Present Perfect For Intermediate learners

What is the Present Perfect Tense?

The present perfect tense (pretérito perfecto compuesto) expresses a past action connected to the present or continuing to the present.

Structure

The indicative present perfect is formed using the present conjugation of the verb "haber" followed by the past participle form of the main verb which is invariable for all persons and numbers.

Conjugation of "Haber"

"Haber" is an irregular verb that does not follow the normal conjugation pattern in the present indicative. The different forms of "haber" in the present tense are:

yo	he
tú	has
él/ella/usted	ha
nosotros/as	hemos
vosotros/as	habéis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han

Formation of Past Participles

Formation of past participles differs based on the ending of the infinitive form of the verb:

For verbs that end in -ar → replace -ar with -ado: hablar → hablado

For verbs that end in -er/-ir → replace -ir with -ido: comer → comido, vivir → vivido

However, there are some irregular verbs that do not follow the normal pattern for forming past participles. For example:

Ver → visto

Hacer → hecho

Ser → sido

Ir → ido

Poner → puesto

Volver → vuelto

Leer → leído

Abrir → abierto

Escribir → escrito

Here are some example sentences:

Example

He comido.

I have eaten.

Hemos vivido aquí.

We have lived here.

Han leído esos libros.

They have read those books.

Negation

To form negative sentences in the present perfect, the negative marker "no" is added before the verb "haber" or the object pronoun, if it is used before the conjugated "haber". For example:

Example

No he visto a Ana hoy.

I have not seen Ana today.

¿No lo has terminado?

Haven't you finished it?

Uses

The present perfect is used to talk about:

Recent past actions with present relevance:

Example

He perdido las llaves.

I've lost my keys.

Life experiences without a specific time frame:

Example

¿Alguna vez has visitado México?

Have you ever visited Mexico?

Actions continuing to the present:

Example

Siempre he trabajado en educación.

I've always worked in education.

Tip!

The present perfect tense is mostly used in Spain. In Latin America, the past simple is mainly used as the preferred alternative.

Present Perfect vs. Past Simple

While both present perfect and past simple tenses refer to an action in the past, they differ in how they frame the action. Past simple shows that the action is finished in the past, while the present perfect emphasizes its relevance to the present. Compare the examples: