Key points about regular verbs in the perfect tense
Use the perfect tense to talk about something that has been done or has happened recently.
Form the perfect tense using the Also called a helping verb and used with another verb (or two other verbs) in a verb phrase.haber and a Form of the verb that expresses a completed action. Usually ends in 'ed' in English, eg watched, danced, visited..
Use no before the perfect tense to form negative sentences.
Video - The perfect tense and when to use it
Watch the video to understand how to form the perfect tense in Spanish.
An explanation of the uses of the perfect tense and how to conjugate it
You use the perfect tense when, in English, you would say that something has happened.
So, if you wanted to say:
‘You have been to the hairdresser,' 'she has eaten all the biscuits’ or anything else in the past that has happened, you need the perfect tense!
To form the perfect tense, you need the correct person of the verb haber (to have) plus the past participle.
The past participle is a word that often ends in ‘-ed’ in English like ‘played’, ‘worked’ etc.
First though, we need to know how haber is formed in the present tense.
he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han.
Here’s an example of the perfect tense in use: Ha ganado la carrera. - ‘She has won the race’.
Here, ganado is the past participle. But how do we know how to form past participles?
Let’s start with ar verbs.
We’ll look at ‘to work’ - trabajar. That becomes trabajado. We remove the ar and add ado.
For er and ir verbs, we remove er or ir and add ido. For example han comido - ‘they have eaten’ and habéis vivido – 'you have lived’.
Watch out! Some past participles are irregular. Here are some of the most useful ones: Hacer (to do) becomes hecho, decir (to say) becomes dicho, poner (to put) becomes puesto, ver (to see) becomes visto, escribir (to write) becomes escrito, and abrir (to open) becomes abierto.
For example, he hecho mis deberes - 'I have done my homework.'
As you go around telling people what you’ve done, remember to keep the following rule in mind: Nothing gets between haber and the past participle! Nothing! Never put any other words between them. And now you have learnt the perfect tense.
Has aprendido el pretérito perfecto.
When to use the perfect tense in Spanish
Examples of phrases in the perfect tense in English include:
I have visited.
We have bought.
They have eaten.
The perfect tense in Spanish is used to talk about a completed action or something that has happened recently.
For example:
He terminado mis exámenes. - I have finished my exams.
Hemos comido demasiado. - We have eaten too much.
Han llegado temprano. - They have arrived early.
There are some expressions that are often used with the perfect tense:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - lately
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - recently
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - never
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - already, yet
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - not yet
For example:
Nunca he visitado el museo. - I have never visited the museum.
Recientemente, he estado enfermo. - I have been ill recently.
How to form the perfect tense of regular verbs in Spanish
There are two parts to the perfect tense - the verb haber and the Form of the verb that expresses a completed action. Usually ends in 'ed' in English, eg watched, danced, visited..
The first part of the perfect tense is the present tense of the verb haber, which is known as an auxiliary verb. An auxiliary verb, also called a helping verb, is a verb that is used with another verb (or two other verbs) in a verb phrase.
| Pronoun | Present tense of haber |
|---|---|
| I (yo) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| You informal singular (tú) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| He/she/it/ formal you singular (él/ella/usted) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| We (nosotros) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| You informal plural (vosotros) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| They/ formal you plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
The second part of the perfect tense is the past participle. The past participle usually ends in ed in English.
For example:
- watched
- played
- visited
The past participle for ar verbs is formed by removing the ar ending from the infinitive and adding ado.
For example:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to study) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (studied)
The past participle for er and ir verbs is formed by removing the er or ir ending from the infinitive and adding ido.
For example:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to eat) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (eaten)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to live) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (lived)
Examples of the perfect tense:
He visitado la ciudad recientemente. - I have visited the city recently.
Últimamente hemos hablado mucho. - We have spoken a lot recently.
Perfect tense with regular verbs - Mini quiz
Translate the following into Spanish using the verb comer (to eat):
I have eaten.
He comido.
The perfect tense in negative sentences
If the sentence is negative, the negative word, such as no or nunca, goes before both parts of the perfect tense.
For example:
No he hecho mi trabajo. - I haven’t done my work.
Nunca hemos visitado Barcelona. - We have never visited Barcelona.
The perfect tense with negatives - Mini quiz
Translate the following into Spanish using the verb terminar (to finish):
We have not finished.
No hemos terminado.
Quiz - Regular verbs in the perfect tense
Practise what you've learned about regular verbs in the perfect tense in Spanish with this quiz.
Now you have learned about regular verbs in the perfect tense in Spanish why not explore the present subjunctive in Spanish?
More on Past tense verbs
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