1. Present Perfect and Pluperfect

2. Let’s look at the present perfect in English first:
I have read that book.
I have lived here for five years.
“Perfect” means “complete.” All perfect tenses are by definition, therefore, past tenses.
So what’s the difference between
“I have read that book.”
And simply
“I read that book”?
The difference in this case is how we view the action. If we say, “I have (or “I’ve”) read that book,” we see it as complete but having influence on the present. We might want to discuss it. “I read that book” means that it’s over and done with.
The second sentence is a little easier to explain:
That means not only have I inhabited this place for the past five years but also that I continue to live here. Sometimes the present perfect means that the action is complete but still going on in the present, and sometimes it means that the action still has influence on the present.
I ate five candy bars.—Action completed.
I’ve eaten five candy bars And maybe I’ll eat some more! Action may continue. or
. . . And that’s why my stomach hurts Influence on the present

3. The past perfect is easier to explain, but we don’t always use it when we should. The past perfect (also called “pluperfect”) is the past of the past.
Juan had already eaten when we arrived.
Both actions (“eaten” and “arrived”) are in the past. But the eating happened before the arriving. So “arrived” is past, and “had eaten” is the past of that—the past of the past.

4. Past Participle
All perfect tenses are made up of two parts: the helping verb and the past participle of the main verb:
helping verb past participle helping verb past participle
He has eaten. We have seen.
They have left. You have finished.
I have studied. She has fallen.

5. This is how you form the past participle in Spanish:
Drop the –ar and add –ado:
hablar hablado nadar nadado
pensar pensado almorzar almorzado
llegar llegado estar estado
Drop the –er or –ir and add –ido:
comer comido poder podido
leer leído querer querido
asistir asistido venir venido

6. Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.

7. There are, of course, irregular past participles in Spanish as there are in English.
call have called
jump have jumped
look have looked
eat have eated???? have eaten
bring have bringed???? have brought

8. You have to memorize the irregular past participles in Spanish just as you do in English.
volver vuelto (NOT volvido)
poner puesto (NOT ponido)
abrir abierto etc.
cubrir cubierto
escribir escrito
ver visto
morir muerto
decir dicho
hacer hecho
romper roto

9. Helping Verb
Now you need a helping verb to go with your past participles. What we use is the present tense of the verb “haber.”
he hablado hemos hablado
has hablado habéis hablado
ha hablado han hablado
Use these verb forms with all your past participles: he comido, has querido, ha vuelto, hemos trabajado, etc.

10. Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.

11. Pluperfect (Past Perfect) (Pluscuamperfecto)
The past perfect (also called the pluperfect and, in Spanish, the pluscuamperfecto), remember, is the past of the past and translates with “had” in English. ALL perfect tenses get a helping verb and a past participle:
present perfect he has eaten
past perfect he had eaten
future perfect he will have eaten
conditional perfect he would have eaten

12. había hablado habíamos hablado
As you saw, the present perfect tense has a set of helping verbs that come from “haber”:
he hemos
has habéis
ha han
The same is true of the past perfect. The helping verbs for the past perfect are the imperfect form of “haber”:
había hablado habíamos hablado
habías hablado habíais hablado
había hablado habían hablado

13. Note that the endings on “haber” for the past perfect are the endings for the imperfect tense:
había habíamos
habías habíais
había habían
The present perfect is the PRESENT tense of “haber” + the past participle.
The past perfect tense is the IMPERFECT (PAST) tense of “haber” + the past participle.
Guess what the future perfect tense is composed of. But that’s another lesson.

14. Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.