regional.ar.perfect-avoidance
The vanishing present perfect: preterite by default
In Rioplatense, the compound perfect (he hablado) is largely replaced by the simple preterite (hablé) even for recent, relevant past: hoy comí, ¿ya llegó? The perfect survives in the Northwest.
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Explanation
Where Spain and grammar books use the pretérito perfecto compuesto for recent or currently-relevant past (hoy he comido, ya ha llegado), Buenos Aires and most of Argentina use the simple preterite instead: hoy comí, ¿ya llegó?, esta semana trabajé mucho.
Time markers that trigger the perfect elsewhere — hoy, esta mañana, ya, todavía no, nunca — take the preterite here: nunca fui a Bariloche (not 'nunca he ido'), todavía no terminé. To Argentine ears the compound can sound peninsular or bookish.
The compound perfect is not dead: it survives, with a distinct value, in the Andean Northwest (Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy), where it can mark past events with present resonance. But across the Rioplatense heartland, the preterite is the default even for 'just now'.
Examples
Today I got up early and already had breakfast.
Region: AR
—Are you done? —Yes, I just finished.
Region: AR
I've never been to Patagonia.
Region: AR
Related rules
- Rioplatense voseo: vos as the full standard
- regional.es.perfect-usage