Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Tense

subject + have/has + past participle

What is the present perfect tense for?

• To talk about things that started in the past and continues in the present.

• Like this: I have lived in Tangerang since 1994, and I don't plan on leaving. (I still live in Tangerang)

• To talk about things performed during a period of time that hasn't yet finished.

• Like this: She has finished all her tasks for the week, and it's only Wednesday! (the week still hasn't ended)

What is the present perfect tense for?

• To talk about a repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and the present.

• We have visited Bali a number of times. (the visits happened in an unspecified period between the past and present)

• To talk about things that were completed very recently, expressed by the word 'just'.

• I have just finished my homework. (I very recently completed my homework)

• To talk about an action when the time is unimportant.

• She has read all the Harry Potter books. (the result of the reading is important, not the time)

Basically, we use the present perfect tense...

• to show that there is a link between the present and the past.

How do you form the present perfect tense?

• subject + has/have + past participle + rest of the sentence

• I (subject) + has/have + cook (past participle) + for us (rest of the sentence).

• I have cooked for us.

• Remember, HAS is used for HE/SHE/IT and SINGULAR NOUNS

• While HAVE is used for I/YOU/WE/THEY and PLURAL NOUNS

Let's practice for a bit

You can ask questions at any time during practice

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

He _____ groceries for us, they're already in the fridge and shelves.

• has just bought

• bought

• is just buying

• have just bought

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

The buffalos _____ on our lands for many years, and I don't see them leaving anytime soon.

• live

• have lived

• has lived

• are living

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

I _____ cars many times in the past, though I'm not sure I still have what it takes.

• am racing

• raced

• has raced

• have raced

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

Mimi _____ dead rats to us, perhaps as a present of sorts.

• is bringing

• have brought

• has brought

• will bring

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

They _____ ill for the past couple of weeks.

• are being

• have been

• has been

• be

Open Ended

Write one sentence with the present perfect tense!

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

She _____ in the bank for five years.

• has worked

• works

• worked

• have worked

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

It _____ a lot this year.

• is raining

• was raining

• have rained

• has rained

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

I _____ sushi at Sushi Tei at least a dozen times.

• am eating

• have eaten

• has eaten

• ate

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

They _____ a groundbreaking study.

• published

• just published

• have just published

• has just published

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect tense?

Mimi _____ my fried chicken!

• stole

• is stealing

• have stolen

• has stolen

Open Ended

Write another sentence with the present perfect tense!

How was it?

Any questions?

About those past participles

• How do we know the spellings of past participles?

• Most of the time, past participles end with:

• -ed

• -d

• -t

• -en

• -n

About those past participles

• For example:

• eat = eaten

• beat = beaten

• teach = taught

• cook = cooked

• tear = torn

• make = made

About those past participles

• There are countless past participles

• Just like with irregular verbs, knowing past participles comes from memorizing them

• So, as usual: Read, watch, listen, play everything in English and memorize those past participles!

Can you guess the past participle forms of these verbs?

Guessing randomly is okay, some of them are weird

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

eat

• ate

• eated

• eaten

• eating

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

show

• shows

• showeth

• showed

• showing

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

beat

• beaten

• beating

• beated

• beats

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

cook

• cooking

• cooked

• cooketh

• cooks

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

write

• wrote

• written

• writing

• writed

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

lure

• lured

• luren

• luring

• lures

Multiple Choice

What is the past participle of this verb?

beat

• beaten

• beating

• beated

• beats

Weird, right?

It's okay to not know every past participle immediately, we have countless years to learn them all.

Contractions in the present perfect tense

• Basically combining two words into one

• I have = I've

• You have = You've

• He has = he's

• She has = she's

Contractions in the present perfect tense

• John has = John's

• The car has = The car's

• We have = We've

• They have = They've

• I've seen that movie before.

• The hamter's ran on his wheel.

Present Perfect Negative

• Negative = No

• subject + has/have + not/never + past participle + rest of the sentence

• I (subject) + (has/have) + (not/never) + eat (past participle) + roaches in my life, and I have no intention to ever do so (rest of the sentence)

• I've never eaten roaches in my life, and I have no intention to ever do so.

More practice!

Before we begin, any questions?

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect negative tense?

Jeremy _____ biology yet because he's only five.

• has studied

• has not studied

• have studied

• have not studied

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect negative tense?

The _____ any of her food, maybe she's full.

• cat's eaten

• cat've eaten

• cat's not eaten

• cat've not eaten

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect negative tense?

I _____ the Dark Souls games, they're way too hard for me.

• have beaten

• have not beaten

• has not beaten

• has beaten

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect negative tense?

The choir of singers _____ even though the show is starting in fifteen minutes!

• have assembled

• has assembled

• have not assembled

• has not assembled

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect negative tense?

I _____ a bushel of apples for just a single dollar before today.

• have bought

• have never bought

• has bought

• has never bought

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect negative tense?

The flock of seagulls _____ here before, I wonder why they're doing so now.

• have flown

• has flown

• has never flown

• have never flown

Open Ended

Write one sentence with the present perfect negative tense!

Open Ended

Write one sentence with the present perfect tense while also using a contraction!

Too easy? Too hard?

Any questions?

Present Perfect Interrogative

• Interrogative = To ask questions

• has/have + subject + past participle + rest of the sentence

• (Has/Have) + he (subject) + play (past participle) + futsal before today (rest of sentence)

• Has ​he played futsal before today?

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect interrogative tense?

_____ Sophie _____ for today's science exam?

• has / studied

• have / studied

• has / study

• have / study

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect interrogative tense?

_____ you _____ restarting the computer?

• has / tried

• has / try

• have / tried

• have / try

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect interrogative tense?

_____ my hamster _____ his nest?

• has / clean

• has / cleaned

• have / clean

• have / cleaned

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect interrogative tense?

_____ Mimi _____ anything to us today?

• has / not brought

• have / not brought

• has / not bring

• have / not bring

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses the present perfect interrogative tense?

_____ I _____ a gift for Mother's Day?

• has / bought

• have / bought

• has / buy

• have / buyed

Open Ended

Write one sentence with the present perfect interrogative tense!

Good job!

Any questions?

And we are done for today!

• Remember the present perfect tense is essentially used for linking the past with the present

• Any questions before we go?