Subjuntivo), conditional (Potencial), imperative (Imperativo). The latter has no category of time and exists in a significantly reduced form: for Modo Imperativo Negativo, corresponding to the Russian imperative mood with a negative particle, the corresponding forms of Subjuntivo and Modo Imperativo Afirmativo are used. The affirmative imperative has retained its own endings only for the forms “you” and “you” (as appeals to a group of persons, each of which speaks “you”). For respectful forms, verbs are again used in Subjuntivo.

In the conditional mood category, Simple forms are distinguished for conveying a possible or desired action in the present and future tenses and Perfecto for the past tense.

In the remaining two moods, practically the times of the Spanish language are realized. They are divided into two large groups: Simple, in general terms, corresponding to the tenses of Russian imperfective verbs, and Perfecto or Compuesto, reminiscent of conjugations of perfect-form verbs. When translating the boundaries between these two groups, they become unsteady, so the context should be taken into account and the author’s statements should be carefully considered.

Modo de imperativo

The following times stand out in this mood:

• Presente (present);
• Pretérito imperfecto (past perfect);
• Préterito idefinido (past perfect);
• Futuro simple (future imperfect);
• Préterito perfecto (past perfect; connected with the moment of speech);
• Pretérito pluscuamperfecto (previous);
• Futuro compuesto (perfect future).

All simple tenses are formed using endings that join the stem of the verb. The only exceptions are forms of the future tense, where the endings join the infinitive. Complex tenses are formed using the auxiliary verb haber, conjugated in a specific tense, and the immutable past participle (Participio pasado).

There are three conjugations of Spanish verbs depending on the end of the stem: -ar, -er, -ir. However, the third conjugation is realized only in the forms of the present. The following are conjugation patterns for the verbs parar (“stop”), temer (“fear”) and subir (“rise”).

To conjugate Spanish verbs in the times of the Perfecto group, you need to know the rules for the formation of past communion. For the first conjugation, you need to add the ending -ado (parar - parado) to the base of the verb, and for the second and third conjugation - ending (temer - temido, subir - subido).

However, to the dismay of beginners, in Spanish there is a group of irregular verbs in which the participle is formed from another stem (escribir - escrito, romper - roto, cubrir - cubierto). These forms of participles need to be remembered. Differences in conjugations in difficult times are found only in the formation of the sacrament.

It is easy to see that the auxiliary verb conjugates in the tenses of Perfecto, Pretérito imperfecto and Futuro simple to form the tenses of Préterito perfecto, Pretérito pluscuamperfecto and Futuro compuesto, respectively. The same rule will apply to the subjunctive mood.

Deviating Verbs

The Spanish language is characterized by the presence of several groups of deviating verbs. Of these, the most important are three, in which at some times, the root vowel changes under the influence of stress:

• "e" is replaced by "ie";
• "o" goes to "ue";
• "e" is pulled together in "i".

Since in the times described above the emphasis passes to the root only in all faces and numbers (except 1 and 2 plurals) Presente, these changes in the root vowel occur only in this form. The first group of deviating verbs is represented in all conjugations, the second - only for the verbs of the second conjugation and one verb of the first (jugar), the third - only of the third conjugation. Below is an example of conjugation of the verbs cerrar ("close"), jugar ("play") and pedir ("ask").

Irregular Verbs

There is also a small group of irregular verbs. The forms of their times in Spanish are often formed from other foundations with the addition of special endings. As a rule, these are the most frequent verbs. As an example, we can consider the conjugation of the verb ser in all simple tenses.

Modo de subjuntivo

The number of times of this mood is much less than that of the indicative.

1. Presente.
2. Pretérito imperfecto.
3. Préterito perfecto.
4. Pretérito pluscuamperfecto.

The subordinate mood is characterized by the same regularities as the indicative: three conjugations (the second and third do not differ), changes in the root under the influence of stress and the formation of difficult tenses with the help of the auxiliary verb and the past participle.

As you can see, in Spanish, the present subjunctive mood is formed by rearranging the endings: those that are used in the indicative mood for the first verb conjugations now join the stem of the second and third conjugations and vice versa.

Forms in "-ra-" and "-se-" in Spanish are considered fully legitimate, and their use depends on the choice of the speaker. In the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, they sometimes replace the indicative mood tenses (for example, the form with "-se-" is actively used in the meaning of the previous indicative mood time).

Less common times in Spanish

There is a group of tenses that are not used in everyday communication. An example is Préterito anterior, which indicates a completed action preceding a past action in the past. In the Spanish language course for beginners, this form is not studied, but in fiction or scientific literature it is quite common, especially in old books, so you need to familiarize yourself with it. It is formed using the auxiliary verb haber (hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron) in the form of Pretérito indefenido and the past participle.

There are also forms of simple and complex future subjunctive tenses. They are used primarily in legal texts. In modern fiction and scientific literature, these tenses are practically not found and are replaced by present tense forms of the subjunctive mood.