When you start to learn a language, the terminology can be quite daunting. Apart from vocabulary, one of the first things you start to hear about is a ‘tense‘, which is basically a time frame. Well, we don’t really think about tenses (time frames) in English, unless you are maybe a primary school teacher, but it really helps to know what a tense is and the different variations because then it’s easy to make comparisons and links between English and Spanish and use them confidently.
Read on for a simple explanation about what the different tenses (time frames) are and when to use them.
Firstly, a basic overview:
- Present Tense (I do… / I am…)
- Future Tense (I am going to… / I will…)
- Conditional Tense (I would…)
- Past Tense (I did… / I used to… / I was doing… )
- Perfect Tense (I have done… / I had done… /I will have done… /I would have done… )
Now, for a bit more detail, with links to the Spanish explanations…
Present Tense (El presente)
The Present tense (el presente) is used to talk about what you are doing now, in the present. It can translate in two ways:
- I do + something
- I am doing + something
Future Tense (El futuro)
The Future tense (el futuro) is used to talk about what you are going to do in the future.
There are two types of future tense:
- The Immediate future (el futuro inmediato). Also known as the Near future (el futuro cercano):
I am going to…
- The Simple future (el futuro simple)
I will…
Conditional Tense (El condicional)
The Conditional tense (el condicional) is used to say what you would do, based on another condition.
For example:
- On the condition that I had the time (If I had the time), I would help you out.
- On the condition that I had the money (If I had the money), I would donate more.
Past Tense (El pasado)
The Past tense (el pasado) is used to talk about what you did in the past.
The two main past tenses are the Imperfect tense (el Imperfecto) and the Preterite tense (el Pretérito)
- Imperfect is used to say what you used to do, what you were doing or describe how something was. (Ongoing actions and situations.)
- The Preterite is used for short and completed actions in the past that say what you did and where you went etc as a one off, not on a regular basis.
See ‘Tricky pairs‘ for more info on how to use and choose between them.
Perfect Tense (El perfecto)
The Perfect Tense (el Perfecto) is used to say what has happened.
It can be used in the present, past, future and conditional.
For example:
- I have finished. (Present perfect)
- I had finished. (Past perfect/AKA pluperfect)
- I will have finished (Future perfect)
- I would have finished. (Conditional Perfect)
In conclusion
Knowing what tenses (time frames) are in English will make it much easier to learn the rules for how to use them in Spanish. Now that you are familiar with them in English, you can begin to study them in Spanish. Just click on the buttons throughout the blog.
Don’t try to study them all at once though… Work your way through them or you’ll become overwhelmed and confused. You’ll find all you need to be able to learn and practise the tenses at Simple Spanish Tips!
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