Kilo Lingo

Spanish · Chapter 8 · Lesson 12 · Grammar primer

The present perfect: he hablado, has comido

haber + past participle. The Spanish equivalent of 'I have done X'. Formation, when to use it, the irregular participles.

The short version

Nothing gets between haber and the participle

In Spanish the auxiliary and the participle are welded together. Pronouns, negatives and adverbs all sit outside the pair, in front of haber: lo he visto, no te he dicho nada, ya he comido. He ya comido copies English word order and breaks the tense. The participle never agrees either: hemos comido, never hemos comidas.

Ya he comido.

I have already eaten.

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Lesson 12 of 23 in this chapter

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