Draft/NOT FINAL Script

In this lesson we’re focusing on the present perfect tense. What it looks like? How to use it? And when
to use it?

If you don’t feel confident in using the present perfect tense in English yet, there’s probably a few
reasons why. There’s these irregular verbs…in past participle or maybe you feel unsure about when to
use the present perfect or when to use the simple past tense? And even if you’re quite sure of using the
present perfect tense it is definitely worth reviewing these tenses to jog your memory. That expression
means “to remind yourself”

So let’s get started. First thing is the grammatical structure. What does it look like? Well it looks like this.

Subject, have/has and your main verb in past participle form.

So the subject, you already know this. You can use a proper or common noun, or a pronoun. Kate,
Keanne, I, she, they.

In the perfect tense the verb “have” or “has” is an auxiliary verb. It is a helping verb. It’s not the main
verb in the sentence. And that means it is usually contracted. So she has becomes she’s and I have
becomes I’ve. But we’ll talk more about that in the other lesson.

And then comes the main verb. In present perfect tense the main verb is in past participle form not in
simple past form. Now this is no problem in the regular verbs. Because for regular verbs, the past
participle form is the same as the simple past.

Example of regular verb is watch.. the simple present tense is watch, the simple past tense is watched…
you just have to add ed… then the past participle form is the same as the simple past which is watched

Laugh, laughed, laughed,

dance danced danced

And even some irregular verbs use the same verb in simple past and past participle form

Win, has the same simple past and past participle won and won
But these really irregular verbs are the one that cause all the headaches because there are three
different forms that you should remember. Like go in the present tense, went in the simple past and
been/gone in the past participle another examples are fly, flew, flown

Write, wrote, written, throw, threw, thrown, do, did, done,

Am sure you can think of many more example.. but with these verbs there are no particular pattern,
there’s no rules to follow, you just need to read and read and learn more past participle verbs and
memorize them and keep using them.

But let’s get back to the structure, you have the subject, you have the have or has and the past participle
form of the verb.

I have asked my parents to buy me a new laptop.

She has forgotten where her phone is.

He has saved enough money to buy a car.

Sometimes the subject and the have/has are contracted as

I’ve asked
She’s forgotten

He’s saved

Got it? So when should you use the present perfect tense?

Well, when there’s a connection between the present and the past. Think of it like a bridge that
connects the present and the past.

when something started in the past and continued in the present.

They have been married for three years.

She has read many books. ( and she would probably read more)

Now before I give you some more examples, let’s talk about when to use the simple past tense and the
present perfect tense. Because this is often the confusing part of this tense.

Well to answer this question, we need to think about time.. finished time and unfinished time.

For example:

Last week,, this is an example of a finished time. Last week is finished, it’s over.
But what about this week? Is this week finished? Not yet? It’s only Thursday and we have 2 more days to
go before this week ends.

Yesterday last year, last summer, last Month, last Christmas, 1996 are all examples of finished time.

The time that is completed. When you’re talking about the time period that is finished you will need to
use the simple past tense.

But when you’re talking about the time period that is unfinished like today, this week, this year use the
present perfect tense

So let’s compare some examples:

Last month, I visited my grandparents two times.

This month, I have visited my grandparents twice. (But the month isn’t finished yet, I might visit them
again)

Let’s try another rexample,

He borrowed my book yesterday. So this sentence is in the simple past tense, it is finished

Now try to change it to present perfect tense. What do you need to do?

Two things.

We need to add the auxiliary verb . He has not have… because our subject is he.. and it is singular . He
has borrowed my book today or this week, We need to change the time expression too for our sentence
to work the present perfect tense it must be unfinished time.