Present perfect

The present perfect says that an action in the past still matters now: its result is visible at the moment of speaking, or the action began in the past and is not over. It is built from the present of an auxiliary, kam or jam, and the invariable past participle.

How it is formed

	fle "sleep" (kam)	laj "wash" (kam)	lahem "wash oneself" (jam)
unë	kam fjetur	kam larë	jam larë
ti	ke fjetur	ke larë	je larë
ai, ajo	ka fjetur	ka larë	është larë
ne	kemi fjetur	kemi larë	jemi larë
ju	keni fjetur	keni larë	jeni larë
ata, ato	kanë fjetur	kanë larë	janë larë

Classes 1 to 5 take kam, including verbs of motion: kam ardhur "I have come", kam shkuar "I have gone".
Class 6 verbs take jam, with the participle of the corresponding active verb: jam larë.
The participle does not change for person, number or gender.

The participle, class by class

The participle is the part to learn with each verb. Most follow a pattern by class:

Class	Pattern	Examples
1	-oj verbs: -uar. -ej verbs: -yer. One-syllable verbs: -rë. vij is irregular.	punoj, punuar; lexoj, lexuar; kërcej, kërcyer; laj, larë; blej, blerë; hyj, hyrë; vij, ardhur
2	consonant stems: -ur. Verbs in -s/-t: -tur. Some take -ë.	hap, hapur; mbyll, mbyllur; njoh, njohur; pyes, pyetur; dal, dalë; marr, marrë; sjell, sjellë
3	verbs in -ë: -në. Many others are irregular.	vë, vënë; zë, zënë; lë, lënë; fle, fjetur; di, ditur; pi, pirë
4	always -ur	eci, ecur; hipi, hipur; iki, ikur
5	irregular	jam, qenë; kam, pasur; dua, dashur; jap, dhënë; them, thënë; shoh, parë
6	the participle of the active verb	lahem, larë

When to use it

1. A past action connected to the present

The simple past says only that an action ended at some point in the past. The present perfect says that it is still connected to now, usually through its result:

Ai ka ardhur sot. "He has come today."

Compare the two: Dje shkova në shkollë. "Yesterday I went to school." (simple past: a finished event with a past time word) and Sot kam shkuar në shkollë. "Today I have gone to school." (present perfect: a period that includes now).

2. With time expressions that include the present

The present perfect is natural with words naming a period that includes now: sot "today", sivjet "this year", këto ditë "these days", këtë javë "this week", që dje "since yesterday", që atëherë "since then".

3. With words of indefinite time

It is also the tense of gjithmonë "always", kurrë "never", ndonjëherë "sometimes", shpesh "often", kurdoherë "at any time": Nuk kam ardhur kurrë. "I have never come."

4. Something that began in the past and still goes on

Kam punuar këtu tre vjet. "I have worked here for three years."

With a duration, the present indicative can be used instead (Kemi tri net që nuk flemë).

5. In speech, instead of the simple past

In everyday Albanian the present perfect often takes the place of the simple past. These pairs mean the same:

Shkova = kam shkuar "I went, I have gone".
Hapa = kam hapur "I opened, I have opened".

Negation

Nuk goes before the auxiliary: Nuk kam fjetur. "I have not slept."

Watch out: do not use jam with verbs of motion as in French or Italian. In Albanian kam ardhur is correct; jam is for Class 6 verbs only.

Related forms

Pluperfect: the same, with the imperfect of kam: kisha fjetur.
Future perfect: do të kem fjetur.
Perfect subjunctive: të kem fjetur.