Breakdown of Todavía no he terminado mi informe.
yo
I
mi
my
el informe
the report
no
not
todavía
yet
haber terminado
to have finished
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Questions & Answers about Todavía no he terminado mi informe.
Why is the present perfect (he terminado) used instead of the simple past (terminé)?
In Spain, the present perfect is preferred for actions connected to the present or within the current time frame. With todavía (still/yet), the connection to “now” is explicit, so Todavía no he terminado is the natural choice. In much of Latin America you’ll often hear Todavía no terminé, which is normal there, but in Spain it sounds odd because it frames the action in a completed past period, contradicting the idea of “still not.”
Can I say No he terminado todavía instead of Todavía no he terminado?
Yes, both are correct.
- Todavía no he terminado slightly foregrounds the idea of “still.”
- No he terminado todavía is stylistically very common in conversation.
You cannot separate no from the conjugated verb: avoid forms like Todavía he no terminado (wrong).
What’s the difference between todavía, aún, ya, and ya no?
- todavía = still/yet: Todavía no he terminado (I haven’t finished yet).
- aún = still/yet (synonym of todavía, a bit more formal/literary): Aún no he terminado.
- ya = already/now: Ya he terminado (I’ve already finished).
- ya no = no longer/anymore: Ya no trabajo en eso (I don’t work on that anymore).
Where does the negative no go in compound tenses?
Before the conjugated auxiliary. Here it goes before he: Todavía no he terminado.
With object pronouns, they also go before the auxiliary: Todavía no lo he terminado.
How do I conjugate haber to form the present perfect?
Use present-tense haber + past participle:
- yo: he
- tú: has
- él/ella/usted: ha
- nosotros/as: hemos
- vosotros/as: habéis
- ellos/ellas/ustedes: han
The h is silent.
How is the past participle formed, as in terminado?
- Regular patterns:
- -ar → -ado (terminar → terminado)
- -er/-ir → -ido (comer → comido; vivir → vivido)
- Common irregulars: hecho, dicho, visto, puesto, escrito, abierto, roto, vuelto, muerto, cubierto.
Note also forms like oído, traído, creído (with written accents).
Why not use tener instead of haber (for example, Tengo terminado mi informe)?
Haber + participle makes the grammatical perfect (I have done X).
Tener + participle is a different construction emphasizing a resultant state of an object and often takes ya: Ya tengo terminado el informe (I already have the report finished). It’s correct but not the same as the perfect; it stresses possession of a finished result rather than the action’s relevance in the current time frame.
Does the participle terminado agree in gender/number?
- With haber, the participle is invariable: He escrito la carta (not he escrita).
- With tener or when used adjectivally, it agrees: Tengo escrita la carta; Las cartas están escritas.
Can I use acabar instead of terminar?
Yes. In Spain acabar is very common: Todavía no he acabado el informe. It’s essentially synonymous in this context. Be aware that acabarse can also mean “to run out” (e.g., Se ha acabado el papel).
Do I need to include the subject pronoun yo?
No. Spanish normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending marks the subject. Yo is added only for emphasis or contrast: Yo todavía no he terminado mi informe.
Should it be mi informe or el informe?
Both can be correct. Mi informe explicitly marks possession. If context already makes the possessor obvious, Spanish often uses the definite article: Todavía no he terminado el informe. In many personal-work contexts, mi informe is perfectly natural.
What gender is informe, and are there synonyms I should know?
Informe is masculine: el informe, los informes. In Spain:
- informe = report (general)
- trabajo = assignment/paper (school)
- ensayo = essay
- memoria = report/long write-up (academic/technical contexts)
Avoid using reporte in Spain (it’s more Latin American). Reportaje is a journalistic piece.
Can I replace mi informe with a pronoun?
Yes: Todavía no lo he terminado (I still haven’t finished it). The direct object pronoun lo goes before he. You cannot attach it to the participle: not terminadolo in this tense. You can attach it to an infinitive in a subordinate clause: por no haberlo terminado.
Can todavía go at the very end or after the object?
Yes:
- No he terminado mi informe todavía.
- No he terminado todavía mi informe.
All are acceptable; the differences are minor and mostly about emphasis or rhythm.
What about the accents in todavía, aún, and mi/mí?
- todavía always has the accent on the í.
- aún takes an accent when it means “still/yet” (synonym of todavía). aun without an accent means “even.”
- mi (my) has no accent; mí (me, after prepositions) has an accent, as in para mí.
Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?
- he is pronounced like English “eh” (silent h).
- v in todavía sounds like a soft b.
- Stress: to-da-VÍ-a, no he, ter-mi-NA-do, in-FOR-me.
- The single r in informe is a tap.
Can I say Aún no termino mi informe?
In Spain, that can suggest difficulty or an ongoing/habitual situation rather than the perfect’s “not yet finished as of now.” It’s more idiomatic in many Latin American varieties. In Spain, prefer Aún/Todavía no he terminado (mi informe) for the “not yet” meaning.
How do I turn this into a question or a positive statement?
- Question to someone else: ¿Todavía no has terminado tu informe?
- Positive statement: Ya he terminado mi informe.
The structure stays: haber (present) + past participle.