The Portuguese present perfect form conveys a true perfect aspect. Modern Portuguese differs from Spanish in that the auxiliary used is normally "ter" (Spanish "tener") rather than "haver" (Spanish "haber"). Furthermore, the meaning of the present perfect is different from that in Spanish in that it implies an iterative aspect. "Eu tenho comido" translates "I have been eating" rather than "I have eaten". (However, other tenses are still as in Spanish: "eu tinha comido" means "I had eaten" in modern Portuguese, like Spanish "yo había comido".)