Present Perfect
Say what you've done — and haven't yet — with ya, todavía, nunca, in live conversation.
The Spanish present perfect is haber + past participle: he, has, ha, hemos, han plus -ado for -ar verbs and -ido for the rest — He hablado con el director, ¿Has comido ya?. A short list of participles is irregular and never changes: hecho, visto, dicho, escrito, puesto, abierto, roto, vuelto. Use it for past actions that still touch the present — life experiences and recent events cued by ya, todavía no, nunca, alguna vez — and switch to the preterite for closed, dated past: He visitado Barcelona tres veces versus Visité Barcelona en 2020.
Below: the sentences the tense actually lives in, the Spain-vs-Latin-America split every learner should know, the participle slip-ups — and how &Be gets it into your speech through conversation, not participle drills.
The warm-up pack
What you've done, what you haven't, and the two words that make it clear.
01 · The pattern in one line
He hablado con el director.
I have spoken with the director.
Haber conjugated, plus a participle glued on — he hablado. Once this clicks, every other person just swaps the haber part.
02 · Asking if it's done
¿Has comido ya?
Have you eaten yet?
Ya at the end is doing real work — it's what makes this sound like a real check-in, not a grammar exercise.
03 · An irregular that doesn't play by the rules
¿Qué has hecho hoy?
What have you done today?
Hecho, never "hacido" — this is one of ten irregulars worth just memorizing outright.
04 · Another one to lock in
He visto esa película dos veces.
I have seen that movie twice.
Visto, not "veído" — same deal as hecho. These irregulars show up constantly in real conversation.
05 · A first, ever
Nunca he viajado a Japón.
I have never traveled to Japan.
Nunca is the marker that makes this a life-experience statement, not a report of a specific past event.
06 · Asking about someone's life
¿Alguna vez has probado el ceviche?
Have you ever tried ceviche?
Alguna vez is your go-to for asking about experiences in general, without pinning down when.
07 · Not yet, but soon
Todavía no he recibido la respuesta.
I haven't received the answer yet.
Todavía no signals you're still waiting — the action hasn't happened, but it's expected to.
08 · Same trip, two different tenses
He visitado Barcelona tres veces. Visité Barcelona en 2020.
I have visited Barcelona three times. I visited Barcelona in 2020.
The first is a running life total; the second nails it to one specific, closed-off year. Same city, two different framings.
09 · Checking someone's done something
¿Has hablado con tu jefe?
Have you talked to your boss?
This is the shape of a real check-in question — you'll hear and use it constantly once you notice it.
10 · Answering that you haven't, yet
No, todavía no he podido hacerlo.
No, I haven't been able to do it yet.
A natural, honest answer that keeps todavía no doing the same job it did in card 07.
11 · Confirming it's all sorted
Sí, ya he reservado el vuelo y el hotel.
Yes, I have already booked the flight and hotel.
Ya here is the opposite signal from todavía no — everything's already handled.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/present-perfectRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Spain | Latin America |
|---|---|---|
| Have you eaten yet? | ¿has comido ya? | ¿ya comiste? |
| What did you do today? | ¿qué has hecho hoy? | ¿qué hiciste hoy? |
| Did you see...? | ¿has visto...? | ¿ya viste...? |
| I saw the movie | he visto la película | vi la película |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
No participle drills, nothing to conjugate on paper — in the Present Perfect lessons, Carla just asks you about your life and today catches up with the grammar. ¿Qué has hecho hoy? ¿Alguna vez has probado el ceviche? — you answer with ya, todavía no, nunca, for real. Then she plays the near-minimal pairs out loud — he visitado versus visité — and asks which feels right and why, until choosing the tense stops being a decision at all.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Present Perfect is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Conjugate haber in the present — he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han — and add the participle: hablado, comido, vivido. Hemos vivido aquí tres años; Han llamado varias veces.
The core ten: hecho, visto, dicho, escrito, puesto, abierto, roto, vuelto, muerto, cubierto. They never inflect after haber — it's hecho, not hacido, and visto, not veído.
Present perfect when the past still connects to now — experiences and recency: He visitado Barcelona tres veces, Este mes he leído dos libros. Preterite for a closed, dated past: Visité Barcelona en 2020, El año pasado leí cinco libros.
Much less than Spain. Mexico asks ¿ya comiste? where Spain says ¿has comido?, and in Argentina the tense has nearly vanished from speech. It survives everywhere for life experience — Siempre he querido aprender a cocinar — and softeners like he estado pensando...
Right before the haber block: Ya he terminado el informe; Todavía no he recibido la respuesta; Nunca he viajado a Japón. For 'ever' questions: ¿Alguna vez has probado el ceviche?
