Revising Spanish grammar - perfect tense - CCEAThe perfect tense - formation

The perfect tense is used to express or describe actions that have happened in the recent past. It has two parts that always need to be used together.

Part ofSpanishGrammar

The perfect tense - formation

There are two parts to the .

The first part is the of the verb haber and the second part is the . The past participle usually ends in -ed in English, eg watched, played, visited. Examples of phrases in the perfect tense include he visitado (I have visited) and hemos comprado (we have bought).

The past participle for -ar verbs is formed by removing the -ar ending from the and adding -ado, eg:

estudiar (to study) → estudiado (studied)

The past participle for -er and -ir verbs is formed by removing the -er or -ir ending from the infinitive and adding --ido, eg.:

comer (to eat ) → comido (eaten)

vivir (to live) → vivido (lived)

present tense of haber
(yo)he
(tú)has
(él/ella/usted)ha
(nosotros/as)hemos
(vosotros/as)habéis
(ellos/ellas/ustedes)han
(yo)
present tense of haberhe
(tú)
present tense of haberhas
(él/ella/usted)
present tense of haberha
(nosotros/as)
present tense of haberhemos
(vosotros/as)
present tense of haberhabéis
(ellos/ellas/ustedes)
present tense of haberhan

+ past participle: visitado, hablado, bebido, etc.

Question

What is the past participle of these verbs?

  1. cambiar (to change)
  2. permitir (to allow)
  3. aprender (to learn)
  4. parar (to stop)

Irregular past participles

Some verbs have past participles. For example:

infinitivepast participle
decir (to say)dicho
describir (to describe)descrito
escribir (to write)escrito
hacer (to make/do)hecho
poner (to put)puesto
ver (to see)visto
volver (to return)vuelto
infinitivedecir (to say)
past participledicho
infinitivedescribir (to describe)
past participledescrito
infinitiveescribir (to write)
past participleescrito
infinitivehacer (to make/do)
past participlehecho
infinitiveponer (to put)
past participlepuesto
infinitivever (to see)
past participlevisto
infinitivevolver (to return)
past participlevuelto

If the sentence is negative, the no goes before both parts of the perfect tense, eg no he hecho mi trabajo (I haven't done my work).

Question

Complete the sentences with the correct form of haber.

  1. Laura _______________ vivido en tres países.
  2. Yo nunca _______________ probado la paella.
  3. Mi padre ________________ pagado la factura.
  4. Juanita y yo _______________ comido en ese restaurante.

Question

Complete the sentences with both parts of the perfect tense.

  1. Mis amigos __________ _______________ (ir) de compras.
  2. Arturo __________ _______________ (estar) aquí por dos horas.
  3. Todavía yo no __________ _______________ (ver) la película.
  4. Pedro __________ _______________ (volver) esta mañana.

Next up
Watch a video
Previous page
The perfect tense - when to use it

More guides on this topic

Related links