6.5.2 The present perfect
The present perfect occurs in both the subjunctive and indicative moods. As stated on the previous page, all the perfect tenses indicate that something was finished. They will differ in how the sentences address the following question: finished before what?
The present perfect indicative and subjunctive indicate that an action was finished at some time before the present. Canonically[1] it differs from preterite in that we can’t use the present perfect with an indicator of specific time.
Let’s compare:
Fui a Disney World.
He ido a Disney World.
In the shortest form, these sentences are actually pretty similar. But let’s put them into a conversation:
| Abel: ¿Alguna vez fuiste a Disney World?
Belisa: ¡Sí! Fui a Disney World. Abel: ¿Cuándo? Belisa: Ah, fui en el año 2015. |
Abel: ¿Alguna vez fuiste a Disney World?
Corina: ¡Sí! He ido a Disney World Abel: ¿Cuándo? Corina: Ah, fui en el año 2015. |
In both conversations, when we want to specify exactly when an action occurred, we need to use the preterite.
Let’s look at a few textual examples from previous readings in this book:
La naturaleza no es muda, Eduardo Galeano:
Más de ciento veinte años han pasado y así sigue siendo.
El país bajo mi piel, Gioconda Belli:
Cuando de mi revolución sólo quedaron los ecos y las huellas, el amor, que nunca he podido resistir, me llevó a firmar un pacto con el amado que me condenaba a vivir parte del tiempo en su país.
Llamadas telefónicas, Roberto Bolaño:
Oficialmente, B no ha estado detenido, sólo se ha prestado a colaborar con la policía en el esclarecimiento de un asesinato.
Al despertar cree saber quién es el asesino. Ha visto su rostro.
Axolotl, Julio Cortázar: Leí que se han encontrado ejemplares en África capaces de vivir en tierra durante los períodos de sequía, y que continúan su vida en el agua al llegar la estación de las lluvias.
Una carta abierta a mi nieto o nieta, Juan Gelman:
Los sueños de Marcelo y Claudia no se han cumplido todavía.
In class: discuss when the events in the sentences occurred. For the verbs in the present perfect indicative, when did they happen in relationship to the other events in the sentence?
Conjugating the present perfect indicative
All the perfect tenses are a conjugation of the verb “haber” + the past participle of the verb. The majority of verbs in Spanish form the participle this way:
| Verb | Hablar | Comer | Dormir |
| Participle | hablado | comido | dormido |
There are, of course, irregular participles.
To/Cho/So: irregular participles
“to” verbs: abrir (abierto), morir (muerto), romper (roto), volver (vuelto)[2], poner (puesto), cubrir (cubierto), escribir (escrito)
“cho” verbs: decir (dicho), hacer (hecho)
the “so” verb: imprimir (impreso). This form is dying out and many Spanish speakers use the regular participle. Can you guess what it would be?
Conjugating “haber” for the present perfect indicative
You are probably most familiar with “haber” in the form “hay”. However, there are regular present tense conjugations for this verb, just like any other. They are rarely used outside of perfect conjugations.
| Person | Haber |
| Yo | he |
| Tú/vos | has |
| El/Ella/Elle/Usted | ha |
| Nosotros | hemos |
| Vosotras | habéis |
| Elles/Ustedes | han |
The present perfect subjunctive
Just like you need the present subjunctive or the past subjunctive in certain kinds of subordinate clauses, under the right time constraints you also may need to use the present perfect subjunctive. The present subjunctive of haber is conjugated like this:
| Person | Haber |
| Yo | haya |
| Tú/vos | hayas |
| El/Ella/Elle/Usted | haya |
| Nosotros | hayamos |
| Vosotras | hayáis |
| Elles/Ustedes | hayan |
Once again, let’s look at an example from a previous reading:
La naturaleza no es muda, Eduardo Galeano:
y no es por casualidad que la asamblea constituyente haya empezado por identificar sus objetivos de renacimiento nacional con el ideal de vida del «sumak kausai»
In class: discuss when the events in the sentence occurred. For the verb in the present perfect subjunctive, when did it happen in relationship to the other events in the sentence?
Activities Present perfect in indicative or subjunctive
Presente perfecto del indicativo:
Presente perfecto del subjuntivo:
Elegir entre presente perfecto del indicativo y del subjuntivo:
1.
2.
3.
Elegir entre pretérito y presente perfecto del indicativo:
- We say canonically because this form is especially variable in different dialects across the Spanish speaking world. What is presented here is considered standard grammar but is not representative of every dialet of Spanish. ↵
- All verbs that share a root with an irregular verb also have irregular particples. For example: devolver (devuelto), descubrir (descubierto), describir (descrito), etc. ↵
