The present perfect Flashcards
How many tenses are there in Spanish?
There are 14 commonly used tenses in Spanish.
Present
Imperfect
Preterite
Future
Conditional
Present Perfect
Pluperfect
Preterit Perfect
Future Perfect
Conditional Perfect
Present Subjunctive
Imperfect Subjunctive
Present Perfect Subjunctive
Pluperfect Subjunctive
By the time we finish Spring semester,
you will know most of them.
WHATEVER!
Just give me the facts, madam.
You should know that
there are simple and compound tenses.
The present perfect
is
a compound tense.
That means the compound tenses require
an auxiliary verb + a second verb in the past participle
What is the auxiliar verb, you ask?
Well, for the present perfect is the present tense of haber:
yo he
tú has
usted, él, ella ha
nosotros, nosotras hemos
ustedes, ellos, ellas han
What are the past participle conjugations?
if the second verb ends in -ar, the past participle ending is -ado
if the second verb ends in -er, the past participle ending is -ido
if the second verb ends in -ir, the past participle ending is -ido
(infinitives -er, -ir have the same past particple ending)
How about an example?
What is the present perfect of hablar?
Okay, let’s put it all together.
Here is the present perfect of hablar:
yo he hablado
tú has hablado
usted, él, ella ha hablado
nosotros, nosotras hemos hablado
ustedes, ellos, ellas han hablado
What is the present perfect of comer?
The present perfect of comer:
yo he comido
tú has comido
usted, él, ella ha comido
nosotros, nosotras hemos comido
ustedes, ellos, ellas han comido
Are there any groups of irregular past participles?
Yes!
You will learn two groups of irregular past participles:
1- verbs that have a double vowel
(caer, traer, leer, oír, reír, creer)
2- we’ll call this group the irregular past participles
(abrir, decir, escribir, morir, poner, ser, resolver, romper, ver)
What are the full past participle conjugations?
1- verbs with two vowels:
caer > caído
traer > traído
leer > leído
oír > oído
reír > reído
creer > creído
(did you notice that the í all have accents?
How about the conugations for the irregular past participle?
abrir > abierto
decir > dicho
escribir > escrito
morir > muerto
poner > puesto
resolver > resuelto
romper > roto
ser > sido
ver > visto
What is the present perfect conjugation for caer?
yo he caído
tú has caído
usted, él, ella ha caído
nosotros, nosotras hemos caído
ustedes, ellos, ellas han caído
What is the present perfect of abrir?
yo he abierto
tú has abierto
usted, él, ella ha abierto
nosotros, nosotras hemos abierto
ustedes, ellos, ellas han abierto
What do I do if the verb is reflexive or has another pronoun
or is a negative sentence?
Put the pronouns or the no before the auxiliary verb haber:
yo me he
tú te has
usted, él, ella se ha
nosotros, nosotras nos hemos
ustedes, ellos, ellas se han
What is the present perfect of
dormirse?
(hint: dormirse is reflexive)
yo me he dormido
tú te has dormido
usted, él, ella se ha dormido
nosotros, nosotras nos hemos dormido
ustedes, ellos, ellas se han dormido
Just one more item.
What is the present perfect of dormirse in the negative form?
Remember, dormirse is a reflexive verb, put the No before the reflexive pronoun:
yo NO me he dormido
tú NO te has dormido
usted, él, ella NO se ha dormido
nosotros, nosotras NO nos hemos dormido
ustedes, ellos, ellas NO se han dormido
Last item. How about a negative conjugation without the reflexive pronoun, like ser?
Notice that ser has just an irregular past participle, but it does not have a reflexive pronoun. In this case, put the No before haber:
yo NO he sido
tú NO has sido
usted, él, ella NO ha sido
nosotros, nosotras NO hemos sido
ustedes, ellos, ellas NO han sido
So, how do I use the present perfect? What is the English equivalent of the present perfect?
It is basically the same in English and Spanish. Use the present perfect in Spanish to send the message that the action has happened. For example,
I have read the news.
Yo he leído las noticias.
