‘Learn Spanish’ Lesson And The Present Perfect Tense
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This Spanish Grammar lesson covers the Present Perfect Tense. Similar to English, the Present Perfect Tense in Spanish is a compound tense that is used frequently, and quite simple to learn. The Present Perfect is a compound tense because it requires an auxiliary verb, haber (to have) and the past participle of the verb. As in English, the verb haber all the time comes before the present participle.
The conjugation pattern is as follows:
To Have (Present tense) + Past Participle
Right here is an example of the Present Perfect Tense in English:
Carl has worked so much this year.
In the above example, the verb “has worked” is in the Present Perfect Tense because it signifies a reality or an act in the past. Nevertheless it also signifies a time frame that has not utterly elapsed.
Another use for the Present Perfect Tense that is just like the previous example, is to express an action that has taken place, but whose time has not been positively established.
Right here is one other example of the Present Perfect Tense in English:
Martha has eaten very little.
In this example, the verb “has eaten” is in the Present Perfect Tense to express that Martha ate in the past. Nevertheless, it implies that a particular time in which this happened has not been determined.
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To understand this tense better|, let’s review the conjugation of the auxiliary verb haber in the Present Perfect Tense:
Yo he (I have) nosotros hemos (we have)
tъ has (you have) ellos han (they have)
йl ha (he has) ellas han (they have)
Ella ha (she has) ustedes han (you have)
Usted ha (you have)
Bear in mind, with haber conjugated in the present tense, all that needs to be included is the past participle of the verb that is intended.
With this in thoughts, what follows is the conjugation for the Present Perfect Tense for -ar verbs.
Hablar (To Speak) Past Participle: Hablado (Spoken)
Yo he hablado (I have spoken) nosotros hemos hablado (we’ve spoken)
tъ has hablado (you’ve spoken) ellos han hablado (they have spoken)
йl ha hablado (he has spoken) ellas han hablado (they have spoken)
ella ha hablado (she has spoken) ustedes han hablado (you’ve spoken)
usted ha hablado (you’ve spoken)
Right here is an example with hablar:
Jaime ha hablado mucho de su boda.
(Jaime has spoken so much about his wedding.)
Once again, notice how similar the conjugation pattern for the Present Perfect Tense is in Spanish and English. The auxiliary verb haber (to have) all the time comes before the past participle of the verb.
Conjugations for normal -er and and -ir verbs mirror a similar pattern.
Comer (to eat) Past Particple: Comido (Eaten)
Yo he comido (I have eaten) nosotros hemos comido (we’ve eaten)
tъ has comido (you’ve eaten) ellos han comido (they have eaten)
йl ha comido (he has eaten) ellas han comido (they have eaten)
ella ha comido (she has eaten) ustedes han comido (you’ve eaten)
usted ha comido (you’ve eaten)
Right here is an example with comer:
He comido mucho hoy. (I have eaten lots today.)
Salir (to exit) Past Participle: Salido (Gone out)
Yo he salido (I have gone out) nosotros hemos salido (we have gone out)
tъ has salido (you’ve gone out) ellos han salido (they have gone out)
йl ha salido (he has gone out) ellas han salido (they have gone out)
ella ha salido (she has gone out) ustedes han salido (you’ve gone out)
usted ha salido (you’ve gone out)
Right here is an example with salir:
Juan Carlos ha salido mucho esta noche.
(Juan Carlos has gone out a lot tonight.)
Even the verb ir, which is normally an irregular verb in Spanish, has a regular conjugation in the Present Perfect.
Ir (to go) Past Participle: Ido (gone)
Yo he ido (I have gone) nosotros hemos ido (we’ve gone)
tъ has ido (you’ve gone) ellos han ido (they have gone)
йl ha ido (he has gone) ellas han ido (they have gone)
Ella ha ido (she has gone) ustedes han ido (you’ve gone)
Usted ha ido (you’ve gone)
What follows are just a few examples using the Present Perfect Tense:
Andrйs ha pensado mucho en su paнs.
(Andrйs has thought so much about his country.)
Mi vecina Rosa y su hija Carmen han estado en casa todo el dнa.
(My neighbor and her daughter Carmen have been home all day.)
La Repъblica Dominicana ha producido peloteros excelentes.
(The Dominican Republic has produced glorious baseball players.)
Este aсo, hemos donado nuestras computadoras a esa organizaciуn.
(This year, we’ve donated our computers to that organization.)
He estado en Nueva York desde el aсo 2000.
(I have been in New York since the year 2000.)
Usted ha estado de dieta.
(You’ve been on a diet.)
Regardless of the Present Perfect’s relatively easy conjugation, it should be noted that the Present Perfect Tense is also used with reflexive verbs.
That is expressed in the following example:
Mi papб se ha afeitado hoy.
(My father has shaved today.)
Note how the beforehand mentioned pattern for the Present Perfect Tense is repeated. The only difference is that the reflexive pronoun must come before the auxiliary verb haber and before the past participle of the verb.
Reflexive Pronoun + Present tense of Haber + Past Participle
Other examples of reflexive verbs in the Present Perfect Tense are:
Me he cansado mucho hoy.
(I have been tired a lot today.)
El bebй de Juanita se ha enfermado.
(Juanita’s child has gotten sick.)
Las muchachas se han divertido en el parque.
(The girls have had fun in the park.)
Te has sentado.
(You’ve sat down.)
Now let’s try just a few exercises. Translate the next into Spanish. The answers follow the exercise.
1. My friends have eaten my food.
2. Have you brushed your teeth?
3. Mariaelena and I have gone out to play.
4. The volunteer doctors have helped them a lot.
5. Roberto and Ana have gotten married.
6. Our son John has visited his aunt and uncle.
7. David has talked so much during the class.
8. Frida has wanted to go to school early.
1. Mis amigos han comido mi comida.
2. їTe has cepillado los dientes?
3. Mariaelena y yo hemos salido a jugar.
4. Los doctores voluntarios los han ayudado mucho.
5. Roberto y Ana se han casado.
6. Nuestro hijo John ha visitado a sus tios.
7. David ha hablado mucho durante la clase.
8. Frida ha querido ir a la escuela temprano.