Let’s take a look at the timeline below and think of

some experiences and events which could have

taken part up until now.

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Catalina’s Lifetime

I have travelled to I have learned 3

different countries. different languages.

I have taught for 4 I have jumped on a

years parachute.
It doesn’t matter whether it was recent 0r many years ago,
the present perfect tense tells us that, up until the present, the event/experience has
occurred.
PRESENT
PERFECT
SIMPLE
 “
“I’ve been unsure about many things in my life
except that I have always loved him. Every single
minute of every single day that I have been on this
earth, my heart has belonged to him.”
Alison G. Bailey,

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 1.
USAGE:
Let’s start by considering which moments do we use present
perfect for….

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FIRST RULE

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 LIFE EXPERIENCES
▧ If we are talking about an event which happened in
the past and if we don’t give an exact time
(yesterday/two days ago/last week).
▧ The exact time is not important, what is important is
the EXPERIENCES

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 What is the difference?
I’ve been to London.
(present perfect)

I went to London last week.

(simple past)
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 TIME
FINISHED UNFINISHED
SIMPLE PAST PRESENT PERFECT

I went to London last week I’ve been to London.

Specific time: General experience

👉yesterday
👉last summer
👉2 months ago

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SECOND RULE

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 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 a state (it is not an action). We
usually use "for" or "since" with this structure.

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👉 David has been at the sea since
July.

👉 He hasn’t seen his family for 5

months.

👉 I have taken three tests this semester

(this semester is not finished, it’s still going
on).

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 What’s the difference?
▧ The Titanic sank in 1912. ▧ My grandparents have seen
“Hamlet” this week

📌 There’s NO connection with

the present 📌 There IS a connection with the
present

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THIRD RULE

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RECENT AND RELEVANT ACTIONS
▧ We use it for an action which happened in the near
past, so you can see the result!
▧ Actions that happened in the past, finished in the
past but have RELEVANCE in the present. They
have strong connections or effects to the present

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 ▧ I have studied languages
at the University, now
I’m an English teacher.

▧ I have broken my arm. It

still hurts.

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 KEY WORDS
▧ Lately/Recently: These words give us information
about the events happened in the near past. They
don’t give a specific time in the past.
▧ Already/Just/Yet: These words are used in present
perfect to identify unfinished actions or recent
actions

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 Unfortunately! I
Have you ​seen It is clean now.
have been very busy
any good ​films She has just
lately.
recently? cleaned.

The washing machine is

still working. It hasn’t
finished yet.

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 2.
FORM:
Now let’s check the grammatical structure:

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 Affirmative Sentences:

Subject Auxiliary Verb Past Participle

I
You have seen
We
They
He
She has seen
It

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 4

Identifying the present perfect tense

You’ll have noticed that regular verbs like walk (have walked) and jump (have jumped) follow the
pattern of adding have + -ed. Some verbs do not follow this pattern. They are called irregular
verbs. Can you spot the regular

h av k
and irregular past

e ea
participles?

u n h av
ten
v e dr ew
h a a l ke
d d r i t t e n
v e r e a a v e w
ha n g i s i t e d h
u av e v
ha ve s h
h av h av h av
e ju e sw e l is
mp e um i v e d t en e
d l
h av e d
 Negative Sentences

Subject Auxiliary Verb Past Participle

I
You haven’t (=have not) seen
We
They
He
She hasn’t (=has not) seen
It

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 Interrogative form:

Auxiliary Verb Subject Past Participle

I
Have you seen?
we
they
he
Has she seen?
it

Yes, I have. No, we haven’t.

Yes, he has. No, she hasn’t.

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Any questions?

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 Write down 12 present perfect
sentences about things you “have”
and “haven’t” done in your life
using the verbs in the box. Six
sentences must be true and the other
ones false.

mee find try play see ride take visit be go eat mak
t e

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