FORM

person + has/have + verb (II column or -ed ending) + the rest of the sentence

• I have sent you a message.

• Has she bought an umbrella?

• It has been her first breath.

 

USE

1. Unspecified Time Before Now

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

• She has been to Sweden twice.

• I've met him once.

The concept of "unspecified time" can be very confusing to English learners. It is best to associate Present Perfect with the following topics:

- Experience

• They have traveled by plane.

- Change over time

• I have improved my maths since I started studies.

- Accomplishments

• Animals have learned how to protect themselves from humans.

- An uncompleted action you are expecting

• I haven't written it yet.

- Multiple actions in different times

• I have repaired 10 cars since I have my own company.

2. Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.

• Have we studied maths for 10 years?

• I haven't seen him since 1995.

3. Active/Passive Voice

• We have read the book. ACTIVE

• The book has been read by us. PASSIVE

 

More exercises on the Present Perfect can be found in our forum and on the www.aling.pl!