To tell a story about the past you need two past tenses working together. This lesson builds them: the present perfect ("have done") with haber, the imperfect for backgrounds and habits, and — the key exam skill — the preterite vs imperfect contrast for describing childhood, routines and things that happened.
Work through each screen and answer the questions as you go — some ask you to recognise the right form, some ask you to produce it by typing. Collect ⭐ stars and press Start.
The present perfect talks about a recent past that is still connected to now: "I have eaten", "she has seen it". It is made of two parts — the present tense of haber plus a past participle:
Two rules that never break: the two parts never separate (nothing goes between he and comido), and the participle never agrees here — it always ends in -o, whoever the subject is.
To make a regular past participle, chop the infinitive ending and add:
| hablar | hablado |
| trabajar | trabajado |
| estudiar | estudiado |
| comer | comido |
| vivir | vivido |
| beber | bebido |
Now attach the right haber form: he hablado (I have spoken), has comido (you have eaten), han vivido (they have lived).
Productive scope: for the perfect tense you produce the present of haber only. The pluperfect (había hablado) is recognise-only in WJEC — understand it in reading and listening, but stick to he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han when you write and speak.
A short list of very common verbs has an irregular past participle — you cannot build it from a rule, so learn each one:
| infinitive | past participle |
|---|---|
| hacer (to do/make) | hecho |
| ver (to see) | visto |
| escribir (to write) | escrito |
| decir (to say) | dicho |
| poner (to put) | puesto |
| volver (to return) | vuelto |
| abrir (to open) | abierto |
| romper (to break) | roto |
| morir (to die) | muerto |
In action: He hecho los deberes (I have done the homework); ¿Has visto mi móvil? (Have you seen my phone?); Han escrito una carta (They have written a letter).
Recognise this — understand it, don't produce it. In WJEC Spanish the general imperfect ("used to / was -ing") is a recognise-only tense: understand it in reading and listening. The only imperfect forms you actively produce are the fixed uses era / eran ("there was / there were") and the weather (Hacía sol, Llovía). Learn the endings below so you can spot the imperfect confidently.
The imperfect is the tense of "used to", descriptions and backgrounds. It is beautifully regular — almost no exceptions. Chop the infinitive and add:
| yo | hablaba |
| tú | hablabas |
| él / ella | hablaba |
| nosotros | hablábamos |
| vosotros | hablabais |
| ellos | hablaban |
| yo | comía |
| tú | comías |
| él / ella | comía |
| nosotros | comíamos |
| vosotros | comíais |
| ellos | comían |
Same endings all through: the plural persons (hablábamos, comíais, vivían…) use the same pattern as the singular. -ir verbs (vivir → vivía) take exactly the same endings as -er. You only need to recognise these forms, not build them.
The whole imperfect tense has just three irregular verbs. Learn these and nothing else can catch you out:
| era |
| eras |
| era |
| éramos |
| erais |
| eran |
| iba |
| ibas |
| iba |
| íbamos |
| ibais |
| iban |
| veía |
| veías |
| veía |
| veíamos |
| veíais |
| veían |
Notice: the plural forms (éramos, íbamos, veíamos…) are the ones with accents. In the singular: era (I/he was), iba (I/he used to go), veía (I/he used to see). Of these, era / eran are the forms you actively use ("there was / there were"); the rest you just need to recognise.
Choose the form that fits the gap — a completed event, a habit, or time in the past.
The imperfect does these four jobs whenever the past is unfinished, repeated or described. In WJEC, recognise all four in reading and listening — but only produce the two green-flagged ones:
Your productive imperfect = two things only: era / eran ("there was / there were", plus time and set descriptions) and the weather (Hacía frío, Llovía, Nevaba). Everything else in the imperfect you only need to recognise.
Spanish has two simple past tenses and choosing between them is the heart of storytelling. The rule of thumb:
A completed, single, finished action. Answers "what happened?" — fui, comí, sonó, llegó.
Ongoing description, habit, "was doing". Answers "what was going on?" — era, comía, hacía, jugaba.
They combine in the classic "interrupted action" sentence — the imperfect sets the scene, the preterite drops in the event:
Some time phrases point to a finished event (preterite); others to a habit or ongoing scene (imperfect). Sort each one.
Tap an infinitive on the left, then tap its irregular past participle on the right.
Present perfect: haber (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) + past participle. Parts never split; participle stays -o.
Regular participles: -ar → -ado (hablado), -er/-ir → -ido (comido, vivido).
Irregular participles: hecho, visto, escrito, dicho, puesto, vuelto, abierto, roto, muerto.
Imperfect endings (recognise): -ar → -aba…; -er/-ir → -ía…. Understand the general imperfect; you don't produce it.
Imperfect irregulars: ser → era, ir → iba, ver → veía.
Imperfect uses: recognise habits ("used to"), descriptions, "was doing", time & age — but only produce era / eran and the weather (Hacía frío).
Preterite vs imperfect: preterite = the event ("what happened"); imperfect = the background ("what was going on"). Comía cuando sonó el teléfono.
Master these and you can narrate any story about your childhood or past. Press Finish to see your score.
You've built the perfect and imperfect for WJEC GCSE Spanish. 🎉
Your stars: 0 / 0
Next in the spine: The preterite in full — regular endings and the key irregulars. Then lock this in with the Evaluate confidence quiz.