• What it is (qué es)
• Conjugation (conjugación)
  • Contractions (contracciones)
• Regular past participles (participios pasados regulares)
• Irregular past participles (participios pasados irregulares)
• Questions (preguntas)
• Negatives (negativos)

What it is (qué es)

In Spanish, besides the pretérito perfecto simple (fui, comí, compré) and the pretérito imperfecto (iba, comía, compraba), you have the pretérito perfecto compuesto: he ido, he comido, he comprado.

🔹 En español, además del pretérito perfecto simple (fui, comí, compré) y del pretérito imperfecto (iba, comía, compraba), tenemos el pretérito perfecto compuesto: he ido, he comido, he comprado.

In English, this tense is called the present perfect and it is built with the verb to have followed by the past participle of the verb.

🔹 En inglés, este tiempo verbal se llama present perfect y se forma con el verbo to have seguido del participio pasado (past participle) del verbo.

I have eaten. (He comido).

She has visited Madrid. (Ella ha visitado Madrid).

Conjugation (conjugación)

I have + past participle

you have + past participle

he / she / it has + past participle

we have + past participle

you have + past participle

they have + past participle

Contractions (contracciones)

In the present perfect, it is very common to contract the subject and the verb have/has:

🔹 En el present perfect es muy común contraer el sujeto y el verbo have/has:

I have => I've [aɪv]

you have => you've [ju:v]

he has => he's [hi:z]

she has => she's [ʃi:z]

it has => it's [ɪts]

we have => we've [wi:v]

they have => they've [ðeɪv]

have not => haven't ['hævənt]

has not => hasn't ['hæzənt]

Regular past participles (participios pasados regulares)

The past participle of regular verbs is identical to the past simple: we add -ed to the infinitive. And it is pronounced the same way.

🔹 El participio pasado de los verbos regulares es idéntico al past simple: se forma añadiendo -ed al infinitivo. Y se pronuncia de la misma manera.

worked => I have worked. (He trabajado).

cooked => She has cooked. (Ella ha cocinado).

lived => They have lived. (Ellos han vivido).

studied => We have studied. (Hemos estudiado).

Irregular past participles (participios pasados irregulares)

Many verbs have irregular past participles. In many cases, the participle is different from the past simple. Here is a list of the most common ones:

🔹 Muchos verbos tienen participios pasados irregulares. En muchos casos, el participio es diferente del past simple. Aquí va una lista de los más comunes:

be => been [bɪn]

become => become [bɪ'kʌm]

begin => begun [bɪ'gʌn]

break [breɪk] (romper) => broken ['broʊkən]

bring => brought [brɔt]

build => built [bɪlt]

buy => bought [bɔt]

choose => chosen ['tʃoʊzən]

come => come [kʌm]

do => done [dʌn]

draw => drawn [drɔn]

drink => drunk [drʌŋk]

drive => driven ['drɪvən]

eat => eaten ['i:tən]

fall => fallen ['fɔlən]

feel => felt [fɛlt]

find => found [faʊnd]

fly => flown [floʊn]

forget => forgotten [fər'gɑtən]

get => gotten ['gɑtən]

give => given ['gɪvən]

go => gone [gɔn]

grow => grown [groʊn]

have => had [hæd]

hear => heard [hɜrd]

hide => hidden ['hɪdən]

keep => kept [kɛpt]

know => known [noʊn]

leave => left [lɛft]

lose => lost [lɔst]

make => made [meɪd]

meet => met [mɛt]

pay => paid [peɪd]

put => put [pʊt]

read => read [rɛd]

ride => ridden ['rɪdən]

run => run [rʌn]

say => said [sɛd]

see => seen [si:n]

sell => sold [soʊld]

send => sent [sɛnt]

sing => sung [sʌŋ]

sit => sat [sæt]

speak => spoken ['spoʊkən]

spend => spent [spɛnt]

steal => stolen ['stoʊlən]

swim => swum [swʌm]

take => taken ['teɪkən]

teach => taught [tɔt]

tell => told [toʊld]

think => thought [θɔt]

throw => thrown [θroʊn]

understand => understood [ʌndər'stʊd]

wear => worn [wɔrn]

win => won [wʌn]

write => written ['rɪtən]

If the past participle is the same as the past simple (like felt, found, kept, left, etc.), you only need to memorize one form for both functions.

🔹 Si el participio pasado es igual que el past simple (como felt, found, kept, left, etc.), solamente tienes que memorizar una forma para las dos funciones.

Questions (preguntas)

We invert the subject and the verb have/has:

🔹 Invertimos el sujeto y el verbo have/has:

Have you eaten? (¿Has comido?)

Has she visited Madrid? (¿Ella ha visitado Madrid?)

Negatives (negativos)

We add not after have/has:

🔹 Añadimos not después de have/has:

I have not eaten. (No he comido).

She has not visited Madrid. (Ella no ha visitado Madrid).