General Concept: The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the action itself.
The Present Perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have, as an auxiliary, and the past participle (third column) of a verb.
For questions, the formula for the Present Perfect is Question Word + Have/Has + Subject + Past Participle of Main Verb + Complement.
For yes/no questions, simply remove the question word and use the same formula.
To form the negative, it’s the same old same old: simply add the word not after the auxiliary.
For the third person singular, use the third person of the auxiliary: has.
The auxiliary is almost always used as a contraction. For affirmative sentences, the contraction is ‘ve, or ‘s (third person). For negative sentences, the contractions are haven’t or hasn’t.
Important: the main verb will ALWAYS remain in the past participle!
Check out these examples:
Look at these questions:
Usage: The Present Perfect is used in many ways. In this lesson, we will study how it is used for something that started in the past and continues in the present. The key words here are "for" (periods of time) and "since" (times, events or calendar dates).
- Ray and Deborah have lived across the street from Ray’s parents for three years now.
- They have lived there since their twins were born.
If you mention the time, use the Simple Past; never the Present Perfect.
