The use & example of Present Perfect Tense
AFFIRMATIVE FORM
Present Perfect consists of the conjugated auxiliary verb to have and past participle – the third form of the proper verb.
Regular verbs are similar as in Past Simple – we form it by adding the -ed ending. Also, there are similar spelling rules when it comes to formation of Past Participle as in the “past”.
I have walked around the town.
She has talked to him.
We have travelled a lot recently.
QUESTIONS AND NEGATIVE FORMS
We form questions through the inversion:
You have written a letter.
Have you written a letter? We form negative sentences by adding not to the auxiliary verb have. We often use a short form of the verb:
have + not = haven’t
has + not = hasn’t
The main verb in question and negative sentences has the past participle form.
I have lived here for two years.
I haven’t lived there for years.
Usage
We never use Present Perfect if there is a time expression concerning the past, e.g. 10 minutes ago, yesterday, last month, in 2000. In such situations, we use Simple Past.
I travelled to London last month.
| Present Perfect is used | example |
|---|---|
| to describe activities that happened in the past but are related to the present | I’ve already seen this film. She’s gone to Brazil. |
| to express actions that have occurred recently | I haven’t seen Mary recently. She has just left. |
| to describe activities that started in the past but continue until now, in this kind of sentences we often use expressions since, for, ever, never | I have never been to Australia. They haven’t smoked for two years. |
Time expressions
The most common time expressions in Present Perfect are:
| since (last Monday) for (two weeks) already before ever | recently lately never before never just |
