Learn how to form and use the Spanish present perfect and practise with interactive A2-level exercises. Work with regular and irregular participles, learn when this tense is used and check your answers instantly.
Esta semana nosotros _____ tres clases.
Correct! Esta semana hemos tenido tres clases.The present perfect is formed and when we use it is a verb tense used to talk about past actions that have some relationship with the present.
The action happened before the moment we are speaking, but we place it within a period that we still consider current.
This period can be today, this week or even our whole life experience up to now.
To form the present perfect we need the verb present tense of haber and the participle of the main verb.
We conjugate haber according to the subject.
| Person | Haber |
|---|---|
| yo | he |
| tú | has |
| él / ella / usted | ha |
| nosotros/as | hemos |
| vosotros/as | habéis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | han |
We remove the infinitive ending and add -ado or -ido.
| Infinitive | Ending | Participle |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | -ar → -ado | hablado |
| comer | -er → -ido | comido |
| vivir | -ir → -ido | vivido |
Some frequent verbs do not form the participle following the rules of -ado and -ido. Therefore, we need to learn their irregular forms.
| Infinitive | Irregular participle |
|---|---|
| hacer | hecho |
| decir | dicho |
| escribir | escrito |
| ver | visto |
| poner | puesto |
| volver | vuelto |
| abrir | abierto |
| romper | roto |
We use this tense to connect a past action with a period, an experience, or a present consequence.
We are talking about actions that occurred within a period that we still consider current.
Hoy he trabajado mucho.
Esta semana hemos estudiado los pasados.
Este año he viajado dos veces a España.
We express experiences we have had — or have not had — at some point in our lives up to the present.
He estado en México dos veces.
Nunca he probado el gazpacho.
¿Has viajado alguna vez a España?
The action happened earlier, but its result remains relevant at the present moment.
Note: the use of the present perfect and the simple past can vary by region. These uses are especially frequent in the Spanish of Spain.
These expressions appear very frequently with the present perfect and help us establish its connection to the present.
They set the action within a period that we still consider unfinished.
Indicate whether an experience or an action has occurred to the present moment.
Esta semana hemos tenido mucho trabajo.
Review at a glance how we form and when we use the present perfect is formed and when we use it. Learn the structure haber + participio, the most frequent regular and irregular participles and the expressions that usually accompany this verb tense.
Download the PDF ↓ Free PDF · No registration requiredNow it's your turn. Complete the following exercises using the present perfect correctly. Pay attention to the correct form of haber, the participle and irregular participles.
Learning the rules is only part of the process. To use the past tense naturally, you need practise it in real conversations and situations.
At PCE Spanish School you can learn Spanish with specialised teachers and work on grammar, vocabulary and conversation in live online classes.
Complete the sentence:
“Marta ya _____ los deberes”.
These are some of the most common mistakes when forming the present perfect is formed and when we use it. Look at the correction and remember the rule in each case.
After the verb haber we need a participle, not an infinitive: comer → comido.
The present perfect is constructed with the auxiliary verb haber, not with the verb ser.
The verb hacer has an irregular participle that we must memorise: hacer → hecho.
When it appears with haber, the participle does not change according to gender or number. We always say he comido or hemos comido.
We review the most common doubts about the formation and uses of this verb tense.
It is formed using the present tense of the verb haber followed by the participle of the main verb.
It is mainly used to talk about experiences related to the present, or actions that take place within a period of time that we still consider current.
Some of the most common irregular participles are hecho, dicho, visto, escrito, puesto, vuelto, abierto and roto.
No. When you form the present perfect with haber, the participle remains invariable and does not agree with the person performing the action.
Both forms talk about the past, but they are not used in exactly the same way. Generally speaking, he comido relates the action to the present or to a period that we consider current.
On the other hand, comí usually sets the action in a past period that we consider finished. This difference can vary depending on the region and is studied in more detail when comparing past tenses.
