The present perfect — and why Peru uses it less than Spain
Build it with haber — he, has, ha, hemos, han — plus a past participle: -ado for -ar verbs, -ido for -er and -ir. It means "have done". In Peru the pretérito covers most of the same ground, so ¿ya almorzaste? is far more common than ¿ya has almorzado?
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
haber + participle
Two parts, and only the first one conjugates.
| haber | |
|---|---|
| yo | he |
| tú | has |
| usted / él / ella | ha |
| nosotros | hemos |
| ustedes / ellos | han |
The participle never changes — not for gender, not for number.
| Infinitive ends in | Participle |
|---|---|
| -ar | -ado — hablar → hablado |
| -er / -ir | -ido — comer → comido, vivir → vivido |
- He hablado con ella.
- ¿Has comido?
- No hemos terminado.
Nothing goes between the two halves. Not no, not a pronoun. No lo he visto — the pronoun goes in front of haber, never after it. He no visto and he lo visto are both impossible.
The eight irregular participles
A short list, all common.
| Verb | Participle |
|---|---|
| hacer | hecho |
| decir | dicho |
| ver | visto |
| poner | puesto |
| volver | vuelto |
| escribir | escrito |
| abrir | abierto |
| romper | roto |
Plus morir → muerto and cubrir → cubierto. Compounds inherit: deshacer → deshecho, devolver → devuelto, descubrir → descubierto.
What it is for
Something finished whose result is still current.
- He perdido mis llaves. — and I still do not have them.
- Ya he comido. — so I am not hungry now.
Life experience, with no date.
- ¿Has estado en Cusco? — ever.
- Nunca he probado el cuy.
Very recent, especially with these words: ya, todavía no, nunca, alguna vez, últimamente, hoy, esta semana.
- Todavía no ha llegado.
- ¿Alguna vez has comido anticuchos?
Peru uses the pretérito instead
This is the part worth knowing, and it is the reason this lesson sits at A2 rather than earlier.
In Spain, the present perfect covers anything from today. In Peru — and most of Latin America — the pretérito does that job.
| Spain | Peru |
|---|---|
| ¿Ya has almorzado? | ¿Ya almorzaste? |
| Hoy he ido al mercado. | Hoy fui al mercado. |
| ¿Has visto a Juan? | ¿Viste a Juan? |
The present perfect is not wrong here and you will hear it. It is just much less frequent, and if you learned Spanish from European material this is the single adjustment that makes you sound local — because you are using one fewer tense, not one more.
Where it survives strongly in Peru: life experience. ¿Has estado en Machu Picchu? is entirely normal. Nunca he ido likewise.
So the rough division: today’s events → pretérito. Ever in your life → present perfect.
Compared with the other past tenses
Three pasts, three jobs:
- Comí — a finished event. Comí a la una.
- Comía — background, habit, description. De chico comía mucho pan.
- He comido — finished, still relevant. Ya he comido, gracias.
The first two are the pair that actually causes trouble, and they have their own lesson: pretérito vs imperfecto.
Practise
- ¿___ (tú, comer) ya?
- No ___ (nosotros, terminar).
- Ella ___ (hacer) la tarea.
- ¿Alguna vez ___ (tú, estar) en Cusco?
- Rewrite the Peruvian way: Hoy he ido al banco.
- No ___ ___ visto. — I haven’t seen him
→ 1 has comido · 2 hemos terminado · 3 ha hecho · 4 has estado · 5 Hoy fui al banco · 6 no lo he visto — pronoun before haber.
Next
→ The imperative: telling people what to do
Topics The past
He comido — and when Peru says comí instead
Haber plus a participle, the irregulars, and the Spain-against-Peru contrast that is the real point of the lesson.
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1A friend in Lima wants to know if you have had lunch yet. The most likely question is:
Answer
¿Ya almorzaste? — In Peru the pretérito covers today's events, so *¿ya almorzaste?* is what you hear. *¿Ya has almorzado?* is not wrong, just much more Spanish-from-Spain.
-
2Rewrite *Hoy he ido al banco* the Peruvian way.
Answer
Hoy fui al banco. — Today's finished event takes the pretérito here: *hoy fui*. In Spain the present perfect does that job, and that is the single adjustment that makes you sound local.
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3Where does the present perfect still hold strongly in Peru?
Answer
life experience with no date — *¿Has estado en Machu Picchu?* and *nunca he ido* are entirely normal. The rough division: today's events go to the pretérito, ever-in-your-life stays present perfect.
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4*No ___ visto.* — I haven't seen him.
Answer
lo he — Nothing goes between *haber* and the participle, so the pronoun sits in front of *haber*: *no lo he visto*. *He lo visto* is impossible.
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5*Ella ___ la tarea.* (hacer)
Answer
ha hecho — *Hecho* is one of the eight irregular participles, along with *dicho, visto, puesto, vuelto, escrito, abierto* and *roto*.
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6*Mis hermanas ya ___.* (llegar)
Answer
han llegado — The participle never changes for gender or number here — only *haber* conjugates. And it is always *haber*, never *ser*, that builds this tense.
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7Which sentence uses the present perfect for the job it is best at?
Answer
He perdido mis llaves. — Something finished whose result is still current — the keys are still missing. Dated events and childhood habits belong to the pretérito and the imperfecto.