C1 · Fine points and style
Perfect infinitive, perfect gerund, absolute participle
de haberlo sabido, habiendo terminado, terminada la reunión — whole clauses in three words.
At a glance
- Remember
- haber makes it earlier, habiendo gives the reason, and the participle on its own agrees with its subject.
- Form
- Gracias por haber venido.earlier, after a preposition
- Signal words
- haber
- de haber
- habiendo
- una vez
- dicho esto
- Trap
- Wrong:Terminado las clases, salimos al patio.Right:Terminadas las clases, salimos al patio.
Your turn
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The form
| earlier, after a preposition | Gracias por haber venido. |
| earlier, after a verb | Siento haberte molestado. |
| unreal condition | De haberlo sabido, no habría venido. |
| completed reason | Habiendo terminado, se fue. |
| own subject, agreeing | Terminada la reunión, nos fuimos. |
| set phrase | Dicho esto, se levantó. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
haber plus participle as an infinitive names something earlier.
Recuerdo haber leído ese libro.I remember having read that book.
de plus infinitivo compuesto replaces an unreal si-clause about the past.
De haber salido antes, no habríamos perdido el tren.Had we left earlier, we would not have missed the train.
habiendo plus participle names a completed reason.
Habiendo perdido las llaves, tuvo que llamar a un cerrajero.Having lost his keys, he had to call a locksmith.
The absolute participle agrees with its own subject.
Acabada la cena, salimos a pasear.Dinner over, we went out for a walk.
Example sentences
Me arrepiento de no haberlo dicho antes.I regret not having said it sooner.
De haberlo sabido, te habría llamado.Had I known, I would have called you.
Habiendo estudiado tanto, el examen le pareció fácil.Having studied so much, he found the exam easy.
Firmado el contrato, empezaron las obras.Once the contract was signed, the building work began.
6 more example sentences
Gracias por haberme ayudado.Thank you for having helped me.
Dicho esto, se marchó.That said, he left.
De haber tenido dinero, lo habría comprado.Had I had the money, I would have bought it.
Habiendo visto el resultado, nadie protestó.Having seen the result, nobody protested.
Resuelto el problema, todos se tranquilizaron.The problem solved, everyone calmed down.
Siento no haber llegado a tiempo.I am sorry not to have arrived on time.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The absolute participle is left without agreement, because the perfect with haber never changes the participle and an English participle never changes at all: Terminado las clases, salimos. Without haber, though, the participle is an adjective belonging to its subject: Terminadas las clases — the classes are «terminadas».
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The infinitive and the gerundio have compound forms that mark an event as earlier. The infinitivo compuesto — haber plus participle — comes after prepositions and verbs, like English «to have done»: Siento haberte molestado, Gracias por haber venido. With de in front it replaces an unreal si-clause about the past: De haberlo sabido, no habría venido — «had I known».
The gerundio compuesto — habiendo plus participle — names a completed reason or precondition, just like English «having finished»: Habiendo terminado el trabajo, se fue a casa. It sounds written; in conversation people say después de terminar or como había terminado.
The participio absoluto stands alone at the start of the sentence and has a subject of its own, which it agrees with: Terminada la reunión, todos se fueron. Dicho esto, se levantó. English knows the construction from «the meeting over» or «that said», but mostly needs a clause — «when the meeting was over».
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