The present perfect relates the past to the present and although commonly used by a native speaker, presents some difficulties to the English language learner.
Form I/ you? we? they have or he/she/it has, plus the past participle (with regular verbs the past participle is verb plus ed- worked. There are, however many irregular verbs such as write-written)
Affirmative: (subject+aux. verb 'have'+ past participle)
Example: I have written.
Negative: (subject&aux. verb 'have'& not + past participle)
Example: I haven't written.
Question: (aux verb 'have'+ subject + past participle)
Example: Have I written?
Usages
1st- When we talk about finished actions/states that happened at an indefinite time. It refers to general experience without specific detail.
--->I have eaten octopus.
2nd- When we are thinking about completed past actions carried out in an unfinished time period at the time of speaking.
---> It has rained a lot today. (i.e. the rain has stopped but it is still today)
---> I have eaten eight cakes this afternoon.
3rd- When we talked about something which began in the past and is still true now, at the time of speaking. We dont know if this is likely`to continue or not.
---> We have lived in Paris for five years.
---> She has been a vegetarian since 1988.
(i.e. When did she become vegetarian? 1988. Is she still vegetarian now? Yes)
4th- When we describe past actions with present results.
---> Oh no! I've left my purse at home.
---> Can you help me? I've lost one of my contact lenses. (Lost in the past and still lost now).
Note: The following contractions are normally used in speech ( see the examples in the 4th usage above and in the examples on the following page):
Long form --> I have--> Contracted Form ---> I've
You have You've
We have We've
They have They've
He has He's
She has She's
It has It's
Since or for with the present perfect
--> We've lived here for five years.
--> I haven't slept for 48 hours.
--> They've been at home since 8 o çlock.
--> She has been a doctor since September.
The rule with for or since
We use for with periods of time.
(e.g. a week, 6 months)
We use since with points of time.
(e.g. Monday, 1984) to really mean "from"
Gone or been (past participles)
He's been to Turkey.
He's gone to Turkey.
The rule with been or gone:
He's been means the trip is finished.
He's gone means he is still on his trip.
Irregular Past Participles
As we have already mentioned this verb tense requires the past participle. unfortunately for English language students, many of these past participles are irregular (not formed according to a set pattern). With regular past participles the verb will end in "ëd", for example worked, cooked, watch etc.Irregular verbs have no such pattern and have to be learnt from memory. Most dictionaries, course books and grammar reference materials will have complete tables of irregular verbs. Below are listed just some of the most common verbs that have irregular past participles.
Verb--------->Past Participle--------->Verb--------->Past Participle
be ---------> been-------------------> eat---------> eaten
have---------> had--------------------> drink-------> drunk
fall---------> fallen-----------------> feel -------> felt
hit ---------> hit--------------------> put --------> put
sit ---------> sat--------------------> see --------> seen
leave--------> left-------------------> lose--------> lost
go-----------> gone-------------------> do----------> done
read---------> read-------------------> write-------> written
speak--------> spoken-----------------> give--------> given
say----------> said-------------------> tell--------> told
understand---> understood-------------> think-------> thought
teach--------> taught-----------------> bring-------> brought
come---------> come-------------------> sell--------> sold
get----------> got--------------------> wake--------> woken
take---------> taken------------------> swim--------> swum
Please remember there are many others. This is just a list of some of the most common.
Typical student errors/mistakes
Think about:
* What kind of errors or mistakes they are.
* Why they have been made.
* How would you go about correcting them.
-----> I am a secretary for five years.
-----> I have seen him yesterday.
-----> She's like him since six months.
-----> When have you bought your car?
Sample activate stage teaching ideas
* Find someone who...
-----> has kissed a foreigner, has been on television, has written a poem
-----> students mingle asking questions until they have found people who have done the thing on their list. This can lead into a discussion involving the present perfect and past simple.
-----> A. Andre has been on television.
-----> B. Really! When were you on television, Andre?
-----> C. I was on a quiz show last year.
What have you done today?
-----> Students mimes some actions and the others guess what they are, using affirmative or questions.
---------> You've washed your hair/Have you washed your hair?
---------> You've changed a light bulb/Have you changed a light bulb?
Change the room
-----> Three people leave the room while the others change it is five different ways (e.g. move the dustbin). The absent students then return and try and guess what has been done. (e.g. Have you moved the desk?)
Song U2-----> 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'
Role-Play -----> Job Interview
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