Download El presente perfecto

El presente perfecto
Expressing the present perfect in Spanish
The perfect tenses allow us to express what has happened (had happened, will have happened,
could have happened, etc.). With the present perfect (presente perfecto) the speaker tells what
has happened or what he has done. Some examples in English are:
--I have played basketball for years. We have lived here a long time. She has traveled all
over Europe. How long have you studied Spanish?
Just as in English the present perfect in Spanish requires the use of a helper verb (auxiliary verb)
and the past participle. In English we use the verb ‘to have’ and the past participle generally
looks just like the past tense with the ‘-ed’ suffix (I walked vs. I have walked; You studied vs.
You have studied; They played vs. They have played ). However, English has many irregular
past participles (I ran vs. I have run; He saw vs. He has seen; We came vs. We have come).
Spanish also has a helper verb followed by the past participle form of the verb expressing the
action. The helper verb in Spanish is ‘haber’, which now will have our five conjugations.
Remember, we have used ‘haber’ to express “there is or there are” and has only had one form for
each tense. Now, we will have five conjugations as we use it with the perfect tenses. See the
chart below for the conjugations.
Haber
Yo-He
Nosotros-Hemos
Tú-Has
Vosotros-X
El /Ella/Ud.-- Ha
Ellos/Ellas/Uds.-- Han
The past participle in Spanish also follows a basic pattern for most verbs, but there are also
several irregular forms. The ending for –AR verbs is ‘-ado’ and the ending for –ER/-IR verbs is
‘-ido’. As before we start with the stem or root of the verb and add the appropriate ending. For
example: Hablar  habl- + -ado = hablado; Comer com- + -ido = comido; Vivir viv- + -ido
= vivido. See the chart below for common irregular verbs.
Regular forms
Infinitive
Past Participle Infinitivo
Participio pasado
Mirar
mirado
Entender
entendido
Buscar
buscado
Servir
servido
Leer
leído
Dormir
dormido
Irregular forms
Infinitivo
Participio
Infinitivo
Participio
Infinitivo
Participio
decir
dicho
escribir
escrito
volver
vuelto
hacer
hecho
abrir
abierto
devolver
devuelto
ver
visto
cubrir
cubierto
morir
muerto
poner
puesto
romper
roto
resolver
resuelto
Now here are some examples in Spanish of the use of the present perfect (presente perfecto):
Yo he vivido en Pocatello por muchos años.
Hemos escrito mucho en la clase
¿Has visto la película <<Firewall>>?
Marcos ha bailado con muchas chicas bonitas.
¿Han hecho uds. la lista de vocabulario?
*Remember: Do not confuse the preterite with the present perfect!
Haber
Nosotros-Hemos
Vosotros-X
Ellos/Ellas/Uds.-- Han
Yo-Tú-El /Ella/Ud.--
He
Has
Ha
Infinitive
Mirar
Buscar
Leer
Regular forms
Past Participle Infinitivo
mirado
Entender
buscado
Servir
leído
Dormir
Participio pasado
entendido
servido
dormido
Irregular forms
Infinitivo Participio Infinitivo Participio Infinitivo Participio
decir
dicho
escribir
escrito
volver
vuelto
hacer
hecho
abrir
abierto
devolver devuelto
ver
visto
cubrir
cubierto
morir
muerto
poner
puesto
romper
roto
resolver
resuelto