Present Perfect Tense in Spanish

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The present perfect in Spanish is composed of two components: the auxiliary Haber and the past participle of the verb.

The Present Perfect With The Auxiliary Haber Conjugation.

Personal Pronoun	Auxiliary Haber	Verb Vivir (to live)
Yo	he	vivido
Tú	has	vivido
Él, ella, usted	ha	vivido
Nosotros/Nosotras	hemos	vivido
Vosotros/Vosotras/Uds.	habéis	vivido
Ellos/Ellas	han	vivido

Remember:

1. The past participle is formed by dropping the –ar of the verb and adding –ado.
   Example: Pintar… Pintado
2. The past participle is formed by dropping the –er and -ir of the verb and adding -ido.
   Example: Perder… Perdido / Salir… Salido

Important the present perfect is formed by the auxiliary Haber followed by the past participle of the verb.

Examples:
Manuel ha pintado la casa en solo una semana.
Manuel has painted the house in just one week.

Luisa y Miguel han perdido mucho peso.
Luisa and Miguel has lost so much weight.

Mi familia y yo hemos salido de vacaciones.
My family and I have gone on vacation.

Uses of the Present Perfect Tense

In Spanish, compound tenses consist of more than one tense in a sentence. Just like in English, the present perfect is used to indicate actions and events that happened in the past but may still be going on in the present.

The present perfect (el presente perfecto o pretérito perfecto) is used in many ways:

• To indicate actions that initiated in the past but still going on in the present.
  
  Examples:
  Carlos ha vivido aquí desde que tenía cinco años.
  Carlos has lived here since he was five years old.
  
  Luisa ha trabajado aquí por más de dos años.
  Luisa has worked here for more than two years.

• To indicate actions occurring in the past and does not refer to an specific time.
  
  Examples:
  Marcos no ha llegado a la cafetería.
  Marcos hasn’t come to the cafeteria.
  
  Isabel no ha venido al hospital.
  Isabel hasn’t come to the hospital.

• To indicate actions or an action that has been recently completed by using the verb acabar + de + infinitive. (to have just in the English form)
  
  Examples:
  Francisco acaba de comer.
  Francisco has just eaten.
  
  Carolina acaba de llegar a la casa.
  Carolina has just arrived to the house.
  
  Nosostros acabamos de llegar de la escuela.
  We have just arrived from school.

Spanish Compound Tenses:
The Present Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Subjunctive Tense
Conditional Perfect Tense
Past Participle in Spanish
Past Perfect / Pluperfect
Past Perfect / Pluperfect Subjunctive Mood
Future Perfect Tense
Perfect Infinitive in Spanish