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Basic form
Subject + HAS/HAVE + Verb (past participle form)
Quick examples
· I have read this book.
· The man has gone away.
· John has worked as a teacher for over 25 years.
The Present Perfect is used to express actions that happened at anindefinite time or that began in the past and continue in the present. This tense is also used when an activity has an effect on the present moment.
Use
1. Actions which happened at an indefinite (unknown) time before now
2. Actions in the past which have an effect on the present moment
3. Actions which began in the past and continue in the present
Use 1: Indefinite time before now
Use the Present Perfect to talk about actions that happened at some point in the past. It does not matter when exactly they happened.
· I have already had a breakfast.
· He has been to England.
Remember
You should not use this tense with time expressions like yesterday, a week ago, last year, etc.
· I have seen it yesterday.
· We have gone to Paris last year.
Use 2: Effect on the present moment
We also use this tense to when an activity has an effect on the present moment.
· He has finished his work. (so he can now rest)
· I have already eaten the dinner. (so I'm not hungry)
· He has had a car accident. (that's why he is in the hospital)
· I have been struck by a bolt of lightning!
Explanation
In this cartoon, you can see a mother asking her son: "Markus, what's happened". Marcus replies: "I have been struck by a bolt of lightning".
· Why is the Present Perfect tense used in this example? Click on the button labled as "event 1". You can see that Marcus was struck lightning bolt. Now click on the other button. The use of Present Continuous is correct here because the action has an effect on the present moment (it explains why he looks this way).
Use 3: Continuation in the present
We often use the Present Perfect when we want to emphasize that an event continues in the present.
· Mary has worked as a teacher for over 25 years.
· Patrick has achieved a lot in his life.
For and Since
Since and For are very common time expressions used with the Present Perfect.
We use For with a period of time, for example:
· I have lived here for 20 years.
When talking about a starting point, we use Since, for example:
· I have lived here since 1960.
Form
To form a sentence in the Present Perfect, you need:
1. The proper conjugation of the auxiliary verb "to have".
2. The Past Participle of your verb.
1. Auxiliary Verb "to have"
We conjugate the auxiliary verb "to have" the same way we would conjugate the normal verb "to have".
As you can see, the third person singular is irregular.
More examples:
· She has never seen my brother.
· Neither Mike nor Tom has ever driven a truck.
2. The Past Participle
The past participle of a verb is a verb form that appears with the perfect tenses. The past participle can be either regular or irregular.
· The regular verbs are formed by adding -ed to the verb:
·
· The formation of the irregular verbs does not follow one rule. Therefore, they should be memorized.
·
Declarative Sentences
Questions
Trivia
In sentences with adverbials such as ever, already or yet, American-English speakers may use the Past Simple rather than the Present Perfect. So, an American would say:
· Did you go to the post office yet? (Past Simple)
rather than:
· Have you gone to the post office yet? (Present Perfect)
Negative Sentences
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