Present perfect rules and examples. The Present Perfect Tense - Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect(Present Perfect) - special time in English language. It has no analogues in the Russian language. Therefore, it is not complex rules that will help you understand its construction and understand cases of use, but simple examples proposals.

General information

Present Perfect tense or Present Perfect tense is one of the 12 English tense forms in the English language and belongs to the present group. It describes an action that occurred before a certain point in the past, but has a direct connection with the present. In other words, he has a special mission - to report the present result of an action that happened in the past. Not to be confused with Past tense Simple (Simple Past), which is designed to describe events that happened at a specific time in the past.

Present Perfect is translated into Russian as a verb in the past tense. It is this nuance that causes various kinds of doubts and difficulties among language learners. Numerous examples of Present Perfect Simple sentences with translation will help you figure it out.

Affirmative examples Present Perfect tense

*Offer*	*Translation*
I have just drunk my first morning cup of coffee	I just had my first cup of coffee of the morning.
The train has already come to the railway station by now	The train has already arrived at the railway station by now
We have received good results before and now we are happy	We got good results earlier and are now happy
He has never been to Great Britain
They have been a little tired lately	They've been a little tired lately
The meeting with a famous writer has already taken place	Meeting with famous writer has already taken place
She has already achieved her purpose to become a doctor	She has already achieved her dream of becoming a doctor.
They have known one another for ages	They have known each other for many years

These examples help you understand the formation of the affirmative form of the Present Perfect: have/has + main verb in 3rd form . The auxiliary verb has is used after he (he), she (she), it (it) . In all other cases - have . The second part of the construction can be expressed by a regular verb with the ending -ed (received) or the form from the 3rd column of the table irregular verbs(known).

Such “time markers” as already (already), just (just), lately (lately), for ages (many years), before (previously), by now (by this time) are clear signs of the Present Perfect time . As soon as they appear on the horizon, you can safely use this temporary form.

Negation

*Offer*	*Translation*
I have not drunk my first morning cup of coffee yet	I haven't had my first cup of coffee this morning yet.
The train has not come to the railway station yet	The train has not yet arrived at the railway station
We have not received good results yet	We haven't gotten good results yet
He has not ever been to Great Britain	He's never been to the UK
They have not been tired lately	They haven't been tired lately
The meeting with a famous writer has not taken place yet	The meeting with the famous writer has not yet taken place
She has not achieved her purpose to become a doctor yet	She has not yet achieved her dream of becoming a doctor.
They have not ever known one another	They never knew each other

These examples of negative sentences in the Present Perfect show the position of the negative particle not (not) : she stands between have/has and the main verb in the 3rd degree. In addition, the tense indicator is most often used in negation yet (yet) , which comes at the end of the sentence. pay attention to never (never) : it is used in affirmative sentences, but with negative value, since double negatives are not possible in English. And its synonym ever can be used in negative and interrogative sentences with the meaning “never”, and in the affirmative with the meaning “ever”.

Question

Offer	Translation
Have you just drunk your first morning cup of coffee?	Have you just had your first cup of coffee of the morning?
Has the train already come to the railway station by now?	Has the train arrived at the railway station by now?
Have they received any good results before?	Have they gotten good results before?
Has he ever been to Great Britain?	Has he ever been to the UK?
Have they been a bit tired lately?	Have they been a little tired lately?
Has the meeting with a famous writer already taken place?	Have you already met with a famous writer?
Has she already achieved her purpose to become a doctor?	Has she already achieved her dream of becoming a doctor?

Today in our article we will look at how to use the verb tense in the present perfect, the rules for forming this grammatical form, usage examples and much more. It must be said that this is one of the most difficult tenses used in the English language. denotes someone’s action that took place (began) in the past, but at the same time is related to the present moment in time. That is, you can observe the result of this action in the present.

Present perfect: formation rules

The present perfect is formed as follows:

I/we/you/she/he/it + have or has + past participle

Means in the past tense). For so-called “regular” verbs (as we remember, the majority of them) can be obtained by adding the ending “-ed” at the very end of the word. This method is not suitable for “irregular” verbs; past form must be learned by heart. Note that the helping verbs have and has are usually shortened to 've and 's, see:

In case of negation, you should use have not or has not, briefly we get haven’t/hasn’t.

Present Perfect: used correctly

Beginning students often find it difficult to understand when to use the Present Perfect tense, since it is often confused, for example, with Past Simple. Read carefully this section, here we will look in great detail at the Present Perfect tense and the rules for its use:

Present Perfect is used when we're talking about about actions that began in the past, but, nevertheless, they continue to this day. The words “for” and “since” are often found in such sentences:

This old beautiful building has stood on this square for three hundred fifty years - This old beautiful building has stood (and, in fact, continues to stand) on this square for 350 years.

I'm starving. I haven’t eaten since lunch - I’m incredibly hungry. I haven't eaten anything since lunch.

Maria has been to London once, but she would like to travel there again - Maria has already been to London once, but she would like to visit there again.

The present past tense is used with these phrases: this year/day/week/month, recently, ever, yet. It can be seen that the time period is not defined, but it is closely related to the present. Eg:

Have they heard from John recently? -Have they heard anything about Mark lately?

I’ve been in a lot of places last few weeks - Over the past few weeks, I’ve been to a lot of places.

I’ve had five cups of green tea today - I’ve already drunk 5 cups of green tea today

As for the Present Perfect tense: the rules for its use also apply to those situations when we can already see the result of some action. For example:

The earthquake has destroyed the industry in the whole region - The earthquake destroyed the industry of the whole region (as a result, the region still has problems with industrial production).

Present Perfect is the short and most common name for the tense, the rules of use of which we have just examined. We hope that our article helped you understand this difficult grammatical topic. And remember - everything is learned in practice, that is, the more exercises you do to consolidate the use of the present perfect tense, the fewer mistakes you will make in the future. Note also that the Present Perfect is a fairly simple tense to use compared, for example, with the rules of which also imply how to form complex design(have or has been + Verb-ing), and use in cases where the action began in the past, but at the same time has not ended yet and, moreover, continues to this day. One way or another, only practice will help you master the English language at a sufficient level to speak and write clearly and competently.

In all the variety of tenses in English tenses Perfect(perfect or completed) are notable for the fact that you will not find their analogues in Russian grammar. Perhaps for this reason, many people have difficulty mastering perfect tenses. Let's learn to understand and use these useful and interesting English Times verbs.

Strictly speaking, in English there are only two tenses (tense), where only the semantic verb is present: present (We walk) And past (He left).
All other tenses of verbs in English, and there are about thirty of them, use auxiliary verbs.

There are six main tenses, which, once understood, will help you understand the entire temporal structure of English verbs.

Present Simple (Present Indefinite): We play. - We play.
Present Perfect: We have played. - We played.
Past Simple (Past Indefinite): We played. - We played.
Past Perfect: We had played. - We played (before a certain event in the past).
Future Simple(Future Indefinite): We will play. - We will play.
Future Perfect: We will have played. - We'll play (until a certain event in the future).

Students of English as a foreign language most often experience problems with perfect tenses. This is due to the fact that they are formed a little more complex than their “simple” counterparts: with the help of an auxiliary verb and the past participle (III form of the verb).

Run (run)- run - run
Play (play)- played - played

Auxiliary verbs are usually forms of the verbs be, can, do, may, must, ought, shall, will, have, has, had. It is these verbs and their forms that should be given attention.

Present Perfect Tense (present perfect tense)

Tom will repair his car on Monday. (Future Simple) - Tom will be repairing his car on Monday.

She hopes that Tom will have repaired his car by Monday evening. (Future Perfect) - She hopes Tom will have his car repaired by Monday evening.

Any tenses of the Perfect category indicate the perfection of the action, that the situation is complete, and not long-term or permanent. As for The Present Perfect Tense - ‘this is a tense that is certainly associated with the present action, as evidenced by its name.

general information

The main feature of this type of tense form is that in sentences with the Present Perfect we are talking about a completed action, the result of which has a direct connection with the current time. Very often there is a time where there is no emphasis on connections with the present, and it is based solely on the fact of the event that occurred.

Here are examples of sentences that show how the present perfect tense looks and is used in English:

· You have done more than stay young; you have stayed a child - You did more than just stay young - you remained a child
· I have made you a bed upstairs, make yourself at home - I made you a bed upstairs, make yourself at home

As can be seen from these examples, the present perfect tense, as it is called in Russian transcription, is used to express not just an event that took place in the past, but reflects the result of a completed action that is relevant now.

Education Present Perfect

The present completed tense often causes difficulties for those who are still at the stage of learning English, because here several nuances come into force at once, which are extremely important to take into account. Firstly, the Present Perfect is necessarily formed using auxiliary verbs. These are auxiliary verbs such as have and has (the latter is used only for third person pronouns used in the singular - he, she, it). Secondly, this verb in the present perfect tense is followed by a main verb, which is in the form Past Participle, or Participle II (popularly the third form of the verb). Here it is important to navigate the list of irregular verbs, but for regular verbs everything is simpler, because the ending –ed is simply added to the word.

Therefore, the classic Present Perfect formula looks like this:

Have
Has + V(3) (–ed)

· I have never had a chance to meet anyone here – I have never had the opportunity to meet anyone here
· She has worked in this company for 3 years already – She has worked in this company for 3 years already

Questions and denials

Interrogative sentences

here are formed with the same auxiliary verbs have and has, which are in general issue, i.e. in the one to which the answer can be “yes” or “no”, are in the original position:

· Have you already finished your course work? -Have you already finished your coursework?
· Has he just returned from his trip? – Has he just returned from his trip?

Special questions

at the beginning of which there is a question word like when, why, how, etc., are formed according to a similar principle, with the only difference being that these interrogative words occupy the initial position:

· How long has she been here? – How long has she been here?
· Why has he written so many articles today? – Why did he write so many articles today?

Present Perfect formula in a negative sentence

practically no different from the affirmative form. Here the grammar provides for the simple use of the particle not after the auxiliary verb, where have not = haven’t, hasn’t = has not. Negation looks like this:

· I haven’t completed my daily report yet – I have not yet completed my daily report
· He still hasn’t brought us money - He still hasn’t brought us money

Note: the rule provides for the use of this tense in special interrogative and negative constructions with the inclusion of the phrase “ever”, where the Present Perfect time markers used are the adverbs ever or never:

· Have you ever been to Bangkok? – Have you ever been to Bangkok?
· I have never seen such a beautiful landscape! – I have never seen such a beautiful landscape!

Using the Present Perfect

The use of the Present Perfect is typical for the following situations:

1. Completed action

In order to display a completed action, which has a clear echo in the present tense and, unlike the simple tense, is used to express completeness. Companions of the Present Perfect in such situations are specific adverbs already, ever, never, yet (typical for interrogative and negative sentences, where its frequent position is at the end of the phrase), just, for (shows the duration of the action), as well as those time frames which show that the action is not yet completed (this year, today, etc.).

· He hasn’t called me for ages – He hasn’t called me for ages
· We have already found out the latest news - We have already found out the latest news
· I have done much this year - This year I have done a lot (in the sense that the year is not over yet)

Note: in the Present Perfect just, this is one of the markers that translates as “just now.” But if the construction just now is used, then it is typical use of Past Simple, despite the fact that the translation will be identical:

· I have just cooked breakfast - I just cooked breakfast
· I cooked breakfast just now - I just cooked breakfast

Note: the so-called American English, which has become an integral part of modern life, very often does not provide for the use of the Present Perfect, even in such obvious situations when there are special helpers in the form of adverbs or there are other factors regulating the use of the Perfect. In this version, the perfect is ignored, although classical grammar does not approve of this:

I have lost my key – I lost my key (I lost the key)

2. With the preposition “since” + Past Simple

The situation deserves special attention when with the Present Perfect since, the preposition, which is translated as “from”, “from the moment”, is used in the same sentence together with. With this sense, the construction of the sentence is constructed as follows:

I haven’t seen her since I left for Sydney - I haven’t seen her since I left for Sydney

In this example, the first part of the sentence uses the Present Perfect, and the second uses the Past Simple. Very often in such proposals it is recommended to look for the so-called starting point, i.e. the action from which it all began. IN in this example This is the part “since I left for Moscow.” The use of Perfect is relevant here for the reason that the action is performed (or not performed from then until now, which shows the result to this day). In the Present Perfect, examples of such situations are not uncommon, and the English language in this case provides a well-founded reason for such use.

3. In subordinate tenses

The use of this tense is also typical for those cases when the perfect is part of the subordinate parts of time. The present perfect marker words in this case are the same as in (Conditional I): these are conjunctions unless, when, as soon as, before, after, etc. The main feature here is that the emphasis is on the completeness of the event, and not on its fact. Present Perfect sentences here could be as follows:

· I will not call him until you have told me everything - I won’t call him until you tell me everything
· They will come as soon as I have finished my work - They will come as soon as I finish work

Note: There is an exception to this rule. Provided that if the verbs in the Present Perfect here belong either to the category of movement (arrive, come, return, etc.) or sensory perception, then using the present perfect tense with them is undesirable; it would be correct to put the usual Present Simple, more often used in a conditional sentence first type:

· I will be glad when he comes - I will be glad when he comes
· She will get in a fury when she hears my words – She will get furious when she hears my words

But even here the Present Perfect is possible when there are indicators that the speaker is deliberately emphasizing completeness and not expressively emphasizing it; the translation in this case will prove the relevance of the use of the perfect:

I will learn the poem by heart when I have heard it a few times - I will learn the poem by heart when I listen to it several times(completeness, performed several times, is expressively emphasized)

Let's sum it up

As it becomes clear from all of the above, phrases in the perfect are formed and used when there is an intention to demonstrate the completeness of an action or to display the period of time that it occupies up to the present moment. The formation scheme for Present Perfect is quite simple, although it requires memorization. Like any other type of tense form, Present Perfect Tense has very clear rules for use, so the main thing is to strictly follow all the instructions, and then this time will not cause any inconvenience.

Many people call present perfect time a “tautology”. And it is not surprising, because an action committed in the past is called the present. Why and why? Switching to “you” with the Present Perfect is not difficult if every nuance of use, education and special cases is analyzed and understood in detail.

Let's start our acquaintance with the presentation, let's look into the depths of this shade. Like any tense in English, Present Perfect Tense reflects the action. But its specificity is that the action has already been completed, and we see the result from it. In this situation, we do not focus on When an event occurred, we are not interested in it, doesn't matter, but we are now talking about what it entailed and what it led to. For example:

Have you found the place on the map? —Have you found this place on the map yet? (We are not interested in: how much you searched, when you started; the result - whether you found it or not)

I can't walk. I think I have sprained my ankle. - I can't go. I think I sprained my ankle. (We don’t note, we are not interested in: when I sprained it, how I sprained it; the result is that I can’t walk).

Of course, this is the main characteristic or, as it is also called, function. We will consider all cases of use and comparison below.

Education

According to the rules for the Present Perfect, we will need auxiliary verbs has/ have, and we will put the semantic one in V 3 (V ed). We remember that everything English verbs divided into correct and incorrect. To form this tense, we will add the ending -ed to the regular ones, and the irregular ones have a special form that will have to be learned (3rd column of the table of irregular verbs).

With 3rd person singular subject(if the subject is expressed by a pronoun or a noun implying: she, he, it) we use has. With everyone else - have. Negation is formed using “not”, which is placed after the auxiliary verb, and in the question have/has is interchanged with the subject. As you can see, there is no need to add or remove anything new, just some rearrangements in the sentence itself.

Short forms:

I have = I’ve, She has = she’s, we have = we’ve, they have = they’ve, you have = you’ve.

have + not = haven’t, has + not = hasn’t

Use

The present completed (perfect) tense has several uses in situations. Let's look at each one separately. All actions can be divided into completed and unfinished.

1. Action completed in the past(signal words are: already, yet, still, recently, lately, just).

If the situation ended just now (before the moment of conversation), or earlier, and it is connected with the present , then this is the very case when you should use the Present Perfect. In other words, if the result is important to you, interesting and necessary for further conversation, which serves as a starting point, then here we use the present perfect tense. The exact moment is not specified.

He has already published your poem in a local paper. — He has already published your poem in the local newspaper.

I have recently bought this bycicle, but now it is broken. — I recently bought this bicycle, but now it is broken.

To highlight the repetitive actions their repetition, with the words several times, twice. Also, such a grammatical phenomenon occurs in complex definitional sentences, where ordinal numbers are used, superlative adjectives, the phrase “the only”.

It is one of the happiest days I have ever spent with my mother. — This is one of the happiest days I have ever spent with my mother.

It is the only time my father has been away for holiday. - This is the only time when dad was not at the holiday.

My friends went to England again. They have been there several times. — My friends went to England again. They've been there several times already.

2. Action unfinished in the past(signal words are: this week, this year, today, this morning, since, for, never, ever).

If we want to emphasize long period of time where the action we are interested in is not completed by the time of the conversation.

He has written two books this year. — He wrote two books this year (the year is not over yet).

Have you seen Mary this morning? —Have you seen Mary this morning?

It is worth remembering that there are verbs that are not used in the Continuous (which can be read in our other article of the same name about non continuous verbs). With given stative verbs We use Present Perfect instead of Present Perfect Continuous. Very often in this situation the preposition is used for , which indicates the duration of the action.

I haven’t had a holiday for 4 years. — I haven’t had a vacation for 4 years.

My parents have been married for 25 years. — My parents have been married for 25 years.

with the word "since", which indicates last time, before anything (before conversation)

She has been off work since the accident. “She hasn’t worked since she had an accident.”

with the circumstances “ever, never, always, all my life, so far” - which emphasize an indefinite period of time, incompleteness.

I have never driven a car. — I've never driven a car.

My brother has always dreamed of laptop. — My brother always dreamed of a laptop.

Have you ever gone to Italy? —Have you ever traveled to Italy?

They ate a lot yesterday but they haven’t eaten much so far today. - Yesterday they ate a lot, but today they haven’t eaten yet.

3. Quite rarely, but you can still find the Present Perfect in subordinate clauses with as soon as, before, till, until, after, when, which is used instead of the Future Perfect (in most cases it is replaced by the Present Simple, especially in colloquial speech)

We will give back your car as soon as you’ve found a new job. — We will give away your car as soon as you find a new job.

Comparison of times

We have already learned when the Present Perfect Simple is used and how it is formed (the word Simple is sometimes added, especially in English grammars, so that students do not confuse it with the Present Perfect Continuous). Everything seems to be clear. But when doing exercises and tests to formulate the required form of the verb, difficulties and mistakes often arise, and a mess forms in your head. The Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, Past Perfect time table will help you place emphasis on the most important differences.

Present Perfect	Present Perfect Continuous	Past Simple	Past Perfect
The result of the action is emphasized; it is noted how often, when the action was performed (how many?), the result is most often planned, since - last time	Emphasizes the duration of the action, how it proceeded; the result often appears as by-effect, since — start of action
I have done my duties about the house. Now we can have a rest. — I completed all the housework. Now I'm free. She hasn’t played the piano since childhood. — She hasn’t played the piano since childhood.	I have been doing my duties about the house for 4 hours. Now I am too tired. — I did my housework for 4 hours. I'm too tired now.She hasn’t been playing the piano since I came in. “She hasn’t played the piano since I came in.”
Always talks about the present, action in the past as the engine of a new conversation, has no clear time boundaries, action is a result, life experience		Always speaks only about a past accomplished fact, the time is clearly indicated, the frame points to the past, a statement of fact, sequential actions
I have finished my work and now I am going home. — I finished work, now I’m going home.The boss has signed the documents. Can you post them at once? — The boss signed the documents. Can you send them immediately?Has the bus arrived? No, it hasn’t. — Has the bus arrived? - No.		I finished my work and went home. — I finished work and went home. The boss signed the documents and I posted them at once. — The boss signed all the documents, and I sent them immediately. Did the bus arrive yesterday? No, it didn't. — Did the bus arrive yesterday? - No.
Even if the action is completed, it must be connected with the present. In complex sentences, the main thing is in the Present.			The action was completed before a certain moment in the past, before another event, which is expressed by the Past Simple; in complex sentences the main action is in the past
I have washed my car! Look! It is clean. — I washed my car. Look. She's clean. The house is dusty Nobody has come* there for a year. — The house is dusty. No one has entered there in a year.*			I had washed my car before my mother woke up. I washed my car before my mom reminded me. The house was dusty Nobody had visited there for a year. — The house was dusty. No one has entered there in a year.

Adverbs, adverbs or signal words in the Present Perfect

So, the rules for the Present Perfect don't end there. It's also worth taking a moment to pay attention "since" and "for" , which are sometimes very close in meaning and often set traps. Since is used as a starting point for when the action was last performed. Either it indicates an action that has ended, or parallel situations that lasted a certain period of time. For - with the present perfect is used to indicate how long the action took place, its entire duration:
since 8 o'clock, since 1987, since Christmas; for hours, for a week, for ages, for a long time
Just and just now in Russian they convey the meaning just now. The first does not indicate exactly when the action occurred, the second notes: “a minute ago,” “literally a second.” With just now we use Past Simple.
ever (ever) never (never - only in affirmative sentences), already (already - in affirmative, already - so soon - and questions), still (also in negative sentences), yet (still - in negative sentences, already - in interrogative sentences), lately (Lately), resently (recently, for last years, months, weeks)

Even after considering all cases of use, their features and comparison, the grammar of the present perfect requires consolidation and solid assimilation. To begin with, you should read and analyze sentences with this tense, which you can read in the article “Examples of sentences in the Present Perfect,” then move on to the tasks that you will also find on our website.

The Present Perfect is very often used both in speech and in exams, tests, in other words - everywhere. That is why it is necessary to firmly grasp the basics of one of the most important tenses of English grammar.