In Spanish we can use the verb tener followed by a past participle to express the completion of an action. The effect of using this verbal structure is similar to using haber + participle, however using tener gives a nuance of a result obtained after accumulation or repetition of actions.
Let's see some examples:
Notice how the past participle must agree in gender and number with the noun acting as a direct object. (escritas/páginas; pintadas/habitaciones: feminine plural noun)
Here are some more examples:
In all of the above sentences there is a nuance of an accumulation or repetition of actions to get to a result.
For example:
Tengo pintadas dos habitaciones.
implies that there is a repetition of an action, in this case, painting rooms, one after another, with a result expressed with "tengo pintadas dos habitaciones".
¿Tienes ya pensada la estrategia?
implies that there has been an accumulation of "thinking" with a result expressed with "tienes pensada".
If we simply used the perfect tense with haber, this nuance wouldn't exist. It would just express a completed action.
He pintado dos habitaciones.
He pensado en la estrategia.
Sometimes this verbal structure implies an indication of keeping someone in a certain state (sometimes as a result following an accumulation/repetition of events). For example:
Notice how in all the examples there is a direct object pronoun (me, nos, la) because it is always about the effect on "someone".
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Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Tienes pintadas dos habitaciones. Falta una más para terminar.You have painted two rooms. There is one more left to finish.
Yo tenía organizados todos los documentos en orden alfabético.I had all the documents organised in alphabetical order.
¿Tienes ya pensada la estrategia para convencer a Inés?Have you thought of a plan to persuade Inés yet?
