¿Qué dijiste?
What have you said/did you say?73.1.3 The recent past
To refer to recent past events in general, Peninsular Spanish normally uses the perfect,
while English tends to use the simple past.
He hablado con Carlos esta mañana.
I spoke to Carlos this morning.
Ha llamado María.
Maria phoned.
Han llegado con diez minutos de retraso.
They arrived ten minutes late.In this context, Latin Americans tend to use the preterite rather than the perfect tense.
17.2 (p. 73)73.1.4 Events which have taken place over a period of time, including the present
Sentences such as ‘We still haven’t finished’, ‘I’ve seen them twice this week’, in which
reference is made to events which have occurred over a period of time, including the
present, are normally expressed in Spanish with the perfect. This use also extends to
most forms of Latin American Spanish. 17.2 (p. 73)
Los he visto dos veces esta semana.
I’ve seen them twice this week.
Todavía/aún no hemos terminado.
We still haven’t finished.
Ha estado en casa toda la mañana.
He/she has been at home the whole morning.The relation with the present, which is a prevalent feature of the perfect, is clear in
these examples. Furthermore, the first example denotes an unfinished action: Los he
visto dos veces. ‘I have seen them twice’ (and I may see them again).73.2 Referring to a prolonged action which began in the past and
is still in progress
In a sentence such as ‘He has been sleeping the whole morning’, the emphasis is not so
much on the action itself, but on the fact that this has been in progress for some time.
To express such an idea, Spanish uses the perfect of estar (e.g. he estado, ‘I have been’)+
gerund (e.g. trabajando, ‘working’). 20.1 (p. 96); 17.2 (p. 73)
Ha estado durmiendo toda la mañana.
He/she has been sleeping the whole morning.TALKING ABOUT THE PAST 73.2