Verb tenses are grammatical models of verbal conjugation that place an action or a state in time. In the Spanish language, verb tenses are affected by appearance and manner.
The verbal or grammatical aspect indicates whether the action is finished or unfinished with respect to the moment of the enunciation. It is expressed in the terms perfect (finished action), imperfect (unfinished action) and pluperfect (one action before another).
The verbal mode corresponds to the different modalities in which the verb tenses are expressed. The indicative mode is known, which indicates concrete actions; the subjunctive mood, which indicates possibilities, and the imperative, which represents orders or instructions. The latter only manifests in a while.
There are different classification criteria for verb tenses in the Spanish language.
According to the form of the verb or its syntactic construction:
- Simple tenses:those of simple structure or construction, that is, they do not need auxiliary verbs to express the action. For example: “You can”.
- Compound tenses:are those that are formed with the help of the auxiliary verb. The structure is: auxiliary + verb. For example, “I would have gone if not for the rain.”
According to the moment of the enunciation:
- Absolute tenses: theyrefer to an action directly related to the moment of the enunciation. Among them are the present, the past and the future of the indicative way. For example, “I will go tomorrow”
- Relative tenses: theyrefer to an action related to another moment other than the enunciation. Among them are the co-past and post-past tense of the indicative mood, and the tenses of the subjunctive mood. For example, “I would have risked more.”
The following verb tenses result from the conjunction of time, mode and aspect categories:
| Indicative mode | Subjunctive mode | |
Simple times |
Present
Past or past imperfect Past or past perfect simple Future or future simple Post-past or conditional simple |
Present
Past or past perfect Future simple or future |
Compound Tempos |
Present perfect or past present
Past perfect or past preterite Past or past preterite |
Present perfect or past present
Past perfect or past present Compound future or future |
See also:
- Verb conjugations.
- Word.
For example:
As an example, we are going to conjugate the regular verb amar , belonging to the model of the first conjugation.
| INDICATIVE MODE Simple times |
Present | Copretérito or Past Imperfect |
Past or Pret. perfect simple |
Future or Simple Future |
Post-past or simple conditional |
| Person | |||||
| I You He / She We You You / They |
love love love love love love love |
loved loved loved loved loved you loved loved |
I loved loved loved loved loved have loved loved |
I will love will love will love will love will love you will love will love |
would love would love would love would love would love would love would love |
| INDICATIVE MODE Compound times |
Pret. perf. compound or present |
Past perfect. or antecopretérito |
Present above or antepretérito |
| Person | |||
| I You He / She We You You / They |
I have loved you have loved has loved we have loved have loved have loved have loved |
had loved had loved had loved had loved had loved had loved had loved |
I had loved you had loved there were loved we had loved they had loved you had loved they had loved |
| Person | Compound future or future |
Conditional compound or antepos- past |
| I You He / She We You You / They |
will have loved will have loved will have loved will have loved will have loved will have loved will have loved |
would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved |
| SUBJUNCTIVE MODE Simple times |
Present | Pret. imperfect or past tense |
Simple future or future |
| Person | |||
| I You He / She We You You / They |
love love love love love love love |
amara amaras love love Him loved Amarais loved |
amare amares amare we will love amaren you will love amaren |
| MODE SUBJUNTIVO times compounds |
Pret. perf. comp. or present |
Pret. pluscuam- perfect or past tense |
Compound future or future |
| Person | |||
| I You He / She We You You / They |
have loved have loved have loved have loved have loved have loved have loved |
would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved would have loved |
any loved loved thou any beloved will have been loved there Were loved ye loved there Were loved |
(*) It is also correct to use the auxiliary verb in the form there / had / had / had / had / had / had / had.
IMPERATIVE MODE |
|
| Affirmative | Negative |
| love (you) love (you) love (we) love (you) love (you) love (they) |
Don’t love Do n’t love Do n’t love Do n’t love Do n’t love Don’t love |
