Present Perfect Tense

I have sung
The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The problems come with the use of the tense. In addition, there are some differences in usage between British and American English.

In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the present perfect.

•Structure: how to make the present perfect tense
•Use: when and why to use the present perfect tense
•For and Since with the present perfect tense. What's the difference?
•Present Perfect Quiz

The present perfect tense is really a very interesting tense, and a very useful one. Try not to translate the present perfect tense into your language. Just try to accept the concepts of this tense and learn to "think" present perfect! You will soon learn to like the present perfect tense!

How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?

The structure of the present perfect tense is:

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
--------------have ------------past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

----subject ---auxiliary verb ----------------------------main verb
+ ---I ------.------have --------------------------------------seen -------------------ET.
+ ---You ---------have --------------------------------------eaten ------------------mine.
- ---She ----------has ---------------not --------------------been ------------------to Rome.
- ---We ----------have --------------not --------------------played ----------------football.
? ---Have --------you ----------------------------------------finished?
? ---Have --------they ---------------------------------------done -------------------it?

Contractions with the present perfect tense
When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write.

He's or he's??? Be careful! The 's contraction is used for the auxiliary verbs have and be. For example, "It's eaten" can mean:
•It has eaten. [present perfect tense, active voice]
•It is eaten. [present tense, passive voice]
It is usually clear from the context.

I have ..........I've
You have ..........You've
He has ..........He's
She has ..........She's
It has ..........It's
John has ..........John's
The car has ..........The car's
We have ..........We've
They have ..........They've

Here are some examples:

•I've finished my work.
•John's seen ET.
•They've gone home.

How do we use the Present Perfect Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the past and with the present. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:

1.experience
2.change
3.continuing situation
1. Present perfect tense for experience
We often use the present perfect tense to talk about experience from the past. We are not interested in when you did something. We only want to know if you did it:

__________________________________________________________________
I have seen ET.
He has lived in Bangkok.
Have you been there?
We have never eaten caviar. __________________________________________________________________
past ..............................present ..............................future __________________________________________________________________

-----------The action or state was --.....----In my head, I have a

-------.....---------in the past. --------.-----------memory now.

__________________________________________________________________

Connection with past: the event was in the past.
Connection with present: in my head, now, I have a memory of the event; I know something about the event; I have experience of it.

2. Present perfect tense for change

We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new information:

_____________________________________________________________
I have bought a car.

_____________________________________________________________
past................................... present................................... future

.................- ..........................................+.

_____________________________________________________________

---..........----Last week I didn't -------Now I have a car.

......................have a car.

______________________________________________________________
John has broken his leg.

_____________________________________________________________________
past................................... present................................... future

----.....---..---+------.....................--------------- -

_____________________________________________________________

--...........--Yesterday John had --------Now he has a bad leg.
----........--------a good leg.

_____________________________________________________________

Has the price gone up?
past .................................present ..................................future

...................+ ........................................-

...............Was the price $1.50 .........Is the price $1.70 today?

.......................yesterday?

_____________________________________________________________

The police have arrested the killer.
past .................................present .................................future

...................- .......................................+

..................Yesterday the killer was free. Now he is in prison.

..........................was free.

_____________________________________________________________

Connection with past: the past is the opposite of the present.
Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past.

Americans do not use the present perfect tense so much as British speakers. Americans often use the past tense instead. An American might say "Did you have lunch?", where a British person would say "Have you had lunch?"


3. Present perfect tense for continuing situation

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about 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 (not an action). We usually use for or since with this structure.

_____________________________________________________________
I have worked here since June.
He has been ill for 2 days.
How long have you known Tara?
past ...................................present ...................................future

...........The situation started ........... It continues up to now. ...........(It will probably continue

................in the past. ......................................................................into the future.)

_____________________________________________________________

Connection with past: the situation started in the past.
Connection with present: the situation continues in the present.

For & Since with Present Perfect Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

•We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.
•We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.

for ..................................................since
a period of time ..................................a point in past time
___________________________________________________________
20 minutes ........................................6.15pm
three days .........................................Monday
6 months ..........................................January
4 years .............................................1994
2 centuries .......................................1800
a long time ........................................I left school
ever ................................................the beginning of time
etc ..................................................etc

Here are some examples:

•I have been here for 20 minutes.
•I have been here since 9 o'clock.
•John hasn't called for 6 months.
•John hasn't called since February.
•He has worked in New York for a long time.
•He has worked in New York since he left school.

For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect tenses only.

Past Perfect Tense

I had sung

The past perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and to use. This tense talks about the "past in the past".

In this lesson we look at:

•Structure: how do we make the past perfect tense?
•Use: how do we use the past perfect tense?

Structure Use
How do we make the Past Perfect Tense?
The structure of the past perfect tense is:

subject --------+-------- auxiliary verb HAVE --------+-------- main verb
-----------------------conjugated in simple past tense ----------past participle
---------------------------------------had ---------------------------------V3

For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past perfect tense:

---subject ---------------auxiliary verb ----------------------main verb
+ ---I -------------------..------had --------------------------------finished ----------my work.
+ ---You ------------------.----had --------------------------------stopped ----------before me.
- ---She -----------------------had ----------------not ------------gone -------------to school.
- ---We -----------------.------had ----------------not ------------left.
? ---Had ------------------.----you ---------------------------------arrived?
? ---Had ---------------.-------they --------------------------------eaten -------------dinner?

When speaking with the past perfect tense, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:

I had ............................................................... I'd
you had .......................................................... you'd
he had ............................................................ he'd
she had .......................................................... she'd
it had .............................................................. it'd
we had ........................................................... we'd
they had ........................................................ they'd

The 'd contraction is also used for the auxiliary verb would. For example, we'd can mean:

•We had
or
•We would

But usually the main verb is in a different form, for example:

•We had arrived (past participle)
•We would arrive (base)

It is always clear from the context.

How do we use the past perfect tense?

The past perfect tense expresses action in the past before another action in the past. This is the past in the past. For example:

•The train left at 9am. We arrived at 9.15am. When we arrived, the train had left.

The train had left when we arrived.

--------------------past -----------------------present ----------------------------future
Train leaves in past at 9am.
_____________________________________________________________________
9 9.15
_____________________________________________________________________
We arrive in past at 9.15am.
_____________________________________________________________________

Look at some more examples:

•I wasn't hungry. I had just eaten.
•They were hungry. They had not eaten for five hours.
•I didn't know who he was. I had never seen him before.
•"Mary wasn't at home when I arrived."
"Really? Where had she gone?"

You can sometimes think of the past perfect tense like the present perfect tense, but instead of the time being now the time is past.

past perfect tense --------------------------------------present perfect tense
---------------had ----------------------------------------------------------- have
---------------done - --------------------------------------------------------done
---------------> --------------------------------------------------------------- >
__________________________________________________________________________

---------------past ----now ----future ---------------------past ----------now --------future

For example, imagine that you arrive at the station at 9.15am. The stationmaster says to you:

•"You are too late. The train has left."

Later, you tell your friends:

•"We were too late. The train had left."

We often use the past perfect tense in reported speech after verbs like said, told, asked, thought, wondered:

Look at these examples:

•He told us that the train had left.
•I thought I had met her before, but I was wrong.
•He explained that he had closed the window because of the rain.
•I wondered if I had been there before.
•I asked them why they had not finished.