Go Loco
StudyShopSign In
🚦

Auxiliary Verbs

Spoken Description

Aprende los verbos auxiliares en español: ser, estar, tener, haber, y sus combinaciones con participios y infinitivos. Incluye estructura, ejemplos, tiempos compuestos, modales, y verbos perifrásticos para hablar con mayor precisión y fluidez.

Learn about auxiliary verbs in English: be, do, have, and their roles in tense formation, modal constructions, and passive voice. Includes structure, examples, and practice to speak with greater detail.

-:- / -:-
Auxiliary verbs in Spanish help form tenses, moods, voices and are essential for expressing time, possibility, necessity and more.

Key Auxiliary Verbs

The main auxiliary verbs are haber for compound tenses, estar for the progressive, and tener for obligation.

1 of 4

Haber

Haber se utiliza con participios pasados para crear tiempos perfectos que indican acciones completadas en relación con un momento determinado.

Haber is used with past participles to create perfect tenses that show completed actions relative to a time.

Present Perfect

The present perfect (he hablado) describes actions that have occurred recently or have relevance to now.
Spanish SentenceEnglish Translation
He comido.I have eaten.
Has estudiado.You have studied.
Ha llegado.He/she has arrived.
Yo(haber) comido.

I have eaten.

(to eat)

Past Perfect

The past perfect (había hablado) sets an action before another past reference point.
Spanish SentenceEnglish Translation
Había salido.I had left.
Habías visto.You had seen.
Había vuelto.He/she had returned.
Antes de la llamada, yo(haber) salido.

Before the call, I had left.

(to leave)

Estar

Estar más el gerundio expresa acciones en curso en el aspecto progresivo.

Estar plus gerund expresses ongoing actions in the progressive aspect.

Present Progressive

The present progressive (estoy hablando) highlights actions happening right now or around now.
Spanish SentenceEnglish Translation
Estoy leyendo.I am reading.
Estás escribiendo.You are writing.
Está caminando.He/she is walking.
Ahora mismo, yo(estar)(leer).

Right now, I am reading.

(to read)

Past Progressive

The past progressive (estaba hablando) describes an action in progress at some past moment, often interrupted.
Spanish SentenceEnglish Translation
Estaba cocinando.I was cooking.
Estabas durmiendo.You were sleeping.
Estaba trabajando.He/she was working.
Ayer a las seis, yo(estar)(cocinar).

Yesterday at six, I was cooking.

(to cook)

Tener

Tener más que expresa obligación o necesidad de hacer algo.

Tener plus que expresses obligation or necessity to do something.
Spanish SentenceEnglish Translation
Tengo que salir.I have to leave.
Tienes que estudiar.You have to study.
Tiene que llamar.He/she has to call.
Yo(tener) que(salir).

I have to leave.

(to leave)

1 of 2

Other Modals

Verbs like poder, deber and querer function as auxiliaries that add ability, duty or desire.
Spanish Word(s)English Translation(s)
poderto be able to
debershould / to have to
quererto want to

1 of 2

Summary

Auxiliary verbs like haber, estar and tener shape meaning by marking time, aspect and necessity; mastering them unlocks nuanced expression.

All content was written by our AI and may contain a few mistakes. We may earn commissions on some links. Last updated: Mon Dec 8, 2025, 6:25 AM