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-17-

The present perfect tense

TENSE

Present perfect

TIME

Refers to the recent past or to past actions that are still true

KEY PHRASES

"Havej' "has" ("I have eaten," "she has eaten')

STRUCTURE

Compound tense: haber conjugated in the present tense

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II

PAST PARTICIPLE

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The present perfect tense is a compound tense, which means that it requires an airxiliary, or helping, verb. This is also true in English, where the auxiliary verb is 'have" 6¡ "þ¿s"-"I have spokenj' "She has studiedl' In Spanish, the auxiliary verb

is haber, which means "to have (done something) l' Do not confuse haber with tener, which means "to have, possess." We often use the present perfect tense when speaking about something that was true in the past and is still true. The sentence "I have lived here for ten years" means that ten years ago I lived here, I still live here, and I have lived here all the time in between. The present perfect is also used to indicate that an action was completed recently: "I can't go out to dinner because I have eatenl' An important aspect of the present perfect tense is that the action referred to takes place in a span of time, either stated or implied, that leads up to and includes the present. However, the action referred to within this span of time took place at a time that is not precisely specified or implied (as in the preterite). For example, in the sentence "I've gone to the club three times this yeari'the span of time includes all of this year until now. However, we do not know exactly when (that is, on which dates) the person visited the club. If you ask a person, "How have you been?" the implied span of time is "lately''

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Formation of the present perfect

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Because the present perfect tense is a compound tense, you will be working with two verbs, not one. To form verbs in this tense, first conjugate haber in the present tense.

haber to have (auxiliary)

he has ha

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j

{

l

hemos

;

habéis

ì

han

i

)

779

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The conjugated form of haber is then followed by the past participle of the desired verb. Most past participles in Spanish are regular. Let's consider these first.

Regular past participles The patterns for regular past participles are below.

-ar vERBS Drop the -ar ending and replace it with

-ado.

-ido. -ir vrRes Drop the -ir ending and replace it with -ido. -er vERBs Drop the -er ending and replace it with

hablar > hablado comer

vivir

)

)

comido

vivido

Below are the full conjugations of hablar, comer, and vivir in the present perfect tense

hablar to spea.k, ta.lk he hablado has hablado

ha hablado

hemos hablado habéis hablado han hablado

comer to eat he comido has comido ha comido

hemos comido habéis comido

han comido

vivir to liue he vivido has vivido

ha vivido

hemos vivido habéis vivido han vivido

Yo he hablado con Roberto.

Nos hemos acostado. Tú has estado aquí por diez minutos. ¿Habéis recibido los regalos? Tomás ha sido mi amigo por nueve años. No lo hanvisitado.

Ihave spoken with Robert. Wehøve gone tobed. You høve been here for ten minutes. Have you all received the presents?

Tomhøs been my friendfor nine yeørs They høven't visited him.

There are two guidelines that will help you in your use of the present perfect tense.

1 The conjugated form of haber and the past participle are not-and cannot be-separated by any other words.

2 Object pronouns

always precede the conjugated form of the verb haber.

EJERCICIO Put an X next to each of the things that you have done today.

180

1.

He hablado por teléfono.

2.

He tomado café.

3. -

He comido una ensalada.

pRacrrcE MAKEs IERFECT SpanishVerbTenses

_ 5. _ 6. _-

Me he duchado.

7.

He contado mi dinero.

8.

He recibido un regalo.

4.

He comprado una camisa

He almorzado.

-9. -10. -1. .12. _

He cometido un error. He escuchado la radio.

Me he lavado el pelo.

1

He lavado el coche.

t7-1 Traducción

1. I have worked.

2.

You have listened.

3.

9he has drunkthe mitk.

4.

We have understood.

5. They

lm.l have received a present.

6.

We have sold the house.

7.

Have you watched television today?

8.

Where have they lived?

9.

I have showered.

'10. He has been with me.

11. You lformal] have learned a lot. 12. Have you brushed your teeth? 13. He has called me

six times.

14. fve run three miles. "15. She hasn't washed her hair.

The present perfect

tense 781

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Irregular past participles All conjugations in the present perfect tense begin with haber conjugated in the present

tense,

followed by a past participle. Most past participles are regular. However, there are several irreg' lar past participles, and they fall into two distinct groups. One group of irregular past participles follows a pattern, which makes them easier to learn. Most -er and -ir verbs with a vowel (other than u) immediately preceding the infinitive ending have past participles that end with -ído (note the accent over the i of the ending). Verbs ending with -uir, however, are regular. For example, the past participle of construir is construido. The second group of irregular past participles must be learned individually.

Below are several common verbs that have irregular past participles. VOCABULARIO

Inegular past participles that end with -ído to attract to fall

atraído

to believe to read to hear

creído leído oído

to possess to smile

poseído

sonreír

traer

to bring

traído

atraer caer

creer leer

oír Poseer

caído

sonreído

Irregular past participles that must be learned individually abrir cubrir decir describir descubrir devolver

disolver envolver escribir freír hacer

morir oponer Poner proYeer

pudrir resolver

rompef ver

volver

to open to cover

to sa¡ tell to describe to discover to return (something)

to dissolve to wrap, wrap up to write to fry to make, do to die to oppose to put, place to provide, furnish to rot, languish to resolve to break, break through/up to see to return

\

frito hecho

muerto opuesto puesto

provisto podrido resuelto roto visto vrelto

Ihøve opened the door.

¿No has escrito la carta?

Haven't you wrítten the letter?

Los huevos se han podrido. IRACTTcE MAKES

cubierto dicho descrito descubierto devuelto disuelto envuelto escrito

He abierto la puerta. No hemos hecho nada. ¿Habéis visto la película? Él me ha dicho una mentira.

1,82

abierto

pERFEcr Spani'shVerbTenses

We høv en' t done any thing.

Have you all seen the movie?

He has told me ø lie. The eggs høve rotted.

E'ERCICIO

¿Qué has hecho esta semana? durante la semana pasada.

-.2. _ 3. --

He resuelto todos mis problemas.

4.

He leído un libro.

1.

_ 6. -7. _ 8. _ 9. _ 10. _ 5.

Escribe

unaX delante de todo lo que has hecho

He visto una película. He escrito una carta.

He abierto las ventanas de mi casa

He dicho una mentira. He

frito una hamburguesa.

He roto un plato. He devuelto libros a la biblioteca. He envuelto un regalo.

E'ERCICIO

t7-2 Traducción

1. I have read twenty pages.

2.

She has opened the book.

3.

Where have you put the dishes?

4.

The rabbit has died.

5.

Have you told her the truth?

6.

What have you seen?

_

7.

The cook has fried

the eggs.

8.

What have you done today?

9.

The store has provided us with clothing.

ail

10. She has broken another frngernail. "11. Has he resolved his problems?

_

'12. We haven't said anything. '13. The politician has not told the truth.

14.

Why haven't they returned?

15. What

have you made for us?

The present perfect

tense L83

a7-3 Traducción

These sentences contain both regular and irregular past participles.

"1. I have had the money for more than twenty years.

2.

She has opened the window,

3.

My neighbor's dog has barked (ladrar) all night long, and I haven't been able to sleep.

4.

Where have you put your su¡tcase?

5.

How many times have you brushed your teeth today?

6.

Why haven't you shaved today?

7.

For how many years have you known Charles?

8. You've been 9.

and I have closed the door.

(llegar) late every day this week.

Hove you a// [formal] seen her?

"10. The thieves have robbed our jewels and have broken

allthe windows.

11. Have the newlyweds (los recién casados) returned from their honeymoon (la luna de miel)?

12. Your manners (los modales) have attracted me,

13. They lm.l have demonstrated their love for Beethoven's music.

14. If she is as rich

as you say,

then why has she robbed the bank?

15. The telephone has rung twenty times. Why haven't you answered it?

784

pRAcrrcr MAKEs pERFEcr SpanishVerb Tenses

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17.4 Traducción

cortina desastre el desván enterrar el fregadero de cocina guardar nacer

vocABULARto la

en ocasiones innumerables el patio el el la tienda de departamentos

atrás rincón siglo

gran was backyard. She I'm in my

years. She

curtain disaster

attic to bury kitche:n sink save (things in general) be born on countless occasions

þ b

backyard corner (ínterior)

century department store this house for more than eighty six dogs and frve cats in the er!She has saved everything-from (desde)

b.ooks and clothing to (hasta) photos, furniture, and old curtains. She h'as toíd me that I can have allthe furniture. She has also told my sister that she can have

maiy

times

altthe fuiniture. l've been in this attic on countless occasions and I know that I haven,t seen anything from this century. what (1o que) she has saved wouldn't frt into a department store.

The present perfect

tense 185