pretérito vs presente

R Z.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

pretérito vs presente

Just a terminology question, but why is this called "El Pretérito Perfecto Subjuntivo" instead of "El Presente Perfecto Subjuntivo"? I thought pretérito meant past tense? (It seems to mean past tense in the context of Pretérito Indefinido and Pretérito Imperfecto.)

This question relates to:Spanish lesson "Conjugate Spanish regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in present perfect subjunctive tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo)"

Asked 4 years ago

Like0Answer2

InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola R,

in Spanish the tense using haber in the present plus the past participle (he ido, has venido, hemos comprado...) is considered a "past" tense, not a present tense. It is referring to actions that have already started (before the present time), this is why it is part of the "preterite" group; I imagine this is why the word "present" is not used in its name.

Saludos

Like04 years ago

R Z.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Then why is the English translation of the tense "present perfect subjunctive"?

Like04 years ago

R Z. asked: