Spanish 3.6. Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense in Spanish, like in English, is used to describe events that happened recently or started in the past and continue in the present. It is a compound tense, meaning it requires an auxiliary verb, in this case, the irregular verb “haber” in the present tense, followed by the past participle.

The auxiliary “haber” serves a similar function to the auxiliary “have” in English, e.g., “I have done my homework.”

“-ar” verbs	subject pronoun + “haber” in present tense + (verb stem+ ado)
“-er” verbs	subject pronoun + “haber” in present tense + (verb stem+ ido)
“-ir” verbs	subject pronoun + “haber” in present tense + (verb stem+ ido)

Conjugation

Let us look at some verb examples and the conjugation of “haber.”

		-ar ending e.g., hablar	-er ending e.g., comer	-ir ending e.g., vivir
yo	he	hablado	comido	vivido
tú	has
él/ella/usted	ha
nosotros/-as	hemos
vosotros/-as	habéis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han

Examples

Here are some more examples in context of the present perfect tense in Spanish:

		Examples
yo	he	Yo he visitado Egipto.	I have visited Egypt.
tú	has	Tú has bebido el café.	You have drunk the coffee.
él/ella/usted	ha	Ella ha hablado con su madre.	She has spoken to her mother.
nosotros/-as	hemos	Nosotros hemos comido.	We have eaten.
vosotros/-as	habéis	Vosotros habéis llegado.	You have arrived.
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han	Ellos han vivido aquí.	They have lived here.

Irregular Past Participles

There are a few verbs with irregular past participles that need to be memorized.

Verb	Past Participle	Meaning	Examples
abrir	abierto	to open	He abierto la puerta.	I have opened the door.
absolver	absuelto	to absolve	Lo han absuelto.	They have absolved him.
cubrir	cubierto	to cover	Hemos cubierto el suelo.	We have covered the floor.
decir	dicho	to say	Te lo he dicho.	I have told you so.
escribir	escrito	to write	Ella ha escrito una carta.	She has written a letter.
freír	frito	to fry	¿Has frito la papa?	Have you fried the potato?
hacer	hecho	to do	He hecho la tarea.	I have done the task.
imprimir	impreso	to print	He impreso la foto.	I have printed the photo.
morir	muerto	to die	Él ha muerto.	He has died.
poner	puesto	to put	Él nos ha puesto en peligro.	He has put us in danger.
proveer	provisto	to provide	Hemos provisto el agua.	We have provided water.
resolver	resuelto	to resolve	Ella ha resuelto el problema.	She has resolved the problem.
romper	roto	to break	Ella ha roto la ventana.	She has broken the window.
satisfacer	satisfecho	to satisfy	Mi trabajo me ha satisfecho.	My work has satisfied me.
ver	visto	to see	No lo he visto.	I haven’t seen him.
volver	vuelto	to return	Ella no ha vuelto.	She hasn’t returned.

Notes on Irregular Past Participles

Among the above exceptions, it is acceptable for the verbs “freír,” “imprimir,” and “proveer” to use the past participle in the regular form as “freído,” “imprimido,” and “proveído.” However, only irregular forms are acceptable if used as adjectives.

The verbs above can be used with prefixes that change the meaning, but the irregular form remains the same. For example, the past participles of “revolver” (to scramble), “devolver” (to return), and “envolver” (to wrap) are “revuelto,” “devuelto,” and “envuelto,” respectively, which are all similar to the past participle of the original verb “volver” without the prefix, i.e., “vuelto.”

Another minor orthographic irregularity is in the case of “-er” and “-ir” verbs if the stem ends in a vowel, e.g., the stem of “leer” (to read) is “le-.” In this case, the “i” in the past participle ending is accented, i.e., “-ído.” Thus, the past participle of “leer” is “leído.” Other examples include “caer” (to fall), “creer” (to believe), “oír” (to hear), “poseer” (to possess), “reír” (to laugh), and “traer” (to bring). An exception to the accented “i” rule is verbs with a “-uir” ending. In this case, the “i” is not accented, e.g., “destruir” (to destroy) becomes “destruido.”

Past Participle as Adjective

Many adjectives in Spanish are the same as the past participle, especially when active meaning is conveyed.

		Examples
agradecido	grateful	Estoy agradecido por tu ayuda.	I’m grateful for your help.
atrevido	daring	Él es una persona muy atrevida.	He is a very daring person.
divertido	amusing	Su comportamiento era muy divertido.	His behavior was very amusing.
experimentado	experienced expert	Él es un médico muy experimentado.	He is a very experienced doctor.

In some cases, the past participle and the adjective are different. It is useful to remember that the following words use different adjective and past participle forms:

Infinitive	Meaning	Adjective	Past Participle
atender	to look after	atento	atendido
bendecir	to bless	bendito	bendecido
confundir	to confuse	confuso, confundido	confundido
corromper	to corrupt	corrupto, corrompido	corrompido
despertar	to wake up	despierto	despertado
maldecir	to curse	maldito	maldecido
poseer	to possess	poseso, poseído	poseído
presumir	to presume	presunto	presumido
suspender	to suspend	suspenso, suspendido	suspendido

For example:

Yo he despertado.	I have woken up.	“despertado” is the past participle
Yo estoy despierto.	I am awake.	“despierto” is an adjective

Me han confundido.	They have confused me.	“confundido” is the past participle
Ella estaba confusa.	She was confused.	“confusa” is an adjective

The Present Perfect Progressive Tense

Finally, despite not being grammatically correct or recognized by the Real Academia Española (RAE), the present perfect progressive tense is sometimes heard by native speakers to describe an action that was initiated in the past and continues to happen.

A sentence in the present perfect progressive tense is formed as follows:

subject pronoun + “haber” in present tense + “estado”+ gerund

			-ar ending hablar	-er ending comer	-ir ending vivir
yo	he	estado	hablando	comiendo	viviendo
tú	has
él/ella/usted	ha
nosotros/-as	hemos
vosotros/-as	habéis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han

For example:

He estado hablando con él por dos horas.	I have been talking with him for two hours.
Ha estado viviendo aquí por mucho tiempo.	He has been living here for a long time.

In formal speech, one must not use this grammatically incorrect tense. The alternative is to use the present perfect tense, which we studied previously. The present perfect tense is the grammatically correct alternative in Spanish to the present perfect progressive tense.

Thus, the above two examples should be rewritten as follows:

He hablado con él.	I have talked with him.
Ha vivido aquí por mucho tiempo.	He has lived here for a long time.

Next: Special Uses of “Haber” & “Tener”

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