Present Perfect Review

Generally, the Present Perfect expresses the idea that an action happened at an unspecified time. Because the concept of "unspecified time" can be confusing, it's a great idea to learn the most common uses of PP.

1. An action or situation that started in the past and continues in the present.

• I have lived in the United States for 2 years.
• She has been married since 1989.
• Jake has been unemployed for 12 months.
• I live in Paris. I have lived in Berlin too.

2. When the time period referred to has not finished.

• Podolski has scored 2 goals so far.
• The match still goes on.
• I haven't used my car today.

3. A repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and now.

• I have been to Europe a couple of times.
• Jane says she has seen that woman many times.

4. An action that was completed very recently.

• She has just been fired.
• My father and I have just left our house.
• I have just received tons of spam.

5. An action when the result is very important but the time is not.

• The Browns have invited us for dinner.
• Who has drunk my coke?!
• Have you been notified about your award?

Form

To correctly form the Present Perfect, master these topics:

1. Conjugation of the auxiliary verb "to have "

• I have
• I has
• He/she/it has
• He/she/it have

2. Negative Statements : "not" is added between the auxilary "to have" and the main verb.

• I haven't (have + not) seen her today.
• Mary hasn't (has + not) left her apartments yet.

3. Questions - the word order for questions is reversed. The verb "to have " comes before the subject.

• Have you seen her today?
• Has Jake told you?
• Jake has told you?
• You have seen her today?
• unless spoken incredulously

4. Past participle formation. For regular verbs Past participle can be formed by adding -ed to base form the verb of the main verb. Irregular verbs must be learned.

• talk + ed = talked
• explain + ed = explained
• include + ed = included
• include + ed = includeed