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Present Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Tense
TENSE
BY :Aldo Shafa Pratama
FORM
Examples:
We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now.
The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time
expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in
Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific
expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet,
etc.
Examples:
The concept of "unspecified time" can be very confusing to English learners. It is best to
associate Present Perfect with the following topics:
TOPIC 1 Experience
You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the
experience of..." You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain
experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.
Examples:
This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have
been there once, or several times.
This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.
(In Dialog)
Examples:
•Japanese has become one of the most popular courses at the university since the Asian
studies program was established.
TOPIC 3 Accomplishments
We often use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. You
cannot mention a specific time.
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
•I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
•We have had many major problems while working on this project.
•She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.
Sometimes, we want to limit the time we are looking in for an experience. We can do this with
expressions such as: in the last week, in the last year, this week, this month, so far, up to now,
etc.
Examples:
•She graduated from university less than three years ago. She has worked for three different
companies so far.
NOTICE
"Last year" and "in the last year" are very different in meaning. "Last year" means the year
before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. "In the last year"
means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present
Perfect.
Examples:
With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the
Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now.
"For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used
with the Present Perfect.
Examples:
Although the above use of Present Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs
and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are
sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.
ADVERB PLACEMENT
The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only,
never, ever, still, just, etc.
Examples: