3.4: Present Perfect
- Page ID
- 164420
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Presente perfecto (también pretérito perfecto compuesto)
The present perfect is referred as "presente perfecto" or "pretérito perfecto compuesto" in Spanish. This tense is in the indicative mode. It can also be referred to as present perfect indicative.
All perfect tenses are compound tenses that require a conjugated version of the auxiliary verb "haber" followed by the past participle of another verb. All perfect tenses refer to "completed actions". Thus, the "present" perfect, refers to past actions, even when "haber" is conjugated in the present tense. The present perfect refers to actions people "have done". This time, past participles are used as verbs, so there is no need to change the ending. All past participles must end in "-o" when used in perfect tenses.
Conjugación
The conjugated version of "haber" indicates who has done the action and must change to agree with the subject. However, the past participle must remain the same in all conjugations, as shown in the table below:
| Infinitivo | Yo | Tú | Usted/él/ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ustedes/ellos/ellas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hablar | he hablado | has hablado | ha hablado | hemos hablado | habéis hablado | han hablado |
| escribir | he escrito | has escrito | ha escrito | hemos escrito | habéis escrito | han escrito |
| traer | he traído | has traído | ha traído | hemos traído | habéis traído | han traído |
| vivir | he vivido | has vivido | ha vivido | hemos vivido | habéis vivido | han vivido |
Note that past participles that require an accent mark, must keep their accent mark when used in present perfect conjugations. Moreover, verbs with irregular past participles are considered irregular in the present perfect (and in all perfect tenses).
Práctica 1
Fórmulas
- haber + participio pasado
- no + haber + participio pasado
- pronombres + haber + participio pasado
- no + pronombres + haber + participio pasado
The conjugated version of "haber" and the past participle must remain together. The word "no" in a negative sentence must be placed before "haber". Reflexive, direct, and indirect object pronouns precede "haber" as well. When a negative sentence includes reflexive, direct, or indirect object pronouns, place them between the "no" and the verb "haber". Names, nouns and subject pronouns must be placed at the beginning of the sentence. Important Note: These rules apply to all perfect tenses.
Ejemplos
- Sara ha terminado su tarea. (Sara has finished her homework.)
- Juan no la ha terminado. (Juan has not finished it.)
- Lorenzo y Pedro ya se la han entregado a su profesor. (Lorenzo y Pedro have already turned it in to their professor.)
- No, no se la han entregado todavía. (No, they have not turned it in to him yet.)
The words "ya" and "todavía" are commonly used with perfect tenses. "Ya" is used in affirmative sentences to indicate something has "already" been done. "Todavía" is used in negative sentences to indicate something has not been done "yet". Both words can be placed before the conjugation of "haber" or at the end of the sentence. If the sentence includes reflexive, direct, or indirect object pronouns, "ya" can also be placed before the pronouns. If the sentence is negative, "todavía" can also be placed before the word "no".
Práctica 2
Conjugaciones de haber (hay) y tener
The present perfect of "hay" is "ha habido". Just like in the present tense, we only use one conjugation that refers to a singular or plural subject. "Ha habido" translates as "there has been" and "there have been".
The verb "tener" follows the same conjugation process of all regular verbs. Unlike English, in Spanish we use two different verbs to say "I have had" since the formula indicates that "haber" must be followed by the past participle of the verb, in this case "tener". I have had translates as "yo he tenido".
Ejemplos
- Ha habido mucho tráfico esta mañana. (There has been a lot of traffic this morning.)
- Ha habido muchas personas en la fiesta. (There have been many people at the party.)
- Los estudiantes no han tenido tarea esta semana. (The students have not had homework this week.)