PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
In the Present Perfect tense, the action is complete or has ended and hence termed Perfect. The exact time when the action happened is not important and hence, it is not mentioned in this tense.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE / HAS	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have	seen	this movie.
You	have	seen	this movie.
He	has	seen	this movie.
John	has	seen	this movie.
The boy	has	seen	this movie.
She	has	seen	this movie.
Angel	has	seen	this movie.
The girl	has	seen	this movie.
We	have	seen	this movie.
You	have	seen	this movie.
They	have	seen	this movie.
The children	have	seen	this movie.

Notice that we use

• 'have' with the subjects 'I', 'You', 'We' and 'They'
• 'has' with the subjects 'He' and 'She''
• The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE NOT / HAS NOT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have not	eaten	lunch.
You	have not	eaten	lunch.
He	has not	eaten	lunch.
John	has not	eaten	lunch.
The boy	has not	eaten	lunch.
She	has not	eaten	lunch.
Angel	has not	eaten	lunch.
The girl	has not	eaten	lunch.
We	have not	eaten	lunch.
You	have not	eaten	lunch.
They	have not	eaten	lunch.
The children	have not	eaten	lunch.

Notice that we use

• 'have not' with the subjects 'I', 'You', 'We' and 'They'
• 'has not' with the subjects 'He' and 'She'
• The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAVE / HAS	SUBJECT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Have	I	finished	the work?
Have	you	finished	the work?
Has	he	finished	the work?
Has	Mohan	finished	the work?
Has	the boy	finished	the work?
Has	she	finished	the work?
Has	Pooja	finished	the work?
Has	the girl	finished	the work?
Have	we	finished	the work?
Have	you	finished	the work?
Have	they	finished	the work?
Have	the men	finished	the work?

Notice that we use

• 'have' with the subjects 'I', 'You', 'We' and 'They'
• 'has' with the subjects 'He' and 'She'
• The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

I have sung

The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The problems come with theuse of the tense. In addition, there are some differences in usage between British and American English.

How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?

The structure of the present perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		have		past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	have		seen	ET.
+	You	have		eaten	mine
	She	has	not	been	to Rome
	We	have	not	played	football
?	Have	you		finished?
?	Have	they		done	it?

Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write.

He's or he's??? Be careful! The 's contraction is used for the auxiliary verbs have and be. For example, "It's eaten" can mean:

• It haseaten. [present perfect tense, active voice]
• It is eaten. [present tense, passive voice]
• It is usually clear from the context.
  

  I have	I've
  You have	You've
  He has She has It has John has The car has	He's She's It's John's The car's
  We have	We've
  They have	They've

  
  Here are some examples:
• I've finished my work.
• John's seen ET.
• They've gone home.
• How do we use the Present Perfect Tense?
  
  This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the past and with the present. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:
  
  1. experience
  2. change
  3. continuing situation

We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new information:

I have bought a car.
past	present	future
-	+
Last week I didn't have a car	Now I have a car.
John has broken his leg.
past	present	future
+	-
Yesterday John had a good leg.	Now he has a bad leg.

Has the price gone up?
past	present	future
+	-
Was the price $1.50 yesterday?	Is the price $1.70 today?

The police have arrested the killer.
past	present	future
-	+
Yesterday the killer was free	Now he is in prison.

Connection with past: the past is the
opposite of the present.
Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past. Americans do not use the present perfect tense so much as British speakers. Americans often use the past tense instead. An American might say "Did you have lunch?", where a British person would say "Have you had lunch?"



We often use the present perfect tense to talk about a continuing situation. This is a state that started in the past and continues in the present (and will probably continue into the future). This is a state (not an action). We usually usefor or since with this structure.

I have worked here since June. He has been ill for 2 days. How long have you known Tara?
past	present	future
~
The situation started in the past.	It continues up to now.	(It will probably continue into the future.)

Connection with past:. the situation started in the past

Connection with present:.the situation continues in the present.

For & Since with Present Perfect Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

• We use for to talk about a period of time—5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.

• We use since to talk about a point in past time—9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.

for	since
a period of time	a point in past time
~	x----------
20 minutes	6.15pm
three days	Monday
20 minutes	6.15pm
three days	Monday
20 minutes	6.15pm
three days	Monday
6 months	January
4 years	1994
2 centuries	1800
a long time	I left school
ever	the beginning of time
etc	etc

Here are some examples:

• I have been here for 20 minutes.
• I have been here since 9 o'clock.
• John hasn't called for 6 months.
• John hasn't called since February.
• He has worked in New York for a long time.
• He has worked in New York since he left school.