We use the present perfect tense to express actions that took place in the past but are linked in some way to the present. The present perfect is a compound verb, formed by the helping verb "haber" and the past participle:
- Este año he aprendido español. (I have learned Spanish this year.)
- Hoy he trabajado demasiado. (I have worked too much today.)
- El siglo XIX ha sido muy importante en nuestra historia.
(The 19th century has been a very important one in our history.)
Note from the examples that the time between the end of the action and the moment of speaking is irrelevant. What matters is the intention of the speaker to relate the action to the present. Note also how in Spanish we use the present perfect to describe events that have taken place very recently:
- Esta mañana no me he duchado.
(I didn´t take a shower this morning.)
- He encontrado diez euros en la calle.
(I found ten euros on the street (just now).)
Present perfect conjugation (regular verbs)
hablar (-ar)
comer (-er)
vivir (-ir)
yo he
hablado
nosotros hemos hablado
yo he comido
nosotros hemos comido
yo he
vivido
nosotros hemos vivido
tú has
hablado
vosotros
habéis hablado
tú has
comido
vosotros habéis comido
tú has
vivido
vosotros habéis vivido
usted ha hablado
ustedes
han hablado
usted ha
comido
ustedes
han comido
usted ha
vivido
ustedes han vivido
él/ella ha
hablado
ellos/ellas han hablado
él/ella ha
comido
ellos/ellas
han comido
él/ella ha
vivido
ellos/ellas han vivido
The present perfect tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the "-ar", "-er", and "-ir" from the infinitive ending and adding the following endings:
Past participle endings (regular verbs)
(-ar)
(-er)
(-ir)
-ado
-ido
-ido
When an "-er" or "-ir" stem ends in a vowel, add an accent mark to the participle:
caer (fallen)
caído
creer (believed)
creído
leer (read)
leído
Irregular participles
abrir (opened)
abierto
cubrir (covered)
cubierto
ver (seen)
visto
morir (died)
muerto
escribir (written)
escrito
Use the present perfect to refer to actions that have started in the past but continue on the present:
- He vivido aquí por diez años. (I have lived here for ten years.)
You can also use the present perfect for actions that were completed at a recent moment in time.
- Ha llegado el correo. (The mail has arrived.)
- Han tocado la puerta. (Someone knocked on the door.)
(Remember that you can also express recent actions with the form "acabar de" .)
Note that the present perfect is a compound verb. Adverbs or pronouns cannot be placed between the helping verb and the participle:
- Ella no me ha respondido pronto. (She has not replied to me quickly.)
- Elena se ha comido todos mis chocolates. (Elena has eaten all my chocolates.)
Click here to practice the present perfect tense and many other
aspects of Spanish grammar.
