Present Perfect tense can sometimes be quite confusing to second language learners since this specific tense tends to relate to the past and the present as we have known that for past we use simple past tense and for present activity we use simple present then what is the difference between these three tenses? Wait, don't panic this article will pick three simple usages of the present perfect tense to explain with easy examples and forms.
Forms:
Positive : Sub + have / has + past participle (V3)........
Ex. She has done her homework already.
- She - subject
- Has - auxiliary verb
- Done - past participle
Negative : Sub + haven't / hasn't + Past participle + ..........
Ex. He hasn't finished his project yet.
- He - subject
- Has - auxiliary verb
- Finished - past participle
Yes/No: Have/has + sub + past participle ...........?
Ex. Has she submitted her assignment to the teacher yet?
- She - subject
- Has - auxiliary verb
- Submitted - past participle
Wh-question : Wh-word + have / has + sub + past participle...?
Ex. How long have you studied English?
- You - subject
- Have - auxiliary verb
- Studied - past participle
Usage 1
Present perfect tense is used to talk about the action that happened and finished at unknown past. Remember that time is not important in this case. We just focus on the result in the present.
I have done my homework. This means that I already did my homework but the time when I did it is not known and my homework now is on the teacher's desk.
She has cooked dinner already. The time she cooked dinner is not known. What we know is the dinner is on the table ready to eat.
They have taken a lot of beautiful photos. They already took the photos and when they did it is not important. The result in the present now we can see a lot of beautiful photos.
- She has watched that movie two times.
- They have visited Angkor Wat.
- He has gotten married with a rich woman.
- People have planted a lot of trees.
Usage 2
Present perfect tense is used to talk about the action that happened in the past and continues up to the present. For and Since are always used in this case.
For : used to refer to the during or period of the action. (eg. for 2 hours, for 3 years, for a decade, for many months, ...etc.)
Since : used to refer the starting point of times which are the names of week, month, year. (eg. since January, since winter, since 2000, since I was young...etc.)
I have lived in this city for 10 years. From this example, we can see that the action of living in this city started in the past and continues up to now.
She has taught English since 2005. The action of teaching English started in 2005 and continues up to the present.
They have been friends for 5 years. The situation of having been friends stated in the past up to now.
They have studied English since they were young.
He has been my teacher for 5 years.
Usage 3
Present perfect can also be used to talk about life experience (finished action at unknown past).
- I have visited Angkor Wat once.
- She has travelled in the largest ship.
- They have never tasted Cambodian food.
- We have taken part in many community activities.
Past Participle
All the verbs that are used in present perfect must be in past participle form or we frequently call it verb 3. For irregular verbs, there are no rules we have to memorize them like go > went > gone. However, for regular verbs, there are three simple rules to follow when changing form base form to past participle.
Rule 1: Add “-d” to the verb that ends in “-e”
Love – loved
live – lived
like – liked
Rule 2 : Change “-y” to “-ied” when the verb ends in consonant + y.
Study – studied
cry - cried
classify - classified
Rule 3 : We simply add "-ed" to the verbs that don't follow rule 1 and 2.
Stay - stayed
visit - visited
watch - watched
Ever : is an adverb that is frequently used in yes/no question to ask for a person life experience.
Have/has + Sub + ever + V3..........?
- Have you ever flown in an airplane?
- Has she ever talked to you?
- Have they ever visited Angkor Wat temple?
- Has your teacher ever punish you?
- Has NASA ever revealed about the aliens?
Never : is an adverb that is frequently used in positive sentence but the meaning is negative and it is used to to talk about a person experience of having not done a particular action in life.
Sub + have/has + never + V3........
- I have never eaten sharks.
- They have never been to Cambodia.
- She has never cooked.
- Whales have never attacked a person.
- Cambodia has never snowed
- many times (ex. I have played this games for many times with friends.)
- lately (ex. The world economy has been bad lately.)
- recently (ex. Recently the temperate has increased traumatically.)
- already (ex. We have already had breakfast so we are not hungry now.)
- never (ex. Some people have never flown in an airplane.)
- always (ex. I have always created contents for this website.)
- so far (ex. She has won three gold medals so far.)
- for (ex. She has been my friend for 5 year.)
- since (ex. I have moved to live in the city since 2005.)
- yet (ex. Have you had a boyfriend yet?)
- today ( ex. I haven't done much today?)
- this week, month, year ( I have received 5 wedding invitations this month.)
Practice
Complete the following sentences with the correct form of present perfect tense.
1. He __________ (do) his assignment already.
2. They __________ (watch) that movie three times already.
3. I __________ (not/drink) a cup of coffee yet today.
4. Teacher __________ (not/return) our test papers yet.
5. __________(you /ever /try) Khmer traditional food before?
6. __________ (she /arrive) yet?
7. What __________ (you/do) today?
8. Where __________(they/visit) this year?
9. How long __________(she/work) for that company?
10. How many time __________(NASA/send) astronauts to the moon?
11. He __________(never/try) Khmer traditional food.
12. My father __________(never/beat) me even he gets very angry with me.
13. Recently, I __________(never/see) her.
14. Have you __________(ever/had) a nightmare?
15. Have people __________(ever /see) ghosts?
Practice 2
