Reference · module 16
What has happened
Everything this module explains, on one page.
He hablado
Build the present perfect.
- Two pieces: haber and a participle. He hablado, has comido, ha vivido, hemos salido, habéis visto, han hecho.
- The participle ends in -ado for -ar verbs and -ido for the other two: hablado, comido, vivido.
- It never agrees with anything: Ella ha hablado, not hablada. And nothing ever comes between haber and it.
The mistake you are about to make
Ha hablo.
Ha hablado.
The present form is already familiar and slides in after ha. After haber it is always the participle: hablado.
Visto, dicho, puesto
Use the participles that break the rule.
- One group ends in -to: visto, escrito, puesto, vuelto, abierto, muerto, roto.
- A smaller one ends in -cho: hecho from hacer and dicho from decir. That is the whole group.
- A compound copies its parent: describir gives descrito, devolver gives devuelto, deshacer gives deshecho.
The mistake you are about to make
he hacido
he hecho
The -ido rule is firm, so hacido looks fair. Hacer and decir have their own: hecho and dicho.
Ya, todavía no
Say what is done and what is still pending.
- ya means already and goes before the verb: Ya he terminado. In a question it asks whether it is done yet.
- todavía no is not yet: Todavía no he comido. aún no means the same and is a little more formal.
- For life experience: ¿Has estado alguna vez en Perú? and the answer No, nunca. This tense is the one for it.
The mistake you are about to make
Ya no he comido.
Todavía no he comido.
Ya means already, so ya no looks like its negative. Ya no means "no longer"; not yet is todavía no.
Which past to use
Choose between he hecho and hice.
- The time phrase decides. hoy, esta semana, este año, últimamente take he hecho; ayer, la semana pasada, en 2019 take hice.
- The rule is whether the period is over. This morning is finished by the evening, and then it is esta mañana he with some speakers and fue with others.
- Much of Latin America uses the simple past for both, and says ya comí where Spain says ya he comido. Both are correct Spanish.
The mistake you are about to make
Ayer he comido paella.
Ayer comí paella.
The perfect looks like the English "have eaten", which also refuses "yesterday". A finished period takes the simple past.