On the choice between canté or he cantado in the presence of hace x horas in Peninsular Spanish

Abstract

The article deals with the choice between the simple perfect canté and the compound perfect he cantado in Peninsular Spanish in the hodiernal context of hace x horas, when the predicate expresses the aoristic/perfective aspect. In most hodiernal contexts, both tenses are in free variation. The article, based on five empirical tests carried out with different methods and on a total of 670 choices between both forms, focuses on the influence of the presence of hace x horas on the choice between canté and he cantado as well as on what happens as the distance of the past event measured in hours increases. Based on the results, it is obvious that canté is the primary choice with hace x horas. On the other hand, the results do not lend support to the hypothesis of the frequencies of both tenses changing as temporal distance increases.