Perfect tense

The perfect tense is a compound tense, which means that it has an auxiliary verb (helping verb) and a past participle. This is the same in English, where the helping verb is “have” or “has” as in “I have spoken”; “she has spoken”. In Spanish, the helping verb is “haber” which means “to have”.

NB: don’t confuse “haber” with “tener” (to have; to possess).

The perfect tense refers to the recent past and past actions that are still true. We also use this tense to talk about an action that has been completed recently.

Formation of the perfect tense

Remember it is a compound tense and is made up of two verbs; a part of haber and a past participle.

Here is “haber” in the present tense:

1.  he

2.  has

3.  ha

4.  hemos

5.  habéis

6.  han

Regular past participles

-  ar verbs: drop the “-ar” and add “-ado”

-  er verbs: drop the “-er” and add “-ido”

-  ir verbs: drop the “-ir” and add “-ido”

Examples:

Hablar – hablado (talked)

Comer – comido (eaten)

Vivir – vivido (lived)

-  He hablado con Roberto = I have spoken with Robert

-  Has comido la ensalada = You have eaten the salad

-  Nos hemos acostado a las diez = We have gone to bed at 10

Irregular past participles

Verb / English / Past participle
Atraer / To attract / Atraído
Caer / To fall / Caído
Creer / To believe/to think / Creído
Leer / To read / Leído
Oír / To hear / Oído
Poseer / To possess / Poseído
Sonreír / To smile / sonreído
Traer / To bring / traído
Abrir / To open / Abierto
Cubrir / To cover / Cubierto
Decir / To say / Dicho
Descubrir / To discover / Descubierto
Describer / To describe / Descrito
Devolver / To return (something) / devuelto
Envolver / To wrap, wrap up / Envuelto
Escribir / To write / Escrito
Freír / To fry / Frito
Hacer / To do/make / Hecho
Morir / To die / muerto
Poner / To put / Puesto
Resolver / To resolve / Resuelto
Romper / To break / roto
Ver / To see / visto
Volver / To return / vuelto