The preterit and the perfect tense.
This is a simple explanation given by a fellow student of the different usages. Is this basically correct, as a rough guide?
My understanding is that in situations where you would put a 'have' or 'has' in front of the verb ( I have been shopping, she has waited for two hours) then so would the Spanish and it is called the perfect tense. When you dont use a have or has ( I went shopping, she waited for two hours) then neither do the Spanish and it is called the preterite.
5 Answers
My understanding is that in situations where you would put a 'have' or 'has' in front of the verb ( I have been shopping, she has waited for two hours) then so would the Spanish and it is called the perfect tense. When you dont use a have or has ( I went shopping, she waited for two hours) then neither do the Spanish and it is called the preterite.
In which language are they called perfect tenses? They are in English, but I'm not so sure about Spanish. Usually they are called compound tenses (compuesto). Spanish uses the word perfecto in simple tenses too.. One label for the English preterite past is the pretérito perfecto simple. That is not a compound tense that uses the auxiliary verb haber. I would be careful using English labels for Spanish verb tenses.
Sorry, but I'm not sure if your question is about English labels or Spanish labels for verb tenses. Spanish doesn't call any of its verb tenses Perfect or Preterite. Those are English labels.
The present perfect is used when something was done or started in the past, but it still affects the present.
The Earth has been around for billions of years.
I have eaten. (It still affects you by the fact that you are probably not hungry). As apposed to "I ate" (You may be ready to eat again).
The Preterit is used when some action started, and ended, in the past.
The Imperfect is used when some action was in the past, but we're not sure when it started/ended.
These are just some loose rules, by the way.
Something is for sure: the British usage of the present perfect is very similar to that of peninsular Spanish, and in some circumstances, with other varieties of Spanish. Once you start analysing all the regional differences, things get more complex.
The simple answer is that the preterit is when you "did" something (and it's over)
The perfect tenses are when you use haber (conjugated to fit the tense) So when you have done it, had done it, might have done it etc.
However, there is also the imperfect (I was doing it I used to do it), so if it is not perfect tense, it doesn't mean that it is the preterit.
However in my opinion and level of Spanish - there is no simple explanation.
Does anybody know how the term "perfect" got started, or why it is used to describe an ongoing action?
