Present perfect structure. Formation and use of the Present Perfect in English

Present Perfect is a special tense in English. 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 example sentences.

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 Simple, which is intended 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

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 of 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

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 a negative meaning, 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 affirmative sentences with the meaning “ever”.

Question

There are tenses in English that are not in Russian. They are the main “culprits” of grammatical difficulties. These include the Present Perfect - the Present Perfect tense.

Education

Before turning to the question of when the Present Perfect Simple is used, it is appropriate to briefly consider the meaning and “structure” of this tense. It is translated into Russian as the Present Perfect tense. Its main function is to describe events that happened in the past, but have been completed by now and their result affects the present day.

The Present Perfect tense is formed using two verbs. The first is the auxiliary verb have, which is “valid” only for I (I), you (you, you), we (we), they (they) or has - for he (he), she (she), it (it ).

The second is the main verb in the 3rd form. In English, the 3rd form of regular verbs is created by adding the ending -ed to the word stem (to wish - wished, to blame - blamed, to clean - cleaned). Irregular verbs do not "require" rules. The third form can always be found, respectively, in the third column in the table of irregular verbs.

The Present Perfect tense can be used instead of the Present Perfect Continuous to describe events that began in the recent past and continued until the present minute. This happens when the main verb belongs to the verbs of the state (to respect - to respect, to adore - adore), which are not used in the Continuous aspect (long).

Table: Present Perfect formation with regular and irregular verbs

Cases of using the Present Perfect

As can be seen from the table, the Present Perfect tense is translated into Russian using verbs in the past tense. The same thing happens with the translation of sentences used in the Past Simple (Simple Past) and Past Perfect (Past Perfect): we again translate them with verbs in the past tense. At first glance, there is no logic. But it is there. It can only be explained by the rules for using the Present Perfect:

• To describe events that happened not so long ago and have ended by now. In this case, the exact period of what happened is not determined, it is blurred, since it has no meaning. The point is different - in the end.

Have you ever watched The Lord of the Rings? - Have you ever watched “The Lord of the Rings”? (It doesn’t matter when the event happened, the main thing is whether you watched this film or not)

• For a description that has ended, but the time period in which the event occurred has not ended(this year (this year), this week (this week), today (today), ever (ever) and others):

This week I have not visited my grandmother - This week I did not visit my grandmother (A week is a period of time that has not yet ended).

• To express an action that was performed in the recent past, but its result is important for the present moment:

I have lost my key. I cannot open the door. - I lost my keys. I can not open the door. (The action happened in the past, but the result of losing the keys affects the present).

• To describe repeated actions:

He has cleaned this room twice today - He cleaned the room twice today.

Present Perfect time markers (already - already, ever, never, just - only and others) are the best helpers when choosing a grammatical structure.

TOP 4 articleswho are reading along with this

Not everything in a foreign language can be mastered the first time. This is especially true for grammar rules, of which there are many in English. More than once, students, in their quest to master a foreign language, have to return to the same topic and analyze it again and again. Today we propose to consider the aspect of the perfect present tense, and to do this not only from the theoretical side, but also in close tandem with practice. We will give examples for each present perfect rule that will act as a visual example. Thanks to the methodical development of structures, knowledge of the rules will be absorbed subconsciously; all that remains is to consolidate it with training exercises.

In order to understand the significance of this aspect, it is necessary to rethink the Russian approach to the tense system. In our speech, completed actions automatically refer to the past. In English, it is not the fact of completion that is important, but the relevance of the action. Therefore, the perfect can be in the past, in the present and in the future.

The present perfect tense includes those actions whose results are relevant at the moment. Accordingly, the events of this aspect:

• were completed quite recently;
• happened once, but the result appeared only now;
• express everyday experience;
• are long-term (started in the past, are happening now and will continue in the future).*

*The last paragraph uses verbs that cannot be used in meaning with the Perfect Continuous, or can be used equally in both tenses.

Let's move on to mastering meanings in practice, which the next section will help us with.

Present perfect example sentences

Predicates in this form are grammatical constructions consisting of two elements. Let us examine in detail each type of sentence in the present perfect.

Statement

Affirmative phrases that carry a positive result of an action are formed using the auxiliary have and the past participle. Moreover, the auxiliary verb has different forms: for the 3rd person singular. (he, she, it) – has, for everyone else – have. Let us derive a generalized diagram.

Nick(1)has(2) bought(3)anewdressforme(4) - Nick bought me a new dress.

This is the basic form from which other types of utterances are derived. To practice it, we will give examples of 10 affirmative sentences with translation in the present perfect.

• They have finished theprojectA-20 thisweek– They completed the A-20 project this week.
• I have used thiscomputersince2010 – I have been using this computer since 2010.
• She has lived in England for three months –ShelivedVEngland 3month.
• We have just cooked potatoes with vegetables –We just cooked potatoes and vegetables.
• You have already been in Prague –YoualreadywereVPrague.
• I have seen a koala in the local zoo three times. It has always slept – I saw a koala at the local zoo three times. SheAlwayssleeping.
• They have owned this building since they bought it in 1999 –TheyownthisbuildingWiththosesince thenHowboughthisin 1999year.
• He has always liked such films –To himAlwayslikedsuchmovies.
• We have never flown byamilitaryplane– We have never flown on a military plane.
• It is the first time she has painted someone's portrait –Shefirstdrewwhose-Thatportrait.

Please note that present perfect phrases are translated into Russian using both perfect verbs and imperfect constructions.

Negation

The particle not is responsible for the negative result of an action, as in all English aspects. Once it is added to the corresponding form of have, the affirmative statement turns into a negation.

Children(1) have not (2) done (3) their homework yet (4) – ChildrenmoreNotdonemyhomework.

Much more often, both in colloquial speech and in writing, the abbreviations haven’t/haven’t are used.

• He hasn't been in Africa for five months –HeNotwasVAfrica 5months.
• I haven 't feed mydogyet– I haven’t fed my dog ​​yet.
• We haven't packed our suitcases –WeNotpackedoursuitcases.
• She hasn't been seen her best girlfriend for many years –SheNotsawmythe bestgirlfrienda lot ofyears.
• You haven 't passed thisexam– You failed this exam.

Being derived from statements, negative sentences are not fraught with complexity. The only thing worth mentioning is that if the expression contains negative adverbs, then the second negation (not) is no longer placed, because There cannot be two negatives in a sentence in English!

• She has never played football– She never played football.
• She hasn't 't played footballthisweekShe didn't play football this week.

Keep this rule in mind when using negative adverbs.

Questions

To create a general question, you need to perform a syntactic rearrangement of the verb have, moving it to the beginning of the phrase.

Has(1) she (2) answered(3) all your questions already (4)? – ShealreadyansweredonAllyoursquestions?

• Have you ever cooked a Caesar salad? –YouWhen-somedaypreparedsaladCaesar?
• Have they gone to the city’s museum two times? –Did they go to the city museum twice?

Such questions can be answered using brief constructions Yes, shehas/wehave or No, shehasn't't/wehaven't. In place of she/we, any pronoun corresponding to the statement is inserted.

Alternative questions that provide a choice of two indicated options require a more precise answer. Outwardly, they are similar to general questions, but they have an additional (alternative) part, attached by the conjunction or.

• Have you been friends since 2004 or since 2005? –Yoube friendssince 2004of the yearorsince 2005?
• Has she studied Japanese or Chinese for 7 years? –ShesevenyearsteachesJapaneselanguageorChineselanguage?

When using special question words, general sentences change their construction for the present perfect tense, skipping significant words forward.

• Where has he bought such a dictionary? –WhereHeboughtsuchdictionary?
• How long have we known each other? –How long have we known each other?
• A separate type of special combinations is a question for the subject.
• Who has written is it on the blackboard? –WhowroteThisonblackboard?
• Who has just used mysmartphone? – Who just used my smartphone?

By the way, short phrases can be used to answer this question: Ihave, shehas and so on.

Interrogative sentences with a negative construction have a special emotional connotation. They are used only in colloquial speech.

• Hasn 't he called hismotheryet? “Hasn’t he called his mom yet?”
• Haven 't I told themaboutthatsituation? “Didn’t I tell them about that situation?”

And the last type is dividing questions. At first glance, they look like statements, but if you look closely, you can identify a question tail with a pronoun and the verb have. It is noteworthy that the additive will always be opposite in meaning to the main phrase.

• You have played basketball this week, haven't you? – YouplayedVbasketballonthisweek,isn't itNo?
• She has ridden an elephant, hasn't she? – She rode an elephant, didn't she?
• They haven 't been inthejungle, have they ? “They weren’t in the jungle, were they?”
• Jack hasn't 't visited you, has he ? “Jack hasn’t visited you yet, has he?”

So, we have considered all possible types of the perfect present in statements of various types. Before moving on to the exercises, let’s summarize the information received and remember once again what grammatical constructions of the present perfect and example sentences can be found in the speech of native Englishmen.

Present Perfect (present perfect) is used to denote an action that took place in the past and has a result in the present.

Education Present Perfect Tense

The Present Perfect is formed using the auxiliary verb to have in the present tense ( have, has) and the past participle form of the semantic verb. This form of the verb is also called the “third form of the verb” and is designated conventionally as V3 (verb 3). For regular verbs this is the infinitive ending –ed, for irregular verbs it is the third column V ):
I have played.
He has played.
We have played.

Interrogative form: have (has) + subject + V3:
Have I played?
Has he played?
Have we played?

In a special question, the necessary interrogative pronoun is placed before have (has):
Where have I played?
Why has he played?
With whom have you played?

In a question to the subject, an interrogative pronoun who is placed before the predicate instead of the subject itself (in this question the auxiliary verb has is always used):
Who has worked?

Negative form: have (has) + not + V3:
I have not played.
He has not played.
We have not played.

Interrogative negative form: have (has) + subject + not + V3 or haven"t (hasn"t) + subject + V3:
Have I not played?
Has he not played?
Have we not played?

Abbreviations used in colloquial speech:
have not = haven"t = "ve not
has not = hasn"t = "s not
have = "ve
has = "s
I haven"t played. = I"ve not played.
I've played.
Haven't I played?

Using Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect is used:

1. To express an action that took place in the past, but has a result in the present. The presence of such a result connects the past action with the present:
I have lost my keys. I lost my keys.
(I lost it in the past, but there is a result - now I don’t have them, I can’t open the door)

Has the rain stopped? Has the rain stopped?
(interesting in the lack of rain at the moment)

The duration of the action may not be specified (as in the previous sentences) or may be expressed by adverbs just, ever, never never, already already, yet yet(in questions and negatives), lately recently, lately, recently recently. In this case, the sentence should not contain adverbs indicating the past tense:
I have never been in London. I've never been to London.
He hasn't come home yet. He hasn't come home from work yet.

But compare:
My mom has already cooked dinner. Mom has already prepared lunch.
My mom already cooked dinner yesterday. Mom already prepared lunch yesterday. (yesterday indicates past tense, which is why it is used )

Note. The Past Simple Tense is just used with the adverb just now:
I broke it just now. I just broke it.

2. To express both a one-time action and an action repeated several times in the past (the sentence may contain the words often often, twice twice etc.) and in sentences answering the question how much/many how much:
I have read that book twice. I read this book twice.
I have been in London three times. I've been to London three times.
I "ve ironed 8 skirts. I ironed 8 skirts.

3. Present Perfect is used with adverbs denoting periods of time that have not yet elapsed today today, this week this week, this month this month, this year this year and so on.:
Have you listened to the radio today? Did you listen to the radio today? (not expired today)
It has not rained this week. There was no rain this week. (this week has not expired)

But if the specified period of time has already ended, then the Past Simple Tense form is used:
I have drunk coffee this morning. I drank coffee this morning.(said in the morning)
I drank coffee this morning. I drank coffee this morning.(the morning has already passed, it is said, for example, in the afternoon or evening)

4. The Present Perfect is used to express an action that began in the past and continued until the moment of speech or is still ongoing at the moment of speech. The sentence must contain the prepositions since (from some past moment to the present) or for during. At the same time, the Present Perfect can be translated either in the present tense or in the past, depending on the situation.
a) with verbs not used in the Continuous (for more details, see):
I haven't seen you for ages. I haven't seen you for ages.(I didn’t see it and just saw it at the moment of speaking)
Has not been here since two o'clock. He (has been) here since two o'clock.(started at two o'clock and is still here now)
I have known him for three years. I know him for three years.

b) with some verbs instead of the Present Perfect Continuous, if the speaker wants to focus not on the duration, but on the fact of the action.
I have lived in Moscow for five years. I have been living in Moscow for five years.(fact is important)
I have been living in Moscow for five years. I have been living in Moscow for five years.(duration, process is important)

The Present Perfect is also used with the conjunction since since. In this case, the Present Perfect is used in the main clause, and in the subordinate clause starting with since, the Past Simple is used:
I have written only one letter to my relatives since I left. I've only written one letter since I left.
I haven't letters received from him since he left. I haven't received any letters from him since he left.

Present Perfect is also used with the adverb since since:
We moved to a new flat last year, and we haven't met our friends since. We moved last year, and haven't seen our friends since then.

5. The Present Perfect is used to express a perfect future action instead of the Future Perfect in adverbial subordinate clauses of time and condition, which are introduced by conjunctions after, when, as soon as, until (till), if etc. In this case, the Present Perfect is translated into the future tense of the perfect form:
He will wait for you until you have come. He will wait for you until you come.

Usage of Present Perfect Tense

1. An action whose result is evident in the present tense (in Russian it corresponds to the past tense).
2. An action repeated several times in the past.
3. With adverbial words denoting periods of time that have not yet expired.
4. To express an action that began in the past and continued until the moment of speech or is still ongoing at the moment of speech: instead of the Present Perfect Continuous (in Russian it corresponds to the present and past tense).
5. The future perfect action in subordinate clauses of time and condition (in Russian corresponds to the future tense).

I am sure that many people who study a language on their own reach the Present Perfect and... this is where their study ends, because according to the explanations from the textbook, not everyone can understand How is it? and Why is this? In this article I will not rewrite the rules, I will try to clearly and clearly explain what Present Perfect is.

First of all, let me remind you of the formation of this time.

We form the statement using the auxiliary verb have or has and the main verb in the third form, which in grammar is called Past Participle. If the verb is regular (regular), then the ending is added to it -ed, if the verb is irregular (irregular), then we take the third form from the third column of the table of irregular verbs. In this article I will denote Past Participle as V3:

In negation, a negative particle is added to the auxiliary verb not:

To form the interrogative form, the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject ( Subject):

Not all special questions can be asked in the Present Perfect. For example, a question with a word is impossible, so in the Present Perfect interlocutors are only interested in the result. If we are interested in time, then we need to use another grammatical construction to express actions in the past.

Using the Present Perfect

Present Perfect - present perfect tense. From the name it is clear that this tense denotes an action that was performed in the past, but is connected with the present. How is it connected to the present? How do we understand that it is connected?

From theory, you probably remember that this tense should be used when talking about the result of an action; if the action began in the past, but is still ongoing; and also if we talk about our life experiences; when the action took place in a period of time that has not yet ended... Surely you have already read about this many times in books or heard from a teacher.

I will try to explain to you step by step and clearly in what cases the Present Perfect is used in English. I will try to give situations from life that you encounter every day, and in which it is appropriate and even necessary to use Present Perfect. In this article I will give you small tasks, by completing which you will be able to see the importance of using this time. I would like to note that my explanation will be significantly different from those you read in grammar books.

What makes the Present Perfect different from other tenses? These are his markers (they are also called qualifiers, time indicators). Let us highlight the main markers of this time:

I'm going to tell you about each of them because each marker reflects the main points of time use.

1. Just (just now)

The tense indicator just is often used with Present Perfect and indicates that an action has just occurred and there is a certain visible and significant result.

In the statement, the place of just is after the auxiliary verb:

Just is not used in negatives. In general matters it is extremely rare.

Just is used in special questions with question words ( , Why, etc.) You may encounter questions like this with just :

What has just happened? - What just happened?

What has he just done/ said? - What did he just do/say?

What just happened? Someone just broke a cup.

When did this action take place? In the recent past, we don't know exactly when.

What do we know? We only know the result of an action. And we can say this in Present Perfect:

What did they just do? They have just cleaned the room.

We don't know the exact time, but we have a visible result - the room is clean.

They have just cleaned the room.

What did he just do? He just woke up.

The time of his awakening is unknown to us (although there is a clock in the photo), but we see the result: he is no longer sleeping.

He has just woken up.

What did you just do? You just read the explanation. The action is completed, there is a result: you learned about the word just.

You can say:

I have just read the explanation.

Exercise: Having performed some action and received a result, talk about its completion:

I have just had my breakfast.

You can look out the window and comment on what just happened there:

The tall man has just crossed the street. Two girls have just entered the shop.

2. Already/ yet (already; yet)

Present Perfect is used to describe an action that has already happened or has not yet happened. In these cases, we are invariably interested in the result, not in time. To make it clearer, let's look at an example from life.

Imagine that you come to a store with a shopping list.

Having already done some shopping, you stop to see what you have already purchased.

Let's consider different situations.

You read and translate complex text. You have only translated ten pages so far. You are still working with the text. You say:

I have translated ten pages so far. - I have translated ten pages so far.

Your friend is a writer. He writes novels. He has published one novel so far and continues to write. About him you will say:

He has published one novel so far. - He has published one novel so far.

The company you work for is expanding rapidly. At the moment, you have opened twenty new offices throughout the country and the company continues to grow:

Our company has opened twenty new offices so far. - Our company has opened twenty new offices at the moment.

All the actions described above took place in the past, but we evaluate their results at the moment while the action continues.

Question: How many paragraphs of this article have you read so far?

5. Never / ever (never / ever)

If you decide to indulge in memories and talk about your life experience, then without time Present Perfect you can't get by.

Do you love to travel? What countries have you visited?

I have been to France. - I was in France.

I have been to Italy. - I was in Italy.

I have been to Spain. - I was in Spain.

It doesn’t matter at all when you went to these countries, the main thing is that you visited there, got impressions, and can talk about it.

Which countries have you never been to? You can use negation or the word never to talk about it. The place of never in a sentence is after the auxiliary verb have/has:

I haven't been to India. - I have never been to India. - I've never been to India.

I haven’t been to China. - I have never been to China. - I have never been to China.

I haven't been to Japan. - I have never been to Japan. - I've never been to Japan.

If the word never is used, then the negative particle not is not needed because never itself has a negative meaning.

You want to ask questions to your interlocutor. Use the word ever:

Have you ever been to London? - Have you ever been in London?

I really hope that my explanation helped you understand the essence of the Present Perfect tense. Send your feedback

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