Verb tenses - your opinion appreciated

Question

I have been learning Spanish for the last 3 months. I have had some lessons in the past but never progressed beyond the present simple and the use of "ir + a" and "estar + iendo/ando". In today's lesson my Spanish tutor tried to teach me 12 different tenses for "haber" and I really feel that this is too much to get my head round in one go. I feel a bit discouraged. Do you think that it was a bit excessive to try and introduce so many tenses in one go?

Welcome to SpanishDict. I recommend your talking to your teacher and explaining how you feel. Try working with her on this. - rac1, Jul 21, 2015

Thanks - simon7uk, Jul 21, 2015

Yes, too much at once! - annierats, Jul 21, 2015

Answer 1

I read somewhere a long long time ago that over 60% of Spanish is spoken in two tenses- the present and the preterite. So if you are looking for "bang for your buck" those are the two to nail down first. Then I would go to the imperfect, future and conditional. By the time you get there the compound tenses will probably have fallen into place as they conjugate the same. Then finally comes the Beast...but not from a conjugation standpoint but rather from a usage standpoint....the dreaded subjunctive.

This is a good plan. - Kiwaiano, Jul 30, 2015

Answer 2

If you go to this website, you will get a lot of help.

http://www.spanishdict.com/learn/courses

If your teacher is loading you down with 12 tenses of haber that's too much. This verb is used mainly in the present and imperfect tenses. The other tenses are not used quite as much. I teach Spanish at the college level, so I know what I'm talking about.

There must be something we don't know about the situation. ♥ - rac1, Jul 21, 2015

Answer 3

I wrote a song to help with present past imperfect future and conditional verb tenses. I'm working on one for some irregular verbs.

Answer 4

I don't think your teacher was trying to teach you 12 tenses. I learned the tenses you mentioned when starting Spanish but pretty soon you want to tell people of something that happened to you in the past - eg this morning or last night. I assume from your name you are based in the UK. The first past tense I learned was the present perfect, which is used a lot in Spain though not as frequently outside of Spain.You use the present tense of haber which means to have plus the past participle. Haber is used in many compound tenses eg I had gone etc. Your teacher may have mentioned this as an explanation but wouldn't expect you to learn all the tenses of haber until you were ready to learn them properly.

In the third person it is very useful as a beginner eg Hay = there is /there are and Habia there was there were.

Third person single present tense is ha - but hay is used for there are

By the way the usual verb for to have is tener, haber is just used in the way I have mentioned.

I suggest if you are worried speak to your teacher but if you just want to consolidate what you know watch Mi Vida Loca on the BBC. It is an interactive video tale starting in Madrid. It starts at beginner level so you could check out how they introduce haber.

12? I get 14 standard tenses - five simple indicative, five perfect indicative, two simple subjunctive and two perfect subjunctive. There are a few more but either not used much or not really considered tenses, but for lack of a better word "moods"'. - gringojrf, Jul 30, 2015

Answer 5

I find it useful to have an overview of the entire canvas of the language before studying various aspects in more depth. When you visit a new country you often start with a map of it. This doesn't mean you need to learn all its geography at once...

Answer 6

It all depends on you.

I would recommend you to translate from Spanish to English. I recommend to translate a novel, because context play an important role, as always, so it helps a lot when translating. That will get you into understanding what's being said.

If you write Spanish, then translate that to English, pretty soon you will be writing Spanish like a pro, without even "knowing" why you wrote it like that, but in your mind you "know" that's the way to write.... (you don't need to learn grammar. Pretty much like when you learn your own language, right?)

I have other tips, just when you are ready, if ever.

Thanks Chileno - I will try that. - simon7uk, Jul 21, 2015