Present Perfect Usage and Construction

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Review when to use the present perfect.

Please modify each example sentence to fit your reality.

Unfinished Actions

1. We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' and we need 'since' or 'for'. We often use stative verbs.

• 1 I've known Karen since 1994.

• 2 She has lived in London for three years.

• 3 I've worked here for six months.

'Since' and 'For'

We use 'since' with a fixed point in the past (2004, April 23rd, last year). The fixed time can be another action, which is in the past simple (since I was at school, since I arrived).

• 4 I've known Sam since 1992.

• 5 I've liked chocolate since I was a child.

• 6 She's been here since 2pm.

We use 'for' with a period of time (2 hours, three years, six months).

• 7 I've known Julie for ten years.

• 8 I've been worried for hours.

• 9 She's had a cold for a week.

Finished Actions

2. Life experience. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person's life. We don't say when the experience happened, and the person needs to be alive now. We often use the words 'ever' and 'never' here.

• 10 I have been to Tokyo.

• 11 They have visited Paris three times.

• 12 We have never seen that film.

3. With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today). The period of time is still continuing.

• 13 I haven't seen her this month.

• 14 She has drunk three cups of coffee today.

• 15 I've already moved house twice this year!

We CAN'T use the present perfect with a finished time word.

• NOT:I've seen him yesterday.

4. A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result). We often use the present perfect to talk about something that happened in the recent past, but that is still true or important now. Sometimes we can use the past simple here, especially in US English.

• 16 I've lost my keys (so I can't get into my house).

• 17 She's hurt her leg (so she can't play tennis today).

• 18 They've missed the bus (so they will be late).

5. We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently, even if there isn't a clear result in the present. This is common when we want to introduce news and we often use the words 'just / yet / already / recently'. However, the past simple is also correct in these cases, especially in US English.

• 19 The Queen has given a speech.

• 20 I've just seen Lucy.

• 21 The Mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.

Been and Gone

In this tense, we use both 'been' and 'gone' as the past participle of 'go', but in slightly different circumstances. We use 'been' (often when we talk about life experience) to mean that the person we're talking about visited the place and came back.

• 22 I've been to Paris (in my life, but now I'm in London, where I live.

• 23 She has been to school today, but now she is at home now.

• 24 They have never been to California.

We use 'gone' (often when we are talking about an action with a result in the present) to mean that the person went to the place and is at the place now.

• 25 Where's John? He's gone to the mall. He is at the mall now.

• 26 Julie has gone to Mexico. Now she is in Mexico.

• 27 They've gone to Japan for three weeks. Now they're in Japan.

Structure of the verb in the present perfect

(affirmative) have + past participle

(affirmative) has + past participle

(negative) have not + past participle = haven't + past participle

(negative) has not + past participle = hasn't + past participle

The past participle is NOT a verb tense.

The past participle is a component of a present perfect verb.

If the simple past affirmative of a verb ends with ED, the past participle form of the verb will be equal to spelling and pronunciation of the simple past affirmative form.

All other present participles must be memorized because the present participle is not automatically equal to the simple past affirmative of the verb.

Quizlet https://quizlet.com/11031320/past-participles-irregular-english-flash-cards/ This is an online tool you can use to memorize the present participles that do not end wit ED.