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The Present Perfect Tense
Every tense in the English language has two
forms: the simple form and the progressive form.
Choosing the wrong one can send the wrong message.
This
time, let. s look first at:
1 THE
PROGRESSIVE FORM
I have been
working.
You have been working.
We have been working.
They have been working.
He has been working.
She has been working.
It has been working. |
I have not
been working.
You have not been working.
We have not been working.
They have not been working.
He has not been working.
She has not been working.
It has not been working. |
Have I been
working?
Have you been working?
Have we been working?
Have they been working?
Has he been working?
Has she been working?
Has it been working? |
Yes, I have.
Yes, you have.
Yes, we have.
Yes, they have.
Yes, he has.
Yes, she has.
Yes, it has. |
No, I haven't.
No, you haven't.
No, we haven't.
No, they haven't.
No, he hasn't.
No, she hasn't.
No, it hasn't. |
This form is used often to describe how long an action has
been in progress.
1.1 SAYING HOW LONG
SOMETHING HAS BEEN IN PROGRESS
Suppose it is raining at this
moment.
To communicate this fact, we say, "It is raining."
We do not have to say "now" because "is raining"
means "is raining now".
(Refer to
the progressive form
of the present tense.)
Now suppose that the rain began one hour ago. To communicate this
fact, we say, "The rain began one hour ago."
In English, it is possible to communicate BOTH facts with one
grammatical form: the progressive form of the present perfect. Here it is:
It
is raining
now.
+ The rain began
one hour ago.
= It has been raining for one hour.
It began to rain
It
is raining
one hour ago.
at this moment.
It has been raining for one hour.
1.1.1 TIME
SIGNALS
It is always important to use the
correct time signals.
For this verb tense, there are only two kinds of time signals:
those using the word since and
those using the word for.
Since is always followed by a point in time:
since
·
since
Monday
since
two o'clock
since
1975
For
is followed by a period of time:
for ~~~~~
for
six years
for
twenty minutes
for
a long, long time
In both cases, the time signal describes a
time that starts in the past and continues into the
present moment
.
Remember, the action
is still in progress
!
If it is now 10:30 and the rain began one hour
ago, then the rain started at 9:30.
Therefore, we can say, "It has been
raining since 9:30."
It
HAS BEEN
RAINING
since
9:30.
In
these sentences, it should be clear when the action began.
They
HAVE
BEEN WAITING since three
o'clock.
= They began at 3:00.
We
HAVE
BEEN DOING business since
1955.
= They began in 1955.
It
HAS
BEEN RAINING since the sun went
down. =
They began at sundown.
In these sentences, it should also be clear when
the action began.
I HAVE BEEN
LIVING in Miami for 17
years.
= for the last 17 years)
We HAVE
BEEN MAKING automobiles for 60
years.
= for the last 60 years)
He HAS
BEEN WORKING at Intel for 10
years.
= for the last 10 years)
In all of these sentences, it should be clear
that the activity is still in progress as we speak
.
Therefore, we always have the chance to talk about only the present moment, too.
I
AM LIVING
in Miami . = at this time.
We
ARE MAKING
automobiles .
= at this time.
He IS WORKING
at Intel .
= at this
time.
(see
progressive
present tense)
1.2 CHOOSING THE SIMPLE
OR THE PROGRESSIVE FORM
With other verb tenses, it is very important to choose correctly
between the simple and the progressive forms.
But in this case --- when we are talking about HOW LONG something has been
happening --- THEY ARE THE SAME!
When talking about how long something has been in progress, you
can also use the simple form.
The meaning of the sentence does not change.
They HAVE
WAITED since 3:00 PM. = They HAVE
BEEN WAITING since 3:00 PM.
We HAVE DONE
business since 1955. = We HAVE BEEN
DOING business since 1955.
It HAS RAINED since the sun went down. = It
HAS BEEN RAINING
since the sun went down.
I HAVE LIVED in Miami for 17 years. = I
HAVE BEEN LIVING
in Miami for 17 years.
We HAVE MADE cars for 60 years. = We
HAVE BEEN MAKING
cars for 60 years.
He HAS WORKED at Intel for 10 years. = He
HAS BEEN WORKING
at Intel for 10 years.
In each case --- for both
sentences --- the activity is still in
progress
.
Therefore, if someone says, "I have
worked at Intel for 10 years," the action is still in progress (or true) as he speaks. He still
works there.
But if someone says, "I worked at Intel
for
10 years", he
cannot mean the
last 10 years. He means some 10-year period completely in the past with no connection to the present.
Therefore, he does not work there now.
Now let us turn our attention to:
2 THE SIMPLE FORM
I have worked.
You have worked.
We have worked.
They have worked.
He has worked.
She has worked.
It has worked. |
I have not
worked.
You have not worked.
We have not worked.
They have not worked.
He has not worked.
She has not worked.
It has not worked. |
Have I worked?
Have you worked?
Have we worked?
Have they worked?
Has he worked?
Has she worked?
Has it worked? |
Have I worked?
Have you worked?
Have we worked?
Have they worked?
Has he worked?
Has she worked?
Has it worked? |
No, I haven't.
No, you haven't.
No, we haven't.
No, they haven't.
No, he hasn't.
No, she hasn't.
No, it hasn't. |
This form is used in several different ways.
One way is counting something where the counting is not yet finished.
2.1 UNFINISHED COUNTING
We
HAVE
WON seven games (so far) this season.
We
HAVE
SEEN seven eagles (so far) today.
There
HAVE
BEEN seven earthquakes here (so far) this century.
In each of these examples, the counting is not finished.
Why? Because THE TIME PERIOD is not yet finished.
The season is not finished, the day is not finished, and this century is not yet finished.
There is still time to win more games, to see more eagles, and to experience more
earthquakes.
When these time periods DO finish, then the counting will be finished.
"This season" will become
"last season"; "today" will become "yesterday"; and
"this century" will become "last century".
When that happens, the verb tense will change to the past tense (have
won changes to won; have seen changes to saw; and
has been changes to was).
We also use this form to talk about our personal experience; for example, what
we have done, seen, learned, or experienced:
2.2
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I
HAVE BEEN to Disney World.
I
HAVE
SEEN the Grand Canyon.
I
HAVE
LEARNED a foreign language.
NOTE:
It is
important to understand that these sentences do not say WHEN these experiences took place!
We only know that they took place at some unknown time.
IF you DO use a time signal (for example, in 1992 or three years ago, etc.),
then you MUST use the simple form of the PAST TENSE!
This form is used in interviews, for example, to ask about a person's background.
HAVE
you ever
WORKED
in this field before?
The word "ever"
is used often in such questions.
It means "at any time in your life".
As such, one is not asking WHEN the other person had the experience
... only IF
the person has had the experience.
Finally, this form is used when talking about news and recent events.
2.3
ANNOUNCEMENTS OF NEWS & RECENT EVENTS
We use this simple form of the past tense anytime
we announce that something has happened but DO NOT SAY WHEN it happened.
This is typical for important news announcements or any recent event.
THERE HAS been an earthquake in California.
Someone HAS STOLEN
my money!
We HAVE
MADE an important scientific discovery.
NOTE: Here we
come to a point of difference between American English and British English.
A British person would NEVER use the past tense in this situation.
But MANY Americans do!
For example, we often say:
There WAS
an earthquake in California.
Someone STOLE
my money!
We MADE an important scientific discovery.
So in this situation, in the American language,
BOTH ARE CORRECT.
2.4 TIME SIGNALS for the
SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT
(1) If you use either since
or for, you MUST use the present perfect tense.
(2) The following
expressions may be used with EITHER the present perfect OR the past tense.*
|
already |
[We
HAVE
already
WRITTEN
25 pages.]
[We already
WROTE
25 pages.]
|
|
so
far |
[We
HAVE
WRITTEN
25 pages so far.]
[We WROTE
25 pages so far.]
|
|
yet |
[We
HAVE
not WRITTEN
the last page yet.]
[We DID
not WRITE
the last page yet.]
|
|
ever |
[HAVE you
ever
WRITTEN
this many pages?]
[DID you ever
WRITE
this many pages?]
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* In the British language, these expressions call for the
PRESENT PERFECT ONLY.
(3) If you use these time signals,
you MUST use the PAST tense:
|
yesterday |
[We
WORKED
yesterday.]
|
|
last |
[We
WORKED
last week.]
|
|
ago |
[We
WORKED
a long time ago.]
|
|
for |
[We
WORKED
for six weeks.]
NOT "for the last six weeks"
|
|
at |
[We
FINISHED
at two o'clock.]
|
|
when |
[We
FINISHED
when he arrived.]
For an explanation of Time
Clauses,
go here.
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before |
[We
FINISHED
before the meeting.]
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|
after |
[We
FINISHED
after the meeting.]
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