Meaning
The Present Perfect tense indicates that a current situation arises from an action or event that began in the past. For example, the sentence “I have lost my keys,” communicates: (1) at some point in the past, I misplaced my keys; and (2) at the present moment, I still do not have my keys. The past event is acknowledged primarily because of how it relates to the present situation.
In some cases, the verb that began in the past is completed, while in other cases it continues up to now. The current situation may then be either the furtherance of that earlier verb or some lingering aftermath of that verb.
Structure
HAVE + Perfect Participle
For the Present Perfect tense, the verb string needs to have some form of the auxiliary verb HAVE. Since it is a present tense, that form is either ‘have’ or ‘has’. Which one is determined by agreement with the subject, or else by the auxiliary verb that precedes it. Either form of HAVE may be contracted with a noun or pronoun that precedes it.
The verb that immediately follows the HAVE auxiliary verb should be in the Perfect Participle form, and in most cases that would be the main verb. For the vast majority of verbs, the word should end with -ed. But for irregular verbs, there may be a different transformation to the Perfect Participle form, such as a vowel shift, and -en suffix, both, or something else.
- “I have made a mistake.” ← with 1st-person subject
- “She has made a mistake.” ← with 3rd-person subject
- “She might have made a mistake.” ← with modal verb
Notice that while the form of HAVE differs depending on what’s in front of it, the Perfect Participle ‘made’ remains constant in every iteration.
Here are some structural variations of that first example; note how the changes are reflected only in the auxiliary verb:
- “I‘ve made a mistake.” ← in contracted form
- “I haven’t made a mistake.” ← as negative
- “Have I made a mistake?” ← as a question
Featured Adverbs
The Present Perfect tense is often taught alongside a set of adverbials, whether they are actual adverbs or are adpositional phrases or Adverbial Clauses. Since there are different ways to apply Present Perfect, students might encounter a different set of adverbials each time they revisit this tense. Here are some of the most common adverbs, adpositions, and even determiners, sorted by application type.
- Results: already, just, recently, yet
- Experiences: already, before, ever, how often, how many, how many times, never, so far, (#) times, adverbs of frequency;
- Status: for, how long, since, so far, still, yet;
Usage
3 Common Categories
In English Language Teaching, usage of the Present Perfect tense is often sorted into three categories.
- Results: With Present Perfect, acknowledge a past action and imply a present situation. In the sentence, “Brenda has baked some banana bread for us,” the obvious action is that Brenda baked (past). But the implication is that the listeners can now eat Brenda’s delicious banana bread (present). The present result is often as important, if not more so, than the past action.
- Experiences: Although the initial or recurring actions may be in the past, they remain relevant to the present context.
- In the sentence, “Sasha’s been out salsa dancing six times this summer,” each individual instance of going salsa dancing is past and probably complete (although it’s possible her sixth time is occurring as this sentence is spoken), but her summer salsa dancing experience might not be over yet; she might go salsa dancing again a few more times before the summer’s out.
- In the sentence, “Nigel has seen the latest Nolan film,” the viewing of the film has already taken place, but it remains relevant to the current context. Perhaps it’s because Nigel is ready to discuss the film, or that he now understands any reference to the film his friends might make.
- Status: The Present Perfect can express a situation that applies to the past and the present in more-or-less equal parts. This is often the case with stative verbs. In the example, “Leroy has lived in Luxemburg for eleven years,” most of that living took place in the past, but presumably Leroy is living there still. The eleven years probably lasts up until the present moment.
Note that these three categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive, nor do they cover every potential application of the Present Perfect tense; they are simply a guide to understanding this tense.
as Negative
When used in the negative sense, the Present Perfect tends to have an inverse meaning, often in light of certain expectations. To not have done something indicates not only that is wasn’t done or started in the past and is not getting done in the present, but also that there is a possibility that it might be started or attempted in the future. Other applications of the negative might express that the effects of the verb do not apply to the present, even if the verb was accomplished in the past (as in “I haven’t had any coffee for years now,” or “We haven’t visited grandma recently.”)
vs. Past Simple
There are many cases in which a Past Simple tense or a Present Perfect would be equally appropriate. For example, the sentences “A tree fell in the forest,” and “A tree has fallen in the forest,” might be more or less interchangeable within a given context; both convey the same basic information. The difference is what the speaker intends to focus on:
- With the Past Simple, the speaker’s attention is on the event of the tree falling.
- With the Present Perfect, the speaker’s attention is on the current state of the tree (due to that earlier event). Perhaps it was a special tree and they are sad it’s not standing, or perhaps the tree is blocking a path.
Neither sentence would be incorrect; instead it’s a matter of what the speaker truly wants to communicate.
Advanced Concepts
Complex Verb Strings
A Present Perfect verb might also be Continuous, Passive, modal, or any combination of those. In such cases, the verb string appears more complex. Take these examples:
- “She might have made a mistake.” — with modal verb
- “She has been making many mistakes.” — also a Continuous tense
- “She might have been making a mistake.” — Perfect, Continuous, and modal
- “A mistake has been made.” — in Passive Voice
- “A mistake might have been made.” — Perfect, Passive, and modal
While this looks more complicated — and indeed there are more factors to consider in these examples — both the form and the meaning remain consistent with the basic Present Perfect tense. Regarding the form:
- In all cases, some present form of the verb HAVE is in the sentence.
- Whichever verb immediately follows HAVE is in the Perfect Participle form. In most cases, this would be the main verb (‘made’). However, in Continuous tenses, the subsequent verb is the auxiliary BE, which then takes on the Perfect Participle form of ‘been’.
Regarding the meaning, it is always in case that the action of make began in the past, but the mistake is still relevant to the current moment. What changes is whether the situation was only theoretical, whether the action of making is still ongoing, and whether ‘mistake’ is the subject of the sentence.
Present Perfect Continuous
The Present Perfect Continuous tense is another common Intermediate and Advanced Topic. In both form and meaning, it is a combination of the Present Perfect tense and the Continuous Aspect. It is generally used to express verbs that have carried on for a sustained period of time and which have a lingering aftereffect.
Consider the example from above: “She has been making many mistakes.” It merges the idea that mistakes happened previously and have some fallout in the present (perfect) with the idea that her mistake-making continued over a period of time, rather than simply happening once (continuous).
Teaching Tips
Past + Present
It may seem odd at first that a tense called Present Perfect features a verb that took place or at least started in the past, but teachers can use this to their advantage. The point of this tense is that it marries the past and the present together. You can brainstorm with students ways that might happen (or examples), or simply narrow it to one of the particular types of application (especially if your curriculum guides you to do so).
As you continue with this topic or return to it later, keep reinforcing the idea that a past verb remains relevant in the present.
The Perfect Participle
Learning about this tense might be the first time that students encounter the Perfect Participle form. Take plenty of time to introduce it since students will hear, read, and use it time and again — not only with Perfect tenses but also with other topics like Passive Voice, Participle Adjectives, and more.
Another, more popular name for the Perfect Participle is the ‘Past Participle’, but that term can be misleading. We strongly suggest consistently using the term ‘Perfect Participle’ instead. Doing so may help instill the notion that that form expresses the results of an earlier action, not matter how it’s applied. Dive into our Perfect Participle page to learn more.
Downplay the Adverbs
Some textbooks place a lot of emphasis on the adverbs that might accompany the Present Perfect tense. These are absolutely helpful to cover, but using ‘just’, ‘already’, ‘ever’, and so on to identify or define the tense can have a restricting effect; the Present Perfect can exist without these adverbs, and these adverbs can exist without the Present Perfect tense. Instead, use the adverbs to reinforce the idea that this tense ties together both the past and the present.
Insider Access
Visit our How to Teach Present Perfect page on www.insightstoEnglish.com for a demonstrational video, bonus notes, printouts, a slideshow for your class, practice activities, and more.
Further Reading
Encyclopedia Pages
Insights Articles
- project: Celebrity Interview
- project: Monster Rampage
- Teach Aspects instead of Tenses
Intermediate Topics
CEFR Levels B1-B2: Pre-Intermediate to Upper Intermediate courses
