When using two verbs in sentence the second one is usually in the infinitive form. Is this true for the present tense only?
Using the second verb the infinative form

george-gmh
March 11, 2015

Steven-W15
March 11, 2015
No. The second verb will always be in the infinitive regardless of the tense of the first verb.

george-gmh
March 12, 2015
Take following example of two verbs
Ha from Habar
Sido from Ser
Ha sido un gusto.
What is going on there?

Steven-W15
March 12, 2015
Sorry! I spoke too soon (and what I said is true of French, not
Spanish). Aie. Your example ("It was a pleasure"). Other
examples:
- He estado esperando
- Estuve estudiando el presupuesto
- Si nos quedamos conversando...

Robert-C7
March 12, 2015
Ha sido con gusto = present perfect tense. That is, it is a compound tense. There are many compound tenses in Spanish, just like in English.
Here, ha is the present indicative conjugation of haber, and sido is the participle of ser.

Dan-H24
March 12, 2015
I agree with both Steven and Robert.
Normally when one verb follows another the second is expressed in the infinitive form. I always think of those as "bonus" verbs because I don't have to figure out the conjugation.
But as Robert said, haber is an auxiliary verb that works with another verb to form the compound tenses, both of which are conjugated.
I wonder if haber is the only verb that works this way, or are there others?
EDIT: I just googled that question and got this answer:
Haber, Tener, Ser, Estar.

Robert-C7
March 12, 2015
You can string three of them together too:
He estado estudiando.
I have been studying.
I suppose this is an example of the present perfect progressive tense.

marieg-rocket languages
March 13, 2015
Keep in mind that these examples are using conjugated verbs, so they're not in the infinitive form (estudiando, esperando, sido, etc...)
Now, for the example, "Ha sido un gusto" which can also be said as "Fue un placer". Sido is already conjugated (past participle). Gusto and Placer are acting as nouns, not as verbs...
If George is referring to 2 consecutive verbs in a sentence, then in Spanish the infinitive would only be in the present tense. If he is referring about two verbs in the same sentence (but not together) I can think of:
"Él fue a traer una caja". - He went to get a box.
"Ella vino para contar su historia". - She came to tell her story.
"Juan se sentó a hablar con ellos". - Juan sat down to talk to them.
I hope this helps!

george-gmh
March 14, 2015
This has been a helpful discussion. And, I'm still not totally sure how to deal with past participles. However:
My original question was:
"When using two verbs in sentence the second one is usually in the
infinitive form. Is this true for the present tense only?
"
If understand Marie correctly the answer to that question is - Yes

Ava Dawn
March 14, 2015
Marie's last three examples are in the past tense, fue, vino, sento (accent in o)