The perfect tense
Haber with a past participle: he visitado, has comido, and the irregular participles.
Learn
The perfect tense, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Use the perfect tense for what has happened up to now
The perfect says what someone has done: He visitado Madrid means I have visited Madrid. It often goes with ya (already), nunca (never) and alguna vez (ever): ¿Has estado alguna vez en Italia?
Form the present of haber
The perfect is made with haber as a helper verb: he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han. Here it is a helper that means have, never to own something, which is tener.
Make regular past participles with -ado and -ido
-ar verbs take -ado on the stem, and -er and -ir verbs take -ido: visitado, comido, vivido. So Hemos comido means we have eaten and Han salido means they have gone out.
Keep the participle ending in -o
After haber, the participle never changes for the person or the gender: Mi hermana ha llegado, Las chicas han terminado. Only haber changes.
Keep the two parts together
Nothing goes between haber and the participle. No and any pronoun go in front of haber: No he terminado, Me he levantado tarde, Lo he comprado.
Learn the participle abierto, and the accent in leído
Abrir has the irregular participle abierto: ¿Has abierto la ventana? When the stem ends in a, e or o, -ido takes an accent, as in leído, creído and traído. Ir gives ido and ser gives sido, both regular.
Learn the irregular participles hecho, visto, dicho and the restHigher only
At Higher, learn hecho (done, made), visto (seen), dicho (said), puesto (put), vuelto (returned) and escrito (written). ¿Has hecho los deberes? asks if you have done your homework.
Choose between the perfect and the preterite
In Spain, a time that is not over yet takes the perfect: Hoy he jugado al baloncesto, Esta semana he trabajado mucho. A finished time takes the preterite: Ayer jugué al baloncesto.
The perfect tense key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Perfect tense
- Have done: the present of haber with a past participle, as in He terminado, I have finished.
- haber
- The helper verb in the perfect tense: he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han. It is not used for owning things, which is tener.
- Past participle
- The form that follows haber: -ado for -ar verbs and -ido for -er and -ir verbs, as in jugado, bebido and salido.
- abierto
- Opened or open, the irregular participle of abrir: La tienda ha abierto means the shop has opened.
- ya
- Already: Ya he comido means I have already eaten.
- nunca
- Never: Nunca he estado en Italia means I have never been to Italy.
- alguna vez
- Ever, in a question: ¿Has ido alguna vez a Escocia? asks if you have ever been to Scotland.
- hecho and dichoHigher only
- Done or made, and said: the participles of hacer and decir. ¿Qué has dicho? means what did you say?
- visto, puesto, vuelto and escritoHigher only
- Seen, put, returned and written: the participles of ver, poner, volver and escribir.
Common mistakes in The perfect tense
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Using tener as the helper, as in Tengo comido.
The perfect always uses haber: He comido. Tener means to own or to have something.
Making the participle agree, as in Mi madre ha salida.
After haber, the participle always ends in -o: Mi madre ha salido, Las chicas han llegado.
Making up a regular participle, as in abrido or hacido.
Some verbs have irregular participles to learn: abierto, and at Higher hecho, visto, dicho, puesto, vuelto and escrito.
Splitting the two parts, as in He no comido.
No and pronouns go before haber, never between it and the participle: No he comido, Lo he comprado.
Using the perfect with ayer, as in Ayer he ido al cine.
In Spain, a finished time like ayer or el sábado pasado takes the preterite: Ayer fui al cine. Keep the perfect for today, this week and up to now.
Practice
Try a The perfect tense question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which word completes the sentence? Mi madre ha ___ las ventanas porque hace calor.
- abrido
- abiertas
- abierta
- abierto
Show the answer and the working
Answer: abierto
Abrir has an irregular participle, abierto, and after haber it never changes: Mi madre ha abierto las ventanas means my mum has opened the windows.
- Abrir, to open, has an irregular participle.
- That participle is abierto.
- After ha it stays abierto, not abiertas: my mum has opened the windows because it is hot.