So, you’re ready to learn about how to conjugate for the past perfect in Spanish? Let’s do it! Of the 5 past tense conjugations in Spanish, this one is used daily by native Spanish speakers as they reflect on their past actions.
The past perfect tense is best described as “a tense that’s used to talk about an action that occurred before another.”
Whereas with the preterite, you just say “I spoke to him” - in the past perfect that same sentence would be “I had spoken to him.…”
I mean, who would say that sentence and not say more? That’s the point, we use the past perfect to mention an action, usually before another. So that sentence might be “I had spoken to him about it, and he told me it’s a bad idea.”
In this article, we’ll briefly go over the theory and usage of the past perfect tense in Spanish, then, we’ll talk about how to conjugate it, what the irregular verbs look like in it, and some examples.
¿Estás listo/a?
Empecemos
When To Use The Past Perfect Tense In Spanish
We use the past perfect tense in Spanish to talk about an action that was being done before another. It might sound a bit strange, but think of the sentence “I had lived in that house for 4 years.”
This sentence tells us what action was completed (living) and indicates that another situation came about thereafter.
Here are some other examples of the perfect past tense below:
Había comido antes de irme
(I had eaten before leaving)
Habías visto mucha genta
(You had seen a lot of people)
Habíamos llegado antes de la fiesta empezara
(We had arrived before the party started)
How Do You Conjugate Verbs For The Past Perfect Tense In Spanish?
The past perfect is conjugated quite easily, in fact, you just take the auxiliary verb Haber in the imperfect tense (Había), and you add any verb in its past participle form (Ex. Hablado).
Simply put - Había + Past Participle (Ex. Hablado, Visto, Intentado, Cocinado)
10 Common Verbs In The Past Perfect Tense
Now we'll go over 10 of the most common verbs in Spanish in the past perfect tense. If you want to acquire these extremely quickly, write them down and review them for a few days. You'll learn them in no time, friend.
Comer (To eat)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había comido |
Tú (You) | Habías comido |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había comido |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían comido |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos comido |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais comido |
Hablar (To talk)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había hablado |
Tú (You) | Habías hablado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había hablado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían hablado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos hablado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais hablado |
Vivir (To live)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había vivido |
Tú (You) | Habías vivido |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había vivido |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían vivido |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos vivido |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais vivido |
Trabajar (To work)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había trabajado |
Tú (You) | Habías trabajado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había trabajado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían trabajado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos trabajado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais trabajado |
Estudiar (To study)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había estudiado |
Tú (You) | Habías estudiado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había estudiado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían estudiado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos estudiado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais estudiado |
Llegar (To arrive)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había llegado |
Tú (You) | Habías llegado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había llegado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían llegado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos llegado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais llegado |
Viajar (To travel)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había viajado |
Tú (You) | Habías viajado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había viajado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían viajado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos viajado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais viajado |
Comprar (To buy)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había comprado |
Tú (You) | Habías comprado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había comprado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían comprado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos comprado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais comprado |
Jugar (To play)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había jugado |
Tú (You) | Habías jugado |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había jugado |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían jugado |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos jugado |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais jugado |
Aprender (To learn)
Subject | Verb In The Past Perfect Tense |
Yo (I) | Había aprendido |
Tú (You) | Habías aprendido |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Había aprendido |
Ellos/as/Ustedes (They/You-Plural) | Habían aprendido |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habíamos aprendido |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habíais aprendido |
Irregular Past Participles
Spanish Verb | Irregular Past Participle |
Ver | Visto |
Escribir | Escrito |
Abrir | Abierto |
Hacer | Hecho |
Volver | Vuelto |
Morir | Muerto |
Poner | Puesto |
Decir | Dicho |
Leer | Leído |
Example Sentences Using The Past Perfect Tense
In this section, we'll go over some examples of the past perfect tense in action. The verb Haber will be the color blue, and the past participle for the word will be in orange. If you have a language notebook, write these down to help you acquire them easily. You got this!
Example Sentence | English Translation |
Ya había comido antes de llegar | I had already eaten before arriving |
Ella había hablado con él ayer | She had spoken with him yesterday |
Ellos habían vivido en esa ciudad durante años | They had lived in that city for years |
Habíamos trabajado juntos en el proyecto | We had worked together on the project |
Habías estudiado para el examen, ¿verdad? | You had studied for the exam, right? |
Él había llegado antes de la hora acordada | He had arrived before the agreed time |
Habían viajado a varios países el año pasado | They had traveled to several countries last year |
Había comprado un regalo para su hermana | She had bought a gift for his/her sister |
Los niños habían jugado en el parque por la tarde | The children had played in the park in the afternoon |
Habíamos aprendido muchas cosas nuevas en ese curso | We had learned many new things in that course |