Present Perfect
- When you can use Present Perfect
- Time markers in Present Perfect
- How to build Present Perfect
- Past Participle of the verbs (V3/ed)
- Past Participle of Regular Verbs (ed)
- Past Participle of some Irregular Verbs
- already, just, yet in Present Perfect
- since and for in Present Perfect
When you can use Present Perfect
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You use Present Perfect for finished actions which have a present result. In Present Perfect the result of an action is more important than the time when the action happened.If you have a specific time when the action was done (e.g. yesterday, the day before yesterday, last week/month/year, an hour ago, two days ago, on Tuesday, in May, in 1995, etc, or questions with when), use Past Simple instead of Present Perfect.
- We have bought a house. /present result — we have a house/
- She has painted the wall. /present result — the walls are painted/
- I have washed all the dishes. /present result — all the dishes are washed/
- Matthew has crashed his computer. /present result — Matthew’s computer is broken/
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You use Present Perfect for actions or states which started in the past and continue up to present.
- Emma has been a teacher for over a year now. /Emma is still a teacher — action is not finished/
- They have worked in this company for 2 years. /They still work in this company — action is not finished/
- My family has lived here for many years. /My family still lives here — action is not finished/
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You use Present Perfect to say about your personal experience.
- They have never eaten redfish.
- I have visited 31 countries so far.
- She has lost 7 kilos.
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You use Present Perfect with superlatives.
- It’s the most breathtaking view I have ever seen. /the most breathtaking — superlative/
- It’s the most disgusting dish he has ever eaten. /the most disgusting — superlative/
- It’s the most expensive dress she has ever bought. /the most expensive — superlative/
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You use Present Perfect to say or ask how many/much you have done so far.
- How many blog posts have you written this month?
- John has read 12 books this year.
- How much coffee has she drunk this morning?
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You use Present Perfect to say or ask how often you have done something up to now.
- We have spoken to each other twice this month. /how often — twice this month/
- I have been to the gym three times this week. /how often — three times this week/
- This year he has changed his job twice. /how often — twice this year/
Time markers in Present Perfect
- just
- yet
- already
- ever
- never
- since
- for
- so far
- recently
- today
- this week/month
- year
- up to now
- up to present
- lately
How to build Present Perfect
+
|
I/we/you/they + have + V3/ed
He/she/it + has + V3/ed
|
−
|
I/we/you/they + haven’t + V3/ed
He/she/it + hasn’t + V3/ed
|
?
|
Have + I/we/you/they + V3/ed
Has + he/she/it + V3/ed
|
Wh-?
|
Wh + have + I/we/you/they + V3/ed
Wh + has + he/she/it + V3/ed
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Practice!
- Present Perfect — Positive — Exercise 1
- Present Perfect — Positive — Exercise 2
- Present Perfect — Positive — Say what you have already done — Exercise 1
- Present Perfect — Positive — Say what you have already done — Exercise 2
- Present Perfect — Negative — Exercise 1
- Present Perfect — Negative — Exercise 2
- Present Perfect — Negative — Exercise 3
- Present Perfect — ever/never
- Present Perfect — Yes/No question
- Present Perfect — Short answer
- Present Perfect — Wh-question — Exercise 1
- Present Perfect — Put the Wh-question to the word/phrase in bold
- Present Perfect — Mixed
Past Participle of the verbs (V3/ed)
When you build Present Perfect, you should use Past Participle (V3/ed) of the verb.
Past Participle of the verb
|
|
Regular
Irregular
Add ending -ed:
Use its third form
You need to study third form of the verbs as irregular verbs have special forms in Past Participle:
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Past Participle of Regular Verbs (ed)
verbs ending with a consonant + Y ➔
Y + ied
|
|
verbs ending with a vowel (a, o, e, u, i) + y
➔ + ed
|
|
one-syllable verbs with a vowel + one consonant
in the end ➔ double the last consonant + ed
|
work — worked (don’t double “k”, because there are two consonants after the vowel)
|
one-syllable verb with a vowel + X
in the end ➔ DO NOT double X.
Just add -ed
|
|
if the two-syllable verb with a vowel + consonant
in the end has stress on the
second syllable ➔
double the last consonant + ed
|
These verbs have:
|
if the two-syllable verb with a vowel + consonant
in the end has stress on the
first syllable ➔
DO NOT double the last consonant.
Just add -ed
|
These verbs have:
|
verbs ending with e ➔
add only -d
|
|
verbs ending with c ➔
add k + ed
|
|
verbs ending with L
|
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all other verbs
(not mentioned above) ➔
just add -ed
|
|
Past Participle of some Irregular Verbs
Verb | Past Simple | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
be | was/were | been |
become | became | become |
begin | began | begun |
break | broke | broken |
bring | brought | brought |
buy | bought | bought |
choose | chose | chosen |
come | came | come |
cost | cost | cost |
do | did | done |
drink | drank | drunk |
drive | drove | driven |
eat | ate | eaten |
feel | felt | felt |
find | found | found |
fly | flew | flown |
forget | forgot | forgotten |
get | got | got |
give | gave | given |
go | went | gone |
have | had | had |
hear | heard | heard |
keep | kept | kept |
know | knew | known |
leave | left | left |
lose | lost | lost |
make | made | made |
meet | met | met |
pay | paid | paid |
put | put | put |
read | read | read |
run | run | run |
say | said | said |
see | saw | seen |
sell | sold | sold |
send | sent | sent |
sing | sang | sung |
sit | sat | sat |
sleep | slept | slept |
speak | spoke | spoken |
spend | spent | spent |
stand | stood | stood |
swim | swam | swum |
take | took | taken |
teach | taught | taught |
tell | told | told |
think | thought | thought |
understand | understood | understood |
wear | wore | worn |
write | wrote | written |
already, just, yet in Present Perfect
ALREADY
|
Meaning
before the present time; earlier
Type of sentence
affirmative (+) and question (?)
Position in a sentence
|
JUST
|
Meaning
very recently; a short time ago
Type of sentence
affirmative (+)
Position in a sentence
(+)
between have/has and the main verb
|
YET
|
Meaning
something has not been done or finished until the present time
Type of sentence
negative (−) and question (?)
Position in a sentence
|
Practice!
since and for in Present Perfect
Use since and
for to say
how long.
Kevin is on a business trip in Canada. He is in Canada now.
He arrived in Canada on Tuesday. Today is Saturday.
How long had Kevin been in Canada?
- He has been in Canada ➔ since Tuesday.
- He has been in Canada ➔ for 5 days.
since | for |
---|---|
Use since + the start of the period
(since Tuesday)
Use for + a period of time
(for 5 days)
|
Practice!