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present perfect

Present Perfect tense

Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is a very interesting English tense. It’s a present tense, but we use it to talk about events from the past. However, it’s important to note that these past events influence the present. In the Present Perfect, we use the third form of the verb – the Past Participle. In American English, Present Perfect is often replaced with Past Simple.

English tenses

Affirmative sentences in Present Perfect

To form sentences in the Present Perfect we add have to the main verb in the Past Participle form. Have comes before the main verb.

Subject + have/has + Past Participle + the rest of the sentence
I have been to France over 3 times.

In the third person singular, the verb have takes the form has.

He has been to France over 3 times.

To shorten the sentence we can use contractions.

Have / has
I have ⇒ I’ve we have ⇒ we’ve
you have ⇒ you’ve you have ⇒ you’ve
he has ⇒ he’s they have ⇒ they’ve
she has ⇒ she’s
it has has ⇒ it’s

Negative sentences in Present Perfect

We form negative sentences by adding not. Not is placed between have/has and the main verb.

Subject + have/has + not + Past Participle + the rest of the sentence
I have not been to France over 3 times.

We create negative contractions by combining have/has with not.

have not ⇒ haven’t
has not ⇒ hasn’t

Questions in Present Perfect

Questions in the Present Perfect are formed by the inversion of have/has.

Have/Has + subject + Past Participle + the rest of the sentence
Have you been to France over 3 times?
The Usage of Present Perfect

We use the Present Perfect to talk about:

+ activities from the past that have effects on the present
She has drunk too much and now she feels lightheaded.
I have dropped my toast and I can’t eat it now.
+ activities and states that still continue in an undetermined time
Adam has been very moody lately.
I have watched a lot of TV this weekend.
+ repeated activities at an unspecified time between the past and the present
He has played tennis several times.
I have seen this movie a few times.
+ past activities from an unspecified time
Someone has stolen my car!
There has been a big sale at that store.
+ activities that just ended
Avah has just finished cooking.
We have just arrived in New York.
+ experiences
Have you ever been to Asia?
I have never seen such a beautiful painting in my life!
+ change over time
Your language skills have improved since you started using ELLA.
Chinese has become a very popular language in recent years.
+ accomplishments
Scientists have discovered a new disease.
My daughter had learned how to write.
+ uncompleted action we are still expecting to happen
I haven’t cooked dinner yet.
They haven’t called yet.
+ multiple actions at different times
We have changed him twice already.
I’ve had three strokes in the past year.

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