Today’s Spanish word of the day is “perfecto”.
It’s an adjective meaning “perfect” or “flawless”.
It can also mean “absolute” or “complete”, for example:
- Logró un control perfecto de la situación. – He/she achieved complete control of the situation.
When talking about grammar, the word “perfecto” is used to refer to forms of the past tense in which an action is described as being completed rather than ongoing. The word “perfecto” is used in this case since it comes from Latin perfectus, which meant “completed” or “finished”. There are several different perfect and imperfect tenses in Spanish, but here’s a quick example to show the difference between two of them:
Pretérito perfecto compuesto:
- Hoy he comido paella. – Today I ate paella (refers to an action that was completed).
Pretérito imperfecto:
- Cuando vivía en Valencia, siempre comía paella los domingos. – When I lived in Valencia, I always ate paella on Sundays (refers to an ongoing or repeating action in the past).
Example sentences
Tu presentación fue perfecta.
Your presentation was perfect.
Este es el momento perfecto para hacer una pausa.
This is the perfect moment to take a break.
Este es el regalo perfecto para su cumpleaños.
This is the perfect gift for his/her birthday.
No hay nada perfecto en este mundo, pero siempre podemos intentarlo.
There’s nothing perfect in this world, but we can always try.
La receta salió perfecta, todos quedaron sorprendidos.
The recipe turned out perfect; everyone was amazed.
