the present perfect tense when learning English it can be tempting to use simple past tense in place of present perfect tense it's important that we don't in this video we'll look at why present perfect is important as well as when we use it and how it's formed let's begin with how we form present perfect tense depending on the subject we use either have or has along with the past participle of a verb forming a past participle is usually as simple as adding e d to the end of a verb for example finished laughed or climbed
but there are also many irregular verbs to be aware of for example been gone or broken here are some examples of sentences in present perfect each sentence uses the auxiliary verb has or have along with a past participle notice this sentence is written in the negative form so it uses have not and then the past participle now we know how to form present perfect let's move on to the purpose of present perfect to do this it's important that we first revisit simple past tense simple past shows an action started in the past and finished in
the past present perfect however is used to show an action started in the past but has a connection with or a consequence in the present whereas the focus of simple past is on the fact that an action happened and has been completed the focus of present perfect is on the present to understand what this means let's compare two sentences one simple past and the other present perfect simple past tells us he was married for a 10-year period but that has ended and he's not married anymore present perfect tells us that he got married 10 years
ago and he is still married in the present we're going to look at five common situations present perfect tense is used number one present perfect is used for events we expect to happen but haven't happened yet for example we have not studied for the test the use of present perfect implies that at some point we expect to study the word yet is often used in sentences like this we haven't studied yet listen to the difference if we were to use simple past we did not study for the test this implies that the opportunity to study
has gone and no studying can happen number two present perfect is used for accomplishments and events that have occurred during UNF finished time periods for example Ary has sold five cars so far this month this is an accomplishment for Ary and the month is not over so he may even sell a sixth car another example I have already been to the gym twice this week both examples show an unfinish time period number three present perfect is is used to refer to durations of time from the past to the present for example she's lived at the
beach for a year note that the contraction she's has been used in place of she has if simple past were used it would indicate that she no longer lives there number four present perfect can also be used to show change over time time for example your speaking has really improved this year you might have noticed that unfinish time words like this year today this week and so far are often used with present perfect number five we use present perfect to focus on the current result or consequence of an action in the past for example Maria
walked to work because she has lost her car keys and Jeff is frustrated that he has forgotten his password the focus of each of these sentences is the present consequence of the action that happened in the past let's go back to these five present perfect sentences from the beginning of the lesson see if you can match each sentence to One of the five situations in which Pres perfect is used pause here while you work let's check the answers she has matured a lot this year present perfect is used here to show change over time Tim
has worked 9 hours so far today this is an example of an event that's occurred during an unfinished time period we have not finished the project this is an expected but uncompleted action I can't swim because I have broken my leg this is a current consequence of a past action they have been friends for a long time this shows a duration of time from past to present it's time for another activity choose whether to use simple past or present perfect and then then fill in the blanks to complete the sentences pause here while you work
let's see how you went number one last Saturday they swam in the pool here we use simple past because the action began and ended in the past last Saturday in number two the unfinished time period this year tells us we need present perfect she has been to Italy twice this year in number three the word yet tells us this is an expected but uncompleted action this means present perfect is used I have not heard their latest song yet number four refers to a finished time period so we must use simple past she recorded three video
last week number five shows a duration of time from the past Thursday to the present it should be written in present perfect we are worried we have not seen Bingo since Thursday number six shows change over time we need to use present perfect my niece has grown a lot this year now have a go at writing some of your own sentences in present perfect try writing one for each of the five situations we looked at if you like share your sentences in the comments hope to see you soon for the next lesson easy teaching. net
