Usage of Tenses

[Indicative Tenses] -- [Simple Present] [Preterit] [Imperfect] [Future] [Conditional]
[Perfect Tenses] -- [Present Perfect] [Pluperfect] [Future Perfect Tenses] [Conditional Perfect] [Other Perfect Tenses]
[Progressive Tenses] -- [Present Progressive] [Imprefect Progressive] [Future Progressive Tenses] [Other Progressive Tenses]
[Subjunctive Tenses] -- [Present Subjunctive] [Imperfect Subjunctive] [Present Perfect Subjunctive] [Pluperfect Subjunctive] [Other Subjunctive] [Imperative]
[Duscussing the Past] [Discussing the Present] [Discussing the Future] [Hypothesizing]
[Summary of Modes] [Correspondence between tenses in English and Spanish]

Discussing the Past (summary)

1. To discuss events in the past, use preterit or imperfect. Make sure to check the difference between imperfect and preterit.

2. To talk about somebody else's past actions, use expressions of influence/emotion... + present perfect subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive, or pluperefect subjunctive.

3. To talk about actions that were pending at a point in the past and things that may have or not existed, use imperfect subjunctive.

4. To hypothesize about the past, use 3rd type: si + pluperefect subjunctive.

5. To talk about a past action that preceeded another past action, use plueperfect.

6. To answer question Have you ever? or to refer to past events with relevance to the present, use present perfect.

Discussing the Present (summary)

1. To talk about habitual present actions, events or states, use present indicative. To discuss actions in progress, use present progressive.

2. To talk about somebody else's present actions, use expressions of influence/emotion... + present subjunctive or imperative.

3. To talk about things that may have or not existed, use present subjunctive.

4. To hypothesize (contrary to the fact), use 2nd type: si + imperfect subjunctive or conditional.

Discussing the Future (summary)

1. To speak about a future action use present indicative, futuro popular (ir a + verb) or future tense.

2. To express influence, talk about somebody's future actions use expressions of influence/emotion... + present subjunctive.

3. To talk about the actions that are pending use present subjunctive.

4. To hypothesize about the future, use 1st type: si + present indicative, futuro popular (ir a + verb) or infinitive.

5. To talk about something that will have happened by certain time, use future perfect.

3 types of hypothesizing. Structures in Spanish are very similar to those in English:
1. Hypothetical situtaions in the future and the present:

Si + present indicative	the present indicative a future tense command
Si llueve,	no salgo saldré/voy a salir/estaré saliendo no salgas!
If it rains (it may or may not),	I don't go out will not go out/am not going out don't go out!

2. Hypothetical situtaions in the future and the present that are contrary to fact or very unlikely:

Si + imperfect subjunctive	conditional
Si lloviera,	no saldría.
If it rained (it does not),	I would not go out.

3. Hypothetical situtaions in the past that are contrary to fact:

Si + pluperfect subjunctive	conditional perfect
Si hubiera llovido,	no habría salido.
If it had rained (it did not),	I would not have gone out.

Preterit vs Imperfect:

Preterit -- beginning or end of a past action Imperfect --habitual action in the past.	El partido de fútbol empezó a la una. Terminó a las cuatro. Había un partido todos los sábados.
Preterit -- completed action. Imperfect -- what was happening when another action interrupted it.	El partido duró tres horas. Estaba en la cocina cuando terminó.
Preterit -- series of comppleted actions. Imperfect -- give background detials (time, location, weather, age ...)	Los jugadores corrieron, saltaron y gritaron. Llovía un poco durante el partido.
Preterit -- ayer, anteayer, anoche, un vez, dos veces, el año pasado, el lunes pasado, de repente Imperfect -- todos los días, todos los lunes, siempre, frecuantemente, mientras, de niño/a, de joven. These words are often associated with corresponding tenses. But not necessarily!!!	Ayer cenamos temprano. Ayer cenábamos cuando Juan llamó. De niño jugaba el fútbol. De niño empezó a jugar al fútbol.
Preterit of some verbs has English equivalents different from the infinitives. Their English equivalents in imperfect do not differ from the infinitives.
Preterit and imperfect are often used together in the same sentence. 1. Imperfect tells what was happening when another action (preterite) broke its continuity. 2. Preterite reports the action which took place because of a condition described by imperfect.	Miguel estudiaba cuando sonó el télefono. Olivia comió tanto porque tenía mucha hambre.
Preterit and imperfect are often used together when presenting an event. Imperfect is used to set the stage, describe conditions that caused actions, or to emphasize their conitnuing nature, while preterit just narrates actions.

Overall, imperfect combines two constructions from English: past progressive and would/used to
while preterite corresponds to simple past.

These are tenses that you do need to know. There are more (in theory) and those are listed below. Modo Indicativo

Presente	hablo
Pretérito	hable
Imperfecto/Copretérito	hablaba
Futuro	hablaré
Pospretérito/Condicional	hablaría
Progressivo/Gerundio	hablando
Presente Perfecto/Antepresente	he hablado
Pluscuamperfecto/Antecopretérito	había hablado
Condicional Perfecto/Antepospretérito	habría hablado

Modo Subjuntivo

Presente de Subjuntivo	hable
Subjuntivo Pasado/Imperfecto	hablara/hablase
Antepresente/Presento Perfecto de Subjuntivo	haya hablado
Antepretérito/Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo	hubiera/hubiese hablado

Correspondence between Tenses in English and Spanish

English Tenses	Past	Present	Future	Future in the Past
Indefinite	I spoke Preterite	I speak Present	I will speak Future	I would speak Coniditional
Perfect	I had spoken Pluscuamperfect	I have spoken Present Perfect/ Acabar de	I will have spoken Future Perfect	I would have spoken Perfect Conditional
Continuous	I was speaking Imperfect (Preterit Progressive)	I am speaking Present Progressive Future Popular	I will be speaking Future Progressive	I would be speaking Conditional Progressive
Perfect Continuos	I had been speaking Pluscuamperfect Progressive	I have been speaking Present Perfect Progressive	I will have been speaking Future Perfect Progressive	I would have been speaking Perfect Conditional Progressive

Spanish Indicative	Preterite	Imperfecto	Presento	Futuro	Condicional
Simple	yo hable Past Indefinite	yo hablaba Past Conitnuous/ I used to,would	yo hablo Present Indefinite	yo hablaré Future	yo hablaría Future in the Past
Perfecto	yo hube hablado *no clear correspondence*	*does not exist*	yo he hablado Present Perfect	yo habré hablado Future Perfect	yo habría hablado Future in the Past Perfect
Progressivo	yo estuve hablando Past Conitnuous (very rare)	yo estaba hablando Past Conitnuous	yo estoy hablando Present Conitnuous	yo estaré hablando Future Conitnuous	yo estaría hablando Future in the Past Continuous
Perfecto Progressivo	yo hube estado hablando *no clear correspondence*	*does not exist*	yo he estado hablando Present Perfect Conitnuous	yo habré estado hablando Future Perfect Conitnuous	yo habría estado hablando Future in the Past Perfect Conitnuous

Spanish Subjunctive	Preterite/Imperfecto (Pasado)	Presento	Futuro
Simple	yo hablara/hablase	yo hable	yo hablare
Perfecto	yo hubiera/hubiese hablado	yo haya hablado	yo hubiere hablado
Progressivo	yo estuviera hablando	yo esté hablando	yo estuviere hablando
Perfecto Progressivo	yo hubiera/hubiese estado hablando	yo haya estado hablando	yo hubiere estado hablando