Lesson 1.7 · Unit 1 · Structures

Three tenses built from forms you have

The last three tenses of second year share one trait: each is built from a form you already know. The present perfect is haber plus a participle, and the future and the conditional both start from the whole infinitive. These three tenses return in units 7 and 8 combined with the subjunctive, so this lesson restores them and names their stems.

The method
  1. Present perfect: haber plus the participle. he, has, ha, hemos, han plus -ado or -ido. He hablado, has comido, ha vivido.
  2. Irregular participles. abrir → abierto, decir → dicho, escribir → escrito, hacer → hecho, poner → puesto, romper → roto, ver → visto, volver → vuelto.
  3. The participle never changes in the perfect. Ella ha vuelto. Ellos han vuelto. Nothing comes between haber and the participle: No lo he visto.
  4. Future: the whole infinitive plus the endings. -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án. Hablaré, comerás, vivirá.
  5. Irregular future stems. tendr-, vendr-, pondr-, saldr-, valdr-, podr-, sabr-, cabr-, querr-, habr-, dir-, har-. The endings are the same.
  6. Conditional: the same stem with -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían. Hablaría, comerías, tendría, haría. It says what would happen.
  7. Uses. The perfect says what has happened up to now, the future what will happen, and the conditional what would happen or a polite request: Me gustaría hablar con usted.
  8. Check for the subjunctive. In units 7 and 8 these tenses will combine with it. The stems and the participles you restore now will return unchanged.

Where students lose marks: Using the wrong participle (escribido, ponido), separating haber from the participle (he siempre hablado), putting the pronoun after haber (he lo visto), and using the regular stem for an irregular future (tenerá). Learn the participles and the twelve stems as lists.

Worked example

The problem. Write six sentences: (1) I have opened the window. (2) She has written three letters. (3) We will have time tomorrow. (4) They will come on Saturday. (5) I would like to speak with you. (6) He said he would do it.

Step one: sentence 1. Haber with the irregular participle of abrir: He abierto la ventana.

Step two: sentence 2. Haber with the irregular participle of escribir: Ella ha escrito tres cartas.

Step three: sentence 3. Tener has the stem tendr-: Mañana tendremos tiempo.

Step four: sentence 4. Venir has the stem vendr-: Vendrán el sábado.

Step five: sentence 5. The conditional is polite: Me gustaría hablar con usted.

Step six: sentence 6. The conditional says what would happen, and hacer has the stem har-: Dijo que lo haría.

Step seven: stems. The stems are tendr-, vendr-, har-, and the endings are the same in the future (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án) and the conditional (-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían).

Step eight: check. Each perfect has haber and a participle with nothing between, and each future or conditional has an irregular stem where needed and the right accent.

Practice · 10 problems

Problems 1 to 5 are routine. Problems 6 to 10 are multi-step or ask for reasoning.

  1. Write the present perfect of hablar for yo and nosotros, and of comer for ellos.
    Show the full solution

    Haber in the right person plus the participle. he hablado, hemos hablado, han comido

  2. Write the participle of hacer, decir, ver and volver.
    Show the full solution

    Four irregulars. hecho, dicho, visto, vuelto

  3. Write the future yo form of tener, salir and hacer.
    Show the full solution

    tendré, saldré, haré

  4. Write the conditional ella form of poder, querer and decir.
    Show the full solution

    podría, querría, diría

  5. Complete: Esta semana nosotros ___ (escribir) tres informes y ___ (abrir) una cuenta.
    Show the full solution

    The present perfect with irregular participles. hemos escrito, hemos abierto

  6. Say "I have not seen him today, but I will see him tomorrow."
    Show the full solution

    Nothing comes between haber and the participle, and the pronoun goes before haber. Hoy no lo he visto, pero lo veré mañana.

  7. Say "She promised that she would come early."
    Show the full solution

    Prometió is a past event and the conditional says what would happen. Venir has the stem vendr-. Prometió que vendría temprano.

  8. Find and fix the errors: Yo he escribido una carta. Mañana tenerá tiempo. Ella ha lo visto.
    Show the full solution

    Escribir has the participle escrito, tener has the stem tendr- and the pronoun goes before haber. Yo he escrito una carta. Mañana tendrá tiempo. Ella lo ha visto.

  9. Explain why the future and the conditional share a stem.
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    Both tenses were built from the infinitive plus an ending, so any change in the stem (such as tendr-) appears in both. They share the stem because both start from the infinitive.

  10. Write four sentences about your plans for next year, using the future, the conditional and the present perfect.
    Show the full solution

    One correct answer: Este año he estudiado mucho. El año que viene tomaré clases avanzadas. Me gustaría viajar a México. Mis padres dicen que haría falta más práctica. Este año he estudiado mucho. El año que viene tomaré clases avanzadas. Me gustaría viajar a México. Mis padres dicen que haría falta más práctica.

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