Present Perfect

Present Perfect

Difference with Past Simple - Ever/Never - Just/Yet/Already - For/Since

​Uses

We use the Present Perfect for three main objectives.​

​> To talk or ask about experiences in our lives (I have studied English/Have you ever studied English?)

> To talk or ask about ​something that has happened recently, has happened before we expected or we expected it to be finished before (I have just eaten one hour ago/I have already eaten/Haven't you eaten yet?)

> To talk​ or ask about a situation that started in the past and it is still true today (I have lived in Buenos Aires since 2010/How long have you been living in Buenos Aires?)

Intensivo 4 | 2022

Present Perfect

​Form

We form the Present Perfect in the following way

​Sentences

(I/He/She/It/You/They/We) + (have or haven't/has or hasn't) + (Past participle verb) + rest of the sentence.

Questions

​​(Have/Has) + (I/He/She/It/You/They/We) + (Past participle verb) + rest of the question.

The form will change a little depending on the other elements we may add (never, ever, for, since, just, yet, already, etc).

Intensivo 4 | 2022

Present Perfect

Ever and never

Experiencies in our lives

​Ever and Never

We often use ever and never with the Present Perfect to talk or ask about experiences of our live.

​

​Example: I have never been to the beach => Have you ever travelled abroad?

​

​We generally use never to emphasize what someone hasn't done, but if we use never, we don't use the negative form. We use ever only in questions.

Intensivo 4 | 2022

Present Perfect

Just, yet and already

Actions

​Just, Yet and Already

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We use just to talk about a situation that has happend recently.

​Example: I have just finished the homework 10 minutes ago.​

We use yet in to talk or ask about a situation that we expected to be finished earlier. We always use yet with negative sentences/questions

Examples: I haven't ​finished the homework yet/Haven't you finished the homework yet?​

We use ​already to talk about a situation that finished earlier than expected.

Example: I have already finished the homework.​

Present Perfect

For and since and How long

​Past connected to the present

​For and since and How long?

We use for to talk or ask about a period of time during the one a situation has been true.

Example: Sara has been ​a teacher for 25 years/Has Sara been a teacher for a long time?

​

We use since to talk or ask about a situation that started in a specific time in the past and it is still true.

Examples: Sara has been a teacher since 1997/Has Sara been a teacher since 1997?

​

We use How long​ only in questions to ask about a period of time during the one a situation has been true.

Example: ​How long has Sara been a teacher?

​

​Though we can use for and since in questions, usually is easier to use How long to ask about periods of time.

Intensivo 4 | 2022

Present Perfect

Present Perfect vs. Past Simple

Which one should I use?

​Overall use

We use Present Perfect to talk about an experience in our lives, but we use Past Simple to mention the specific time when that experience happened.

​

Examples: ​I've met Lionel Messi (Present Perfect) => I met Lionel Messi in Paris one year ago (Past Simple)

​

In both sentences I'm telling a past experience, but there is a difference. In the first sentence the focus is on the experience (that I met Lionel Messi). However, in the second one the focus is on the time when I met Messi (one year ago).

​

​If you want to focus on when something happened or on any other specific detail, you use Past Simple, and if you want to focus on what happened you use Present Perfect.

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Present Perfect

​In periods of time

When we want to talk about periods of time we can use both Present Perfect and Past Simple. However, we use them to say different things about periods of time.

​

If we want to talk about about a ​period of time that started and finished in the past, we will use Past Simple, but, if we want to talk about a period of time that started in the past and still continues to the present, we will use Present Perfect.

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Present Perfect

​Examples

Present Perfect => Unfinished periods of time (started in the past and continues until the present)​

​

​I've lived in Córdoba for ten years => I've lived in Cordoba since 2012 => How long have you lived in Córdoba? (The person still lives in Cordoba)

​

Past Simple => ​A finished period of time (started and finished in the past)

​

​I lived in San Luis 10 years ago => I lived in San Luis from 2002 to 2012/I lived in San Luis for ten years => How long did you live in San Luis? (The person doesn't live in San Luis now)

​

We can use both tenses to talk about periods of time according to what we want to say.​

Intensivo 4 | 2022

Present Perfect