El presente perfecto
Español III
Simple Past vs. Present Perfect
Use the simple past for action that happened in the past and is:
over, done, finished! Use the present perfect for action that
started in the past, but . . . is still true today.
The simple past always refers to an action or situation that is finished.
The present perfect connects the past and the present. It is used to show that an action or situation in the past:
-continues today, OR
-might happen again
Compare the meaning of these two sentences:
1. Sara lived in Boston for 5 years. 2. Sara has lived in Boston for 5 years. The first sentence uses: Simple Past The second sentence uses: Present Perfect
Sara lived in Boston for 5 years. Meaning: by using the simple past tense, we mean that Sara started living in Boston 5 years ago . . .
AND . . . then she moved! Now she lives in a different city, like Paris.
Remember, the simple past is used for a situation that is over, finished, done!
Sara has lived in Boston for 5 years. Meaning: by using the present perfect tense, we mean that Sara began living in Boston 5 years ago . . .
AND . . . she still lives there.
Remember, present perfect:
connects the past with the present.
Use the simple past with time words like:
• yesterday
• last Saturday, week,
month, year, etc.
• _______ ago
• when I was…
• in 1990 (past date)
Use the present perfect with time words like: •recently/lately •since … •so far this week, month, year, etc.
¿Qué es el presente perfecto?
The present perfect is formed by
combining a helping verb (“have” or
“has”) with the past participle
Por ejemplo…
For example:
I have played tennis.
She has sung at weddings.
We have flown in a plane.
Para formar in inglés
To form the present participle we combine the
helping verb “have/has” with a past participle
For example, “I have been a lifeguard.”
“I” is the subject
“have” is the helping verb
“been” is the past participle
Para formar en español
In Spanish we form the present participle by combining the present tense of the verb haber (the helping verb, or el verbo auxiliar) with a past participle
For example:
Yo he bailado.
I have danced.
Nosotros no hemos estudiado para el examen.
We haven’t studied for the test.
The present tense of haber
he hemos
has habéis
ha han
Remember…
How to form the past participle:
For –ar verbs, take the stem of the verb and add
–ado
Example: comprar → comprado
For –er and –ir verbs, take the stem of the verb
and add –ido
Example: tener → tenido
Para formar…
Here are the present perfect forms of estudiar:
he estudiado hemos estudiado
has estudiado habéis estudiado
ha estudiado han estudiado
…with the past participle of estudiar
he hemos
has habéis
ha han
estudiado estudiado
estudiado estudiado
estudiado estudiado
Now you try…
he ________ hemos _______
has ________ habéis ________
ha ________ han ________
On a sheet of paper, see if you can figure
out the present perfect forms for the verb
hablar:
he hablado hemos hablado
has hablado habéis hablado
ha hablado han hablado
Is this what you came up with?
Now let’s try an –er verb
See if you can come up with the present perfect
forms for comer:
__ ______ _____ ______
___ ______ ______ ______
__ ______ ___ ______
Is this what you came up with?
he comido hemos comido
has comido habéis comido
ha comido han comido
Let’s try another one…see if you can come up
with the present perfect tense of ir:
__ ___ _____ ___
___ ___ ______ ___
__ ___ ___ ______
Is this what you came up with?
he ido hemos ido
has ido habéis ido
ha ido han ido
Many of you may have assumed that ir had an
irregular past participle. Afterall, it does have an
irregular present participle. But ir is actually
regular in this tense. Here are some verbs that
are irregular in the past participle:
Not exactly irregular but…
-er and –ir verbs whose stems end in a vowel
have past participles ending in –ído
caer → caído creer → creído
leer → leído oír → oído
reír → reído traer → traído
Irregulars
The following verbs have irregular past participles ending in –to:
abrir → abierto cubrir → cubierto
descubrir → descubierto escribir → escrito
morir → muerto poner → puesto
romper → roto ver → visto
volver → vuelto
More irregulars
These verbs have irregular past participles
ending in –cho:
decir → dicho
hacer → hecho
¡Practicamos!
See if you can form the correct present perfect using the subject and verb given.
Modelo: yo / decidir → He decidido
1. ella / abrir
Ha abierto
2. Marta y yo / tocar
Hemos tocado
3. Gonzalo / crecer
Ha crecido
4. Tú y tus amigos / reír
Han reído
5. Mis padres / hacer
Han hecho
6. Tus abuelos / cubrir
Han cubierto
7. Rogelio y Ramón / escribir
Han escrito