Spanish Grammar in Context

A reference grammar with video examples from the Spanish in Texas collection

  • Credits
  • Index
  • About
  • Home
  • Adjectives
    • Introduction to Adjectives
    • Adjectives – Formation and Placement
    • Comparisons and Superlatives with Adjectives
    • Past Participles as Adjectives
    • Todo
    • Indefinite Adjectives
    • Adjectives Practice
  • Adverbs
    • Introduction to Adverbs
    • Adverbs – Formation and Placement
    • Comparative Adverbs
    • Adverbs Practice
  • Conjunctions
    • Introduction to Conjunctions
    • Coordinating Conjunctions
    • Subordinating Conjunctions
    • Conjunctions Practice
  • Determiners
    • Introduction to Determiners
    • Definite Articles
    • Indefinite Articles
    • Possessive Determiners
    • Demonstrative Determiners
    • Expressions of Quantity
    • Determiners Practice
  • Negation
    • Introduction to Negation
    • Basic Negation: No
    • Alternate Forms of Negation
    • One-word Negative Sentences
    • Negation Practice
  • Nouns
    • Introduction to Nouns
    • Nouns – Number
    • Nouns – Gender
    • Nouns Practice
  • Prepositions
    • Introduction to Prepositions
    • Common Prepositions
    • Por vs. Para
    • Prepositions Practice
  • Pronouns
    • Introduction to Pronouns
    • Subject Pronouns
    • Direct Object Pronouns
    • Indirect Object Pronouns
    • Reflexive Pronouns
    • Order of Object Pronouns
    • Relative Pronouns
    • Indefinite Pronouns
    • Demonstrative Pronouns
    • Possessive Pronouns
    • Pronouns Practice
  • Verbs
    • Introduction to Verbs
    • Tense/Mood
    • Introduction to Present Tense
      • -ar Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -er Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -ir Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
    • Ser “To Be”
    • Haber “To Have”
    • Reflexive Verbs
    • Preterit
    • Present Perfect
    • Imperfect
    • Narration: Preterit vs. Imperfect
    • Pluperfect
    • Future
    • Conditional
    • Past Conditional
    • Imperative Mood (commands)
    • Introduction to Subjunctive
      • Subjunctive – Present
      • Subjunctive – Past or Imperfect
      • Subjunctive – Present Perfect
      • Subjunctive – Pluperfect
      • Tense Sequences
    • Si Clauses (If Clauses)
    • Indirect Speech
      • Indirect Speech – Present
      • Indirect Speech – Past
    • Passive Voice
    • Language Contact
    • Verbs Practice
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Practice quizzes: verbs

Present Perfect

hablar  to speak
yo he hablado nosotros/as hemos hablado
tú has hablado  
él/ella/usted ha hablado ellos/as/ustedes han hablado

The present perfect (pretérito perfecto or presente perfecto) is very similar in form and use to the English present perfect .

Form

The present perfect is a compound tense made of 2 words that cannot be separated:

  1. The present indicative of the auxiliar verb haber
  2. The past participle (-ado/-ido form) of the main verb
Creo que las personas que han influido en mi vida, y que han hecho gran impacto no necesariamente son maestros. Son los maestros de casa, mis padres, que siempre han estado motivándome, han estado apoyándome en todas las decisiones que tomo.
I think that the people that have influenced my life and that have had a big impact are not necessarily teachers. They are the teachers at home, my parents, who have always been motivating me, have been supporting me in all the decisions I make.
Raúl, ese niño es el que nos ha dado más scares.
Raúl, that kid is the one that has given us more scares.

Uses

The present perfect is used when

  1. talking about a past action that happened in a time period close to the speaker/writer’s present
  2. in the sentence there is a time expression that refers to an ongoing or not completed time period

Some time expressions that usually are accompanied by the present perfect are: hoy, today, esta mañana, this morning, esta semana, this week, este año, this year, este mes, this month, ya, already, todavía, yet, alguna vez, some time, etc. These time expressions can also be used with the preterit.

¿Y alguna vez te ha dado vergüenza porque vives en los Estados Unidos?
Have you ever been embarrassed because you live in the United States?

COERLL • The University of Texas at Austin • info@coerll.utexas.edu Creative Commons License

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