# Comí vs he comido: a regional split

> id: contrast.preterite-present-perfect · category: contrast · depth: standard · levels: B1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Spain: today's events take the perfect (hoy he comido tarde). Latin America: the preterite rules (hoy comí tarde); the perfect keeps experiences and still-open periods.

Both tenses are correct everywhere; what differs is the default for recent, today's events. In Spain, things that happened today normally take the present perfect: hoy he comido tarde, esta mañana he ido al banco. In most of Latin America the preterite does that job: hoy comí tarde, ya llegué, ¿ya almorzaste?

To a Latin American ear, using the perfect for finished events of today (ya he comido, ¿has llegado ya?) sounds peninsular; to a Spanish ear, the bare preterite for 'just now' can sound abrupt. Neither is wrong — it's a regional default.

There is shared ground. Both regions use the present perfect for life experiences (¿alguna vez has probado…? — though LatAm also says ¿alguna vez probaste…?) and for still-open time frames: esta semana he tenido mucho trabajo, este año hemos viajado poco.

## Examples
- ¿Ya almorzaste? (LatAm) / ¿Has almorzado ya? (Spain) — Have you had lunch yet?
- Nunca he estado en el Chaco. — I've never been to the Chaco.
- Nunca he estado en Asunción, pero el año pasado fui a Montevideo. — I've never been to Asunción, but last year I went to Montevideo.

Related: conjugation.perfect.present, conjugation.preterite.regular

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