What is the difference between the preterite and perfect tenses in Spanish?

The preterite is used for completed actions in the past
e.g. I spoke to my mother - Hablé con mi madre

The perfect is used to reflect on a current state dependent on a past action, and always translates into English as "I have + past participle"
e.g. I have read many books
He leído muchos libros

JR
Answered by Jeevan R. Spanish tutor

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