Severn Spanish

Present perfect subjunctive III

 

Introduction/Review

Remember the present perfect? It’s a compound tense formed with haber in the present and the past participle of the main verb. Here are some examples:

Yo he practicado por dos horas. (I have practiced for two hours.)

Ella ha aprendido manejar. (She has learned to drive.)

Nosotros hemos escrito los ensayos para la clase de español. (We have written the essays for Spanish class.)

The same tense can formed in the subjunctive. Let’s take a look.

 

Formation

Here is the recipe for this compound tense:

 

 

 

 

 

You may know that the present subjunctive of haber is irregular. In fact, it looks an awful lot like the present subjunctive of ir:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you have at least seen the present subjunctive of haber, you can start combining these conjugations with past participles to form the present perfect subjunctive.

Examples:

• yo (estudiar) → yo haya estudiado

• tú (comer) → tú hayas comido

• ella (tener) → ella haya tenido

• nosotros (vivir) → nosotros hayamos vivido

• ustedes (cantar) → ustedes hayan cantado

 

Usage

The scenarios in which you use the present subjunctive and present perfect subjunctive are identical — the only thing that changes is the time at which the action takes place.

Examples:

Me sorprendo de que ella haya estudiado tanto. (I am surprised that she has studied so much.)

Es bueno que tú has preparado para la presentación. (It is good that you have prepared for the presentation.)

El padre dudo que su hijo le haya dicho la verdad. (The father doubts that his son has told him the truth.)

Quick reference: