All about Spanish Verb Tenses
Unlike the English verbs, Spanish verbs have other tenses aside from the three commonly known tenses (past, present and future). So what are these tenses? Before we tackle that, let us first understand what the meaning of tense is.
What Are Tenses?
Tenses are the forms that a verb takes. These forms show a relationship between the actual time that the action occurred, and the time that the verb is conveyed through speaking. It also shows whether action is still being completed, is already done, or is about to performed.
The Verb Tenses of the Spanish Language
Present Indicative Tense
This is the first verb tense that beginners to the language learn, because it is a verb form that is most frequently used in every speech.
In the Spanish language, this tense is used:
- To indicate an action that is currently being performed.
- To tell about something that is expected to happen in the near future.
This is one of the differences of the English present tense from the Spanish one. In Spanish, the future and present tenses are often interchangeable. When using the present tense in this form, one should attach a time element to the sentence.
- To convey an action that is often done repeatedly.
- To narrate something that has happened in the past. The present tense is sometimes used when one is giving his account of an event.
- To inquire about something.
- To present conditions or hypotheses.
Preterite Past and Imperfect Past Tenses
In Spanish, there are two tenses used to describe an event that has happened in the past. These tenses are the preterite past and imperfect past tenses. The former is used to tell of an action that happened at a specific time while the latter is used to tell an action that happened in no specific point in the past.
Sometimes, the preterite is referred to as the “definite” past while the imperfect is taken about as the “indefinite” past.
Future Indicative Tense
This tense, like in English, is used to discuss something that is about to happen. However, it also has other uses. For one, it is used to indicate that the action is likely or, if used in a question, unlikely to happen. The future tense in Spanish is also used to put emphasis on an order, like “You WILL wash the dishes, understand?”
All the other tenses include:
- Conditional tense – describes an act whose occurrence is dependent on a condition.
- Perfect tense – this tense indicates that the action described by the verb has been completed.
- Progressive tense – indicates a continuous action at the time of speaking. This tense is present in all other tenses in the language, like past progressive, present progressive, etc.
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