The correct grammatical name for this verb tense is the “present perfect” tense.
“I have eaten”, “She has read the book”, “He has jumped”, “You have sung”, and so forth.
Let’s learn how to conjugate this tense in Spanish. First, we start off by conjugating a form of the verb “haber” (which indicates the past “have” or “present perfect” tense), then we put an ending on “ar” verbs and a different ending on “er/ir” verbs.
| “I have” would be “(Yo) He | We have would be (Nosotros) Hemos | After choosing the correct form of “haber”, you simply ad “a-d-o” on the end of “ar” verbs and “i-d-o” for “er/ir” verbs. - ado (“ar” verbs”) - ido (“er/ir” verbs) |
(Juan or María) (You) have would be “(Tú) Has” | “tú” plural (used in Spain) have (Vosotros) Habéis | |
He has, she has or Sr. Perez, you have would (El, Ella, or Ud.) Ha | They, or all of you have would be (Ellos, Ellas or Uds.) Han Remember, just like all the other tenses, the pronouns are optional. |
Now, repeat the forms of “haber” with me, “he”, “has”, “ha”, “hemos”, “habéis – used only in Spain” and “han”.
Now, let’s practice with a few “ar” verbs to help you get the hang of it.
She has changed | Ha cambiado | |
All of you have worked | Han trabajado | |
Sra. Garcia, you have sung. | Ha cantado | |
We have taught | Hemos enseñado | |
Maria, have you eaten breakfast? | (Rosa), has desayunado | |
They have studied | Han estudiado | |
He has finished | Ha terminado | |
I have danced | He bailado |
Moving on, I need to show you briefly how direct objects work with “have verbs”. Basically, the “direct object pronoun” or “me, te, lo, la” and so forth always come before.
| I have cooked it would be | Lo he cocinado |
“She has not bought it” would be | No lo ha comprado |
He has helped me would be | Me ha ayudado |
José, you have waited for us would be | Nos has esperado |
And – “we have not waited for her” would be | No la hemos esperado |
Before we continue to our practice session, we need to go over a few new words:
| the clothes | la ropa |
the drawing | el dibujo |
the party | la fiesta |
twice | dos veces |
the medicine | la medicina |
the flower | la flor |
the people | la gente |
the letter | la carta |
the money | el dinero |
