the Spanish present perfect
The present perfect is haber plus a past participle, and it says what you have done - something finished that still counts now.
he hablado
I have spoken
when to use it
Use it for a completed action inside a stretch of time that has not closed - today, this week, this year, ever. It is also the natural tense for news and for recent events, which is why it turns up so often in the phrases este año he aprendido and nunca he visitado.
Words that tend to sit with it: ya, todavía no, alguna vez, este año, hoy
- he visitado España ~ I have visited Spain
- ¿has terminado los deberes? ~ have you finished the homework?
how to build it
Two parts: haber (present), which changes for the person, and the past participle (the -ed word), which does not.
| haber (present) | |
|---|---|
| yo | he |
| tú | has |
| él/ella | ha |
| nosotros | hemos |
| vosotros | habéis |
| ellos/ellas | han |
| group | past participle (the -ed word) |
|---|---|
| -ar | -ado (hablado) |
| -er | -ido (comido) |
| -ir | -ido (vivido) |
one verb from each group
The three regular patterns side by side, so the only thing changing between columns is the group the verb belongs to.
| hablar | comer | vivir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | he hablado | he comido | he vivido |
| tú | has hablado | has comido | has vivido |
| él/ella | ha hablado | ha comido | ha vivido |
| nosotros | hemos hablado | hemos comido | hemos vivido |
| vosotros | habéis hablado | habéis comido | habéis vivido |
| ellos/ellas | han hablado | han comido | han vivido |
what goes wrong
Splitting haber from the participle. In English you can say I have never spoken; in Spanish nunca goes outside the pair, and nothing at all comes between he and hablado.
Haber never varies, which leaves the participles. About fifteen are irregular, and the common ones are worth knowing cold: hecho, dicho, visto, escrito, puesto, vuelto, abierto, roto, muerto.
| hacer | decir | poner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | he hecho | he dicho | he puesto |
| tú | has hecho | has dicho | has puesto |
| él/ella | ha hecho | ha dicho | ha puesto |
| nosotros | hemos hecho | hemos dicho | hemos puesto |
| vosotros | habéis hecho | habéis dicho | habéis puesto |
| ellos/ellas | han hecho | han dicho | han puesto |
common questions
- how do you form the present perfect in Spanish?
- Conjugate haber in the present - he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han - and add the past participle. The participle is -ado for -ar verbs and -ido for -er and -ir verbs, and it does not change for person or gender here.
- what are the irregular past participles in Spanish?
- About fifteen, and the common ones are worth knowing by heart: hecho from hacer, dicho from decir, visto from ver, escrito from escribir, puesto from poner, vuelto from volver, abierto from abrir, roto from romper and muerto from morir.
knowing the table is not the same as producing the form
langrevise drills the Spanish present perfect across 414 verbs, one form at a time, and brings each one back after a gap that gets longer every time you get it right.
start free