The perfect tenses

Conjugate haber, and the participle never changes

• He comido.I've eaten.
• Ellas han comido.They've eaten.

Regular participles end in -ado or -ido

• hablar, habladoto speak, spoken
• comer, comidoto eat, eaten
• vivir, vividoto live, lived

Common irregular participles

• hecho, dicho, visto, escritodone, said, seen, written
• puesto, vuelto, roto, abiertoput, returned, broken, opened
• muerto, cubierto, resueltodied, covered, solved

Nothing goes between haber and the participle

• Ya lo he visto.I've already seen it.
• Nunca he ido.I've never gone.
• No me ha llamado.He hasn't called me.

Pronouns, no and adverbs go before haber.

Present perfect, has or have done

• He estado en Cuba.I've been to Cuba.

Pluperfect, had done

• Ya había comido cuando llegaste.I had already eaten when you arrived.

Future perfect, will have done

• Para junio habré terminado.By June I will have finished.

Conditional perfect, would have done

• Habría ido contigo.I would have gone with you.

Present perfect subjunctive, after subjunctive triggers

• Espero que hayas comido.I hope you've eaten.

Pluperfect subjunctive, for what didn't happen

• Ojalá hubiera ido.I wish I had gone.

Latin America usually prefers the preterite for recent events

• ¿Ya comiste?Did you eat yet?
• Hoy me levanté temprano.Today I got up early.

In Spain you'd often hear ¿Ya has comido? and Hoy me he levantado temprano.

The present perfect is natural for life experience

• Nunca he ido a Bogotá.I've never been to Bogotá.
• ¿Has probado el mofongo?Have you tried mofongo?

It's also used for things continuing up to now

• Este año ha sido difícil.This year has been hard.

Si + pluperfect subjunctive, then the conditional perfect

• Si hubiera estudiado, habría aprobado.If I had studied, I would have passed.

The conditional also works for a present result

• Si hubiera estudiado, ahora tendría trabajo.If I had studied, I would have a job now.

With estar the participle acts as an adjective and agrees

• He abierto las ventanas.I've opened the windows.
• Las ventanas están abiertas.The windows are open.

Acabar de + infinitive means have just

• Acabo de llegar.I've just arrived.

Hay is not a perfect tense, but its perfect is ha habido

• Hay un problema.There's a problem.
• Ha habido un problema.There has been a problem.