ENGLISH III UDEC “English for All” RAFAEL H CHIRIVI T

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

The present perfect tense is used when an action that happened in the past continues to
have a strong connection in the present, but it has other functions.
First at all take a look of how do we construct the present perfect.

1. To make the positive present perfect tense, use:

Subject + Auxiliary ('have' / 'has') + Main verb in past participle
The auxiliary verb means in this cases “HABER”
Make the past participle by adding 'ed' to regular verbs (for example, 'play' becomes
'played'). We also have the irregular verbs, for them we must use the third column.

POSITIVE
I have played
you have worked
he has written
she has walked
it has rained
we have travelled
they have studied

2. The negative is really simple too. Just put 'not' after 'have' or 'has':

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE SHORT FORM

I have not eaten breakfast today I haven't eaten

you have not been to Asia you haven't been
he has not seen the new film he hasn't seen
she has not played tennis she hasn't played
it has not snowed this winter it hasn't snowed
we have not slept all night we haven't slept
they have not tried the food they haven't tried

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3. To make a question, put 'have' or 'has' in front of the subject:

'YES / NO' QUESTIONS

have I missed the bus?
have you visited London?
has he worked as a waiter before?
has she met John?
has it been cold this week?
have we arrived too early?
have they studied English grammar before?
As you can imagine, for 'wh' questions, we just put the question word before 'have' or 'has':

'WH' QUESTIONS
where have I left my umbrella?
what have you done today?
why has he gone already?
where has she been in the UK?
why has it rained so much this summer?
what have we done?
where have they learned English before?

WHEN SHOULD I USE THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE TENSE

Unfinished Actions
1: We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that
started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' and we
need 'since' or 'for'. We often use stative verbs.

• I've known Karen since 1994.

• She's lived in London for three years.
• I've worked here for six months.
'Since' and 'For'
We use 'since' with a fixed time in the past (2004, April 23rd, last year). The fixed time can
be another action, which is in the past simple (since I was at school, since I arrived).

• I've known Sam since 1992.

• I've liked chocolate since I was a child.
• She's been here since 2pm.

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We use 'for' with a period of time (2 hours, three years, six months).

• I've known Julie for ten years.

• I've been hungry for hours.
• She's had a cold for a week.
Finished Actions
2: Life experience. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person's
life. We don't say when the experience happened, and the person needs to be alive now.
We often use the words 'ever' and 'never' here.

• I have been to Tokyo.

• They have visited Paris three times.
• We have never seen that film.
3: With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today). The period of time is still
continuing.

• I haven't seen her this month.

• She's drunk three cups of coffee today.
• I've already moved house twice this year!
We CAN'T use the present perfect with a finished time word.
• NOT: I've seen him yesterday.
4: A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result). We often use the present
perfect to talk about something that happened in the recent past, but that is still true or
important now. Sometimes we can use the past simple here, especially in US English.

• I've lost my keys (so I can't get into my house).

• She's hurt her leg (so she can't play tennis today).
• They've missed the bus (so they will be late).
5: We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently,
even if there isn't a clear result in the present. This is common when we want to introduce
news and we often use the words 'just / yet / already / recently'. However, the past simple
is also correct in these cases, especially in US English.

• The Queen has given a speech.

• I've just seen Lucy.
• The Mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.
Been and Gone
In this tense, we use both 'been' and 'gone' as the past participle of 'go', but in slightly
different circumstances. We use 'been' (often when we talk about life experience) to mean
that the person we're talking about visited the place and came back.

• I've been to Paris (in my life, but now I'm in London, where I live).
• She has been to school today (but now she's back at home).
• They have never been to California.
We use 'gone' (often when we are talking about an action with a result in the present) to
mean that the person went to the place and is at the place now.

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• Where's John? He's gone to the shops (he's at the shops now).
• Julie has gone to Mexico (now she's in Mexico).
• They've gone to Japan for three weeks (now they're in Japan).

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? PRESENT PERFECT AND PAST SIMPLE

Present Perfect Simple Past Simple

Unfinished actions that started in the

Finished actions:
past and continue to the present:
• I knew Julie for ten years (but then she
• I've known Julie for ten years
moved away and we lost touch).
(and I still know her).

A finished action in someone's life

A finished action in someone's life (when the
(when the person is still alive: life
person is dead):
experience):
• My great-grandmother went to Mexico
• My brother has been to
three times.
Mexico three times.

A finished action with a result in the

A finished action with no result in the present:
present:
• I lost my keys yesterday. It was terrible!
• I've lost my keys! (The result
(Now there is no result. I got new keys
is that I can't get into my house
yesterday).
now).

With an unfinished time word (this With a finished time word (last week, last month,
week, this month, today): yesterday):
• I've seen John this week. • I saw John last week.

Remember:
1. We use the past simple for past events or actions which have no connection to the
present.
2. We use the present perfect for actions which started in the past and are still
happening now OR for finished actions which have a connection to the present.
3. We CAN'T use the present perfect with a finished time word:
o NOT: I've been to the museum yesterday.

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JUST, YET, STILL, ALREADY

These words are often used with the present perfect tense although yet, still and already can
all be used with other tenses.
➢ JUST
‘Just’ is usually used only with the present perfect tense and it means ‘a short time ago’.
I’ve just seen Susan coming out of the cinema.
Mike’s just called. Can you ring him back please?
Have you just taken my pen? Where has it gone?
In the present perfect, ‘just’ comes between the auxiliary verb (‘have’) and the past participle.
➢ YET
‘Yet’ is used to talk about something which is expected to happen. It means ‘at any time up to
now’. It is used in questions and negatives.
Have you finished your homework yet? (The speaker expects that the homework will be
finished.)
I haven’t finished it yet. I’ll do it after dinner.
‘Yet’ usually comes at the end of the sentence.
➢ STILL
‘Still’ is used to talk about something that hasn’t finished – especially when we expected it to
finish earlier.
I’ve been waiting for over an hour and the bus still hasn’t come.
You promised to give me that report yesterday and you still haven’t finished it.
‘Still’ usually comes in ‘mid-position’, but in negative sentences it comes before de the auxiliary
with “not”.
Still is often used with other tenses as well as the present perfect.
I’ve still got all those letters you sent me.
Are you still working in the bookshop?
➢ ALREADY
‘Already’ is used to say that something has happened early – or earlier than it might have
happened.
I’ve already spent my salary and it’s two weeks before pay day.
The train’s already left! What are we going to do?
‘Already’ usually comes in mid-position.

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ENLACES DE CONSULTA Y PRACTICA

EXPLANATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGw2-p2WuJk PRESENT PREFECT EXPLANATION.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ATj9Do_RL8 PRESENT PERFECT (IN SPANISH).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRLgTSm_840 EVER, NEVER, JUST, YET, ALREADY, (SPANISH):

EXERCISES

https://agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/present-perfect/exercise-1

https://agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/present-perfect-multiple

http://www.focus.olsztyn.pl/en-present-perfect-tense-exercises-with-
answers.html#.X3NtoBTivIU

https://www.grammar.cl/Games/Still_Yet_Already.htm

http://digitalcampus.free.fr/Level2/Unit23/SubUnit232/ReviewTime01.jcl.htm

https://agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/present-perfect-past-simple/time-expressions

https://agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/present-perfect-past-simple/test-1

http://www.focus.olsztyn.pl/en-exercises-on-present-perfect-tense.html#.X3NuXRTivIU

https://www.english-at-home.com/grammar-present-perfect/

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/present_perfect_statements2.htm

http://www.nspeak.com/newbasic/grammatica/presperfect.htm

http://suz.digitaleschulebayern.de/english/grammar/presperfs4.htm

Listening for practice.

https://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/Listening_Lab/Listening_Lab_Exercis
e_23_present_perfect.html