" Present Perfect Tense"

  

The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The problems come with the use of the tense. In addition, there are some differences in usage between British and American English.

How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?

The structure of the present perfect tense is: subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

have                  past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	have		seen	ET.
+	You	have		eaten	mine.
-	She	has	not	been	to Rome.
-	We	have	not	played	football.
?	Have	you		finished?
?	Have	they		done	it?

Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write.

I have	I've
You have	You've

He has She	He's She's
has It	It's John's
has John	The car's
has The car
Has
We have	We've
They have	They've

Here are some examples:

•        I've finished my work.

•        John's seen ET.

•        They've gone home.

How do we use the Present Perfect Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the past and with thepresent. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:

1.   experience

2.   change

3.   continuing situation

1.  Present perfect tense for experience

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about experience from the past. We are not interested in when you did something. We only want to know if you did it:

I have seen ET. He has lived in Bangkok. Have you been there? We have never eaten caviar.

past	present	future

!!!

The action or state was in	In my head, I have a
the past.	memory now.

Connection with past: the event was in the past.

Connection with present: in my head, now, I have a memory of the event; I know something about the event; I have experience of it.

2. Present perfect tense for change

We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new information:

I have bought a car.

past	present	future
-	+
Last week I didn't have a	Now I have a car.
car.

John has broken his leg.

past	present	future
+	-
Yesterday John had a	Now he has a bad leg.
good leg.

Has the price gone up?

past	present	future
+	-
Was the price $1.50	Is the price $1.70 today?
yesterday?

The police have arrested the killer.

past	present	future
-	+
Yesterday the killer was	Now he is in prison.
free.

Connection with past: the past is the opposite of the present. Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past.

3. Present perfect tense for continuing situation

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about a continuing situation. This is a state that started in the past and continues in the present (and will probably continue into the future). This is astate (not an action). We usually use for or since with this structure.

I have worked here since June. He has been ill for 2 days. How long have you known Tara?

	past				present	future

The situation started in	It continues up to now.	(It will probably continue
the past.		into the future.)

Connection with past: the situation started in the past. Connection with present: the situation continues in the present.

For & Since with Present Perfect Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

•        We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.

•        We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.

	for		since
a period of time			a point in past time
			x------------
	20 minutes		6.15pm
	three days		Monday
	6 months		January
	4 years		1994
	2 centuries		1800
	a long time		I left school
	ever		the beginning of time
	etc		etc

Here are some examples:

•        I have been here for 20 minutes.

•        I have been here since 9 o'clock.

•        John hasn't called for 6 months.

•        John hasn't called since February.

•        He has worked in New York for a long time.

•        He has worked in New York since he left school.