Grammar for Spanish learners: the present perfect
I've been on Italki for 6 months and after more than 2,400 corrections made, one of the problems that stands out to me, is that most people don't know when to use the present perfect.
First of all, I should clarify that this tense is used regularly only in Spain, with the exception of Asturias, Galicia and the Canary Islands. I think in most of Latin America it isn't widely used either.
In Spanish, we use the present perfect (pretérito perfecto compuesto) when we refer to an immediate past or when we refer to an unfinished time frame. The best way to know when to use this tense is to pay attention to the time markers used in the sentence. One trick to recognize the time frame in which you must use this tense is to notice when you use the demonstrative pronouns "este/esta" (this) in the time marker, for example, this week, this month, this year, this weekend.
However, when the time frame has already concluded (yesterday, on -last- Friday, last week, last month, last year, last weekend) we would use the past simple (pretérito perfecto simple).
♦ Time markers used with the present perfect
• hoy (today), a las 4 (at 4), hace un rato (a while ago)
• esta mañana (this morning), esta tarde (this afternoon), esta semana (this week), este mes (this month), este año (this year), este invierno (this winter)
• todavía no / aún no (not yet), ya (already), últimamente (lately)
• nunca (never), por fin (finally), siempre (always)
• ¿alguna vez? (Ever?), ¿cuántas veces? (How many times?)
♦ Time markers used with the pass simple
• ayer (yesterday), anteayer (the day before yesterday), el otro día (the other day), anoche (last night)
• la semana pasada (last week), el mes pasado (last month), el año pasado (last year)
• ese/aquel año (that year), esa/aquella primavera (that spring), en 2010 (in 2010)
More about this:
☛ http://spanish.about.com/od/verbtenses/a/present_perfect.htm
Exellent Fernando, very well written and it will also be be very useful to everyone learning Spanish.
Grammar for Spanish learners: the present perfect
I've been on Italki for 6 months and after more than 2,400 corrections made, one of the problems I've seen more most/more frequently is that most people don't know when to use the present perfect.
First of all, I should clarify that this tense is used regularly only in Spain, with the exception of Asturias, Galicia and the Canary Islands. I think in most of Latin America it isn't widely used either.
In Spanish, we use the present perfect (pretérito perfecto compuesto) when we refer to an the immediate pass past or when we refer to an unfinished time frame. The best way to know when to use this tense is to pay attention to the time markers used in the sentence. One trick to recognize the time frame in which you must use this tense is to notice when you use the demonstrative pronouns "este/esta" (this) in the time marker, for example, this week, this month, this year, this weekend.
However, when the time frame is/has already concluded (yesterday, on -last- Friday, last week, last month, last year, last weekend) we would use the simple past simple (pretérito perfecto simple).
♦ Time markers used with the present perfect
• hoy (today), a las 4 (at 4), hace un rato (a while ago)
• esta mañana (this morning), esta tarde (this afternoon), esta semana (this week), este mes (this month), este año (this year), este invierno (this winter)
• todavía no / aún no (not yet), ya (already), últimamente (lately)
• nunca (never), por fin (finally), siempre (always)
• ¿alguna vez? (Ever?), ¿cuántas veces? (How many times?)
♦ Time markers used with the simple past simple
• ayer (yesterday), anteayer (the day before yesterday), el otro día (the other day), anoche (last night)
• la semana pasada (last week), el mes pasado (last month), el año pasado (last year)
• ese/aquel año (that year), esa/aquella primavera (that spring), en 2010 (in 2010)
More about this:
☛ http://spanish.about.com/od/verbtenses/a/present_perfect.htm
Thanks so much for this excellent explanation- very technical and very few mistakes! My personal trick is simply not to use the present perfect tense in place of past tense. I translate directly from English. I know this is wouldn't fly if I was trying to learn Spanish from Spain, however!
Grammar for Spanish learners: the present perfect
I've been on Italki for 6 months and after more than 2,400 corrections made, one of the problems I've seen more is that most people don't know when to use the present perfect tense.
First of all, I should clarify that this tense is used regularly only in Spain, with the exception of Asturias, Galicia and the Canary Islands. I think in most of Latin America it isn't widely used either.
In Spanish, we use the present perfect (pretérito perfecto compuesto) when we refer to the immediate past or when we refer to an unfinished time frame. The best way to know when to use this tense is to pay attention to the time markers used in the sentence. One trick to recognize the time frame in which you must use this tense is to notice when you use the demonstrative pronouns "este/esta" (this) in the time marker, for example, this week, this month, this year, this weekend.
However, when the time frame has already concluded (yesterday, on -last- Friday, last week, last month, last year, last weekend) we would use the simple past tense (pretérito perfecto simple).
♦ Time markers used with the present perfect
• hoy (today), a las 4 (at 4), hace un rato (a while ago)
• esta mañana (this morning), esta tarde (this afternoon), esta semana (this week), este mes (this month), este año (this year), este invierno (this winter)
• todavía no / aún no (not yet), ya (already), últimamente (lately)
• nunca (never), por fin (finally), siempre (always)
• ¿alguna vez? (Ever?), ¿cuántas veces? (How many times?)
♦ Time markers used with the simple past tense
• ayer (yesterday), anteayer (the day before yesterday), el otro día (the other day), anoche (last night)
• la semana pasada (last week), el mes pasado (last month), el año pasado (last year)
• ese/aquel año (that year), esa/aquella primavera (that spring), en 2010 (in 2010)
More about this:
☛ http://spanish.about.com/od/verbtenses/a/present_perfect.htm
Almost perfect!
