Reinvent Yourself in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to reinvent yourself in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about hobbies

• use the present perfect to talk about events that happened at an undefined time in the past

• use vocabulary related to common hobbies

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjective

Spanish	English
benéfico	charity

examples
Ha organizado eventos benéficos. She's organized charity events.

Nouns

Spanish	English
la bachata	bachata
la cascada	waterfall
el hobby	hobby
el karaoke	karaoke (bar)
el origami	origami
el paracaídas	parachute
el puenting	bungee jumping
el rapel	rappeling

examples
He bailado bachata. I've danced bachata.
He hecho rapel en una cascada. I've gone rappeling on a waterfall.
¿Qué hobbies has practicado últimamente? What hobbies have you done recently?

Puenting? Hobby? Those look a lot like English, don’t they?

Well, they do. Sometimes, languages use loanwords. A loanword (préstamo lingüístico) is a word that is taken from one language and used by another, often with adaptations. Hobby is a good example of a loanword from English. It’s been adopted directly into Spanish, just adapting the pronunciation. Another way to say hobby is pasatiempo.

But what about puenting? Well, puenting is not a loanword. Here, Spanish has added the -ing from English to puente(bridge) to refer to bungee jumping.

Read more about loanwords from English in this article.

While paracaídas means parachute, the phrase saltar en paracaídasmeans go skydiving.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
el castillo de arena	sandcastle

examples
Hemos construido castillos de arena. We've built sandcastles.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Diseñar

Diseñar(to design) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present perfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	he diseñado	I have designed
tú	has diseñado	you have designed	informal singular you
vos	has diseñado	you have designed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	ha diseñado	he, she has designed
usted	ha diseñado	you have designed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	hemos diseñado	we have designed
vosotros, vosotras	habéis diseñado	you have designed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	han diseñado	they have designed
ustedes	han diseñado	you have designed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Patinar

Patinar(to skate), often used with sobre hieloto mean to ice-skate, is an -ar verb that is regular in the present perfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	he patinado	I have skated
tú	has patinado	you have skated	informal singular you
vos	has patinado	you have skated	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	ha patinado	he, she has skated
usted	ha patinado	you have skated	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	hemos patinado	we have skated
vosotros, vosotras	habéis patinado	you have skated	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	han patinado	they have skated
ustedes	han patinado	you have skated	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Present Perfect

In these lessons, you reviewed the present perfect. The Spanish present perfect el pretérito perfecto compuestoo el antepresenteis used to talk about things that started in the past and which continue or repeat in the present. It's also used to talk about things that have happened in the recent past.

How Do You Form the Present Perfect in Spanish?

Present Perfect Indicative Formula

present indicative of haber + past participle of another verb

As a reminder, this is how we conjugate haber in the present indicative:

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation
yo	he
tú	has
vos	has
él, ella	ha
usted	ha
nosotros, nosotras	hemos
vosotros, vosotras	habéis
ellos, ellas	han
ustedes	han

Past Participles

Regular Past Participles

An essential part of using the present perfect correctly is knowing how to form the past participle.

To form the past participle of a regular verb, you drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add -ado to the stem of -ar verbs and -ido to the stem of -er and -ir verbs. This is equivalent to adding -ed to many verbs in English.

Irregular Past Participles

Quite a few Spanish verbs have irregular past participles that don't end in -ado or -ido. Let's take a look at the irregular past participle that you saw in these lessons!

Infinitive	Spanish Past Participle	Translation
hacer	hecho	done

Let’s take a look at some examples of the present perfect that we saw in these lessons:

examples
He surfeado en la playa. I've surfed at the beach.
He terminado de leer varios libros. I've finished reading several books.
He diseñado ropa. I've designed clothing.

examples

He surfeado en la playa.

I've surfed at the beach.

He terminado de leer varios libros.

I've finished reading several books.

He diseñado ropa.

I've designed clothing.

Present Perfect Trigger Words

Here are some key words that trigger the use of the present perfect.

Key Word in Spanish	Translation
últimamente	recently
varias veces	several times

Let’s take a look at some examples of these trigger words in context:

examples
He saltado en paracaídas varias veces. I've gone skydiving several times.
¿Qué hobbies has practicado últimamente? What hobbies have you done recently?

examples

He saltado en paracaídas varias veces.

I've gone skydiving several times.

¿Qué hobbies has practicado últimamente?

What hobbies have you done recently?

When to Use the Present Perfect

Talking about Life Experiences

We use the present perfect to talk about life experiences and things you have done, without saying specifically when you did them. It is also used to talk about how many times you've done something.

examples
Ha escalado varias montañas. He's climbed several mountains.
He corrido en el parque. I've run in the park.
Ha organizado eventos benéficos. She's organized charity events.

examples

Ha escalado varias montañas.

He's climbed several mountains.

He corrido en el parque.

I've run in the park.

Ha organizado eventos benéficos.

She's organized charity events.

Recent Completed Actions

We also use the present perfect to talk about recent finished actions that have a present result.

Unfinished Situations

Finally, we use the present perfect to talk about situations that started in the past and continue until now.

Latin America, Spain, and the Present Perfect

For talking about actions that happened in the recent past, the present perfect is more widely used in Spain than in Latin America. It's more common to hear the preterite, or simple past, used in Latin America to talk about something that just happened. To talk about something that was just done, it's also very common to use acabar deor the simple past, especially in Latin America.