Grammar: The present perfect tense

Dear learner, the present perfect tense is formed with has or have plus past participle, depending on the subject
of your sentence:

For example: Sisay has written a letter of complaint.

Sisay and Kenna have written a letter of complaint.

I/We/You/They have written a letter of complaint.

Note the items in bold in forming the present perfect simple tense.

A: Forming the present perfect tense

Based on the above example, construct sentences in the present perfect simple using the information
provided below. Use appropriate prepositions and other expressions where necessary.

Subject Activity/verb Object/complement Time expression

1.Daniel Be Lalibela three times
2. The residents Never have the chance to evacuate
the building
3.My sister Design four buildings in her in the last five years
neighborhood
4.One of the founders of Never has the time to talk to his
the consultancy firm clients
5. One of my relatives Learn English for ten years
6.Many leaders of Be In Addis Ababa Yesterday
African countries
7.Man Exploit Nature for centuries
8.Double digit Register
economic growth
9.Lionel Messi Give Various prizes for his
footballing
achievements
10.Samuel imprison For bribing the
municipal engineers

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 A. Matching

Match the following functions of the present perfect simple with the given examples.

1. To express a state starting in the past and lasting until the present
2. To express a past event or activity for which no definite time is given i.e. the activity is
more important that the time when it happened
3. To express the present effect of a past action
4. To describe your experiences i.e. it is like saying “I have the experience of________.”
This often refers to experiences that happen once or twice in a life time.
5. To express change over time or over a period of time
6. To express accomplishments
7. To express that an action we expected has not happened yet
8. To talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past are likely to
happen again because the process is not complete

Examples

A. Selamawit has graduated with a BSC Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning.
B. I have visited the Eifel Tower twice.
C. How long have you known him?
D. She has completed designing four buildings.
E. I have known him for twenty years.
F. Man has walked on the moon.
G. I have been to Axum four times.
H. There have been many earthquakes in California.
I. You have grown since the last time I saw.
J. The ISIL fighters have attacked Iraqis cultural heritages.
K. The rain has not stopped.
L. My sister has cut her forefinger.
M. I have seen that movie many times.
N. Scientists have split the atom.

C: Time Expressions with perfect tenses

A. Since and for are often used with the two tenses. Since shows when something began
(e.g. since childhood or since 1978), whereas for shows duration or length of time (e.g.

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 for four years or for centuries)
B. Time expressions can be used with these tenses when the time in question is not over
and when the activity is still in progress. (E.g. Salia has been here all morning: the
morning is not over and Salia is still here.)

Which of the following sentences are correct and which are incorrect? For the incorrect
sentences, you should identify which word(s) should be removed.

1. Have you ever been to Mexico last year?

2. My friends have had three tests this week.
3. My friends have had three tests last week.
4. The children have slept for four hours.
5. Hiwot has never been out of Ethiopia.
6. Our economy has grown in the last ten years.
7. The architects have held a meeting last week.
8. Jamal has been a teacher all his life.
9. I think I have seen you once before.
10. The students have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.

D. Present perfect or past simple?

Complete the gaps using either the present perfect or past simple form of the verbs in the
brackets. Dear learner, we said that we use the present perfect when the action expressed in the
present perfect tense does not include a definite past time because the interest is in the action,
not in when the action took place. However, if we are interested in when exactly something
happened, we use the simple past tense.

1. Yesterday we ______ (play) football after class.

2. The boys _____ (clean) the car. It looks new again.

3. We _____ (just, read) the book. Now we can watch the film.

4. I first _____ (meet) my best friend three years ago.

5. None of my family members _______ (ever, visit) another country before.

6. She ______ (buy) her car when she was working in a business company.

7. Things _____ (change) a great deal at our company. When we first ____ (start) working

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 here three years ago, the company _____ (have, only) six employees. Since then, we
____ (expand) to include more than 2000 full-time workers.

8. In the last hundred years, traveling _____ (become) much easier and more comfortable.
In the 19th century, it _____ (take) two or three months to cross North America by
covered wagon. The trip _____ (be) very rough and often dangerous. The situation _____
(change) a great deal over the last century. Now you can fly from New York to Los
Angeles in a matter of hours.