LESSON 6 - PRESENT PERFECT

We use PRESENT PERFECT to talk about actions that started in the past and continue to be in the present, or were recently finished.

-I have been to Italy, France and the UK. (I can continue to visit other countries in the future) -I haven't been to Germany yet. (but I can still have the chance of visiting Germany for the first time) -The group has just finished the project. They are now going to prepare the presentation. -Fiona has not contacted Bryan yet. She is still trying to reach her on the phone.

The construction of a sentence with a Present Perfect tense is:

HAVE /HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE

-I have sent you a letter. You must be receiving it tomorrow afternoon. (I sent the letter a few moments ago) -The children have played enough. (they can/must stop playing for now)

The negative form of have is HAVE NOT / HAVEN'T

-I have not seen Any in a while. (until now I don't know about her, but I might see her in the future) -They haven’t found the ball yet (they continue to look for) -Max has not called his parents since he is in Paris. (he is still in Paris) -Jenny hasn’t told the truth yet. (she continues to hide the truth)

We can contract the auxiliary to the subject in a present perfect sentence.

-I've seen that movie a couple of times. -She's been a very naughty girl. She deserves to be grounded.

JUST, YET, STILL & ALREADY

These words are often used with the present perfect tense although yet, still and already can all be used with other tenses.

JUST

‘Just’ is usually used only with the present perfect tense and it means ‘a short time ago’.

-I’ve just seen Susan coming out of the cinema. -Mike’s just called. Can you ring him back please? -Have you just taken my pen? Where has it gone?

YET

‘Yet’ is used to talk about something which is expected to happen. It means ‘at any time up to now’. It is used in questions and negatives.

-Have you finished your homework yet? The speaker expects that the homework will be finished. -I haven’t finished it yet. I’ll do it after dinner.

STILL

‘Still’ is used to talk about something that hasn’t finished – especially when we expected it to finish earlier.

-You promised to give me that report yesterday and you still haven’t finished it.

ALREADY

‘Already’ is used to say that something has happened early – or earlier than it might have happened.

-I’ve already spent my salary and it’s two weeks before pay day. -The train’s already left! What are we going to do?

EXERCISES

Complete the sentences with JUST, YET, STILL or ALREADY.

1.Don’t come in here with those muddy shoes. I have _____ cleaned the floor! 2. Have you _____ finished that composition for History class? You only started an hour ago. 3.I don’t want to see “Star Wars” at the cinema. I’ve _____ seen it twice! 4.Haven’t you finished that composition for History class _____? You started over four hours ago! 5. I started looking for a pretty hat this morning, but I _____ haven’t found the right one. 6.I’m sorry. You have _____ missed Katie. She left the school about three minutes ago. 7. Larry left the house early this morning but he hasn’t returned _____. 8.You _____ haven’t told me the story about the Petersons.

Complete the sentences the following verbs in the Present Perfect tense

CHANGE     FINISH     KNOW     SEE     SEE     VISIT SURPASS

1.Do you like the movie “Bridge”? – I don’t know, I _____ that movie yet. 2.My best friend and I _____ each other for over fifteen years. 3.Things _____ at Coltech, Inc. When we first started the company had only 6 employees. Now it has more than 200. 4.Sam _____ the ocean yet. He should come with us to the beach. 5.Ana _____ the museum a few times this month, so she must know well about the current exhibitions. 6.We still _____ the job. We need an extra week to get it done. 7.You _____ the record in eating hamburgers in one hour. If you continue to eat you will explode.