Question

which of the following sentences uses the present perfect correctly?

los novios han nadados en la piscina.
los novios han nadando en la piscina.
los novios estaban nadando en la piscina.
los novios han nadado en la piscina.

Explanation:

Analyze the grammatical structure of the Spanish present perfect

The present perfect tense in Spanish is formed using the present tense of the auxiliary verb haber followed by the past participle of the main verb. The past participle of regular -ar verbs ends in -ado (e.g., nadar becomes nadado). In compound tenses like the present perfect, the past participle is invariable and always ends in -o, meaning it does not agree in gender or number with the subject.

Evaluate the given options

• "Los novios han nadados en la piscina." — Incorrect. The past participle nadado should not be pluralized to agree with los novios.
• "Los novios han nadando en la piscina." — Incorrect. Nadando is the present participle (gerund), not the past participle.
• "Los novios estaban nadando en la piscina." — Incorrect. This uses the past progressive tense (estaban + gerund), not the present perfect.
• "Los novios han nadado en la piscina." — Correct. It correctly uses the third-person plural present tense of haber (han) and the invariable past participle nadado.

Answer:

• Los novios han nadados en la piscina.
• Los novios han nadando en la piscina.
• Los novios estaban nadando en la piscina.
• Los novios han nadado en la piscina. (Correct answer)