1. Introduction
The perfect present is a verb tense used to show that an action has occurred one or more times before. The perfect gift is most often used to describe experiences or changes that have occurred, but there are also other less common uses. Read on for detailed descriptions, examples, and perfect exercises.
2. Present Perfect Forms
The perfect present is formed using has/have + past participle.. The questions are indicated by inverting the subject and have/have. The negatives are made with not.
- Statement: You have seen that movie many times.
- Question: Have you seen that movie many times?
- Negative: You have not seen that movie many times.
3. Present Perfect Uses
Actions started in the past and continuing in the present
Example:
- He haven’t lived here for years.
- She has worked in this company for six years.
- We have had the same computer for two years.
When the time period referred to has not finished
Example:
- We have worked hard this week.
- It has rained a lot this month.
Actions repeated in an unspecified period between the past and now.
Example:
- She has visited them frequently.
- We have eaten at that restaurant many times.
Actions completed in the very recent past (+just)
- Have you just finished work?
- I have just eaten.
- We have just seen her.
- Has he just left?
When the precise time of the action is not important or not known
- Someone has eaten my pizza!
- She’s studied Frensh Arabic and English.
4. Forming the Present Perfect
The present perfect of any verb is composed of two elements : the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb to have (present tense), plus the past participle of the main verb. The past participle of a regular verb is base+ed, e.g. played, arrived, looked. For irregular verbs, see the Table of irregular verbs in the section called ‘Verbs’.
| Have (in the simple present) + Verb (in the past participle form) |
|---|
The perfect present of any verb is composed of two elements: the auxiliary verb to have (present tense), and the past participle the verb. Remember: The past participle of a regular verb is base+d, (played, happened, watched). For irregular verbs Click her
The form of the present perfect simple tense:
| Positive | Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|---|
| I have worked. | I have not worked. | Have you worked? |
NOTE:
| I have worked = I’ve worked He has worked = He’s worked | I have not = I haven’t worked He has not = He hasn’t worked |
Examples:
- Have you finished your exercises?
- No, I haven’t finished yet.
- Yes, I have already finished.
- She‘s just finished her job.
5. Remember:
- The past participle of regular verbs is :
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Verb + ed | play – played visit – visited finish -finished |
- The past participle of irregular verbs can’t be predicted (there is no rule .) But there is a list of irregular verbs that you have to learn by heart. Here are some example:
| Infinitive | Simple past | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| be come go do meet | was/were came went did met | been come gone done |
