The Present Perfect tense is used to express actions which have just or already been completed at the time of speaking or writing. The exact time the action happened is not important.
"I have finished" is an example of the present perfect. The Present Perfect tense of any English verb is formed from the Simple Present of the auxiliary to have, followed by what is generally referred to as the past participle of the verb
HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
I have fininished, You have fininished, He/ She / Ithas fininished, Wehave fininished, Youhave fininished, They have fininished
Rule of thumb:
Use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. I have been to the doctor twice (unfinished period of time, you may go back)AND NOTI have been to the doctor this morning BUT I went to the doctor this morning (finished period, action completed)
Use the Present Perfect for an action beginning in the past and still continuing. I have lived in France since 2007. I havehad this laptopfor about a year. (I still have it).He has not finished his homework yet.
Recently completed action. He has just played football and I have been to NY recently.
Use the Present Perfect Tense to talk about experiences. Have you ever played chess? I have never eaten snails.
use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanityuse the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. We have found life on Mars.
Hint
1. The following contractions are often used in spoken English: I've finished, You've finished,He's finished, She's finished, it's finished, We've finished, You've finished, They've finished.
2. The most important thing to remember about the present perfect is that it can never be used with adverbs which describe finished time periods such as yesterday, last year, five years ago etc.
3. The past participles of irregular English verbs are formed in an unpredictable manner, and must be memorized. Table of common English irregular verbs. For instance, the irregular verb tobegin has the past participle begun. We justhave begun the game.
Advanced learners
Difference between Last year andIn the last year. "I went to Canada last year" means the year before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. "I have been to Canada in the last year" means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present Perfect.
Multimedia
This is PART ONE of a lesson in four parts. In PART ONE we practice forming the present perfect tense, and I begin to explain why this tense is used. Level: high intermediate to advanced.
Advanced learners
Hint