Present Perfect: forms, uses and time expressions

Present Tenses

Present Perfect

have gone (to)/have been (to)/ have been in

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Simple vs Present Continuous

Stative Verbs

have/has + past participle

from

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

Short answers

I/You/They/We have/'ve finished

She/He/It has/'s finished

I/You/They/We have not/haven't finished

Have I/you/they/ we finished?

She/He/It has not/hasn't finished

Has she/he/it/ finished?

Yes, I/you/they/ we have.

No, I/you/they/ we haven't.

Yes, she/he/it has.

No, she/he/it hasn't.

Use

for actions which started in the past and continue up to the present especially with stative verbs such as be, have, like, know, etc.

Frank has been a secretary for 17 years.

to talk about a past action which has a visible result in the present.

ex.

Susan has bought a new suit for work.

for actions which happened at an unstated time in the past. (action + important)

ex.

They have written the report.

ex.

with today, this morning/afternoon/week, so far, etc when this periods of time are not finished at the time of speaking.

She has applied for two jobs this week.

ex.

for recently completed actions.

They've just finished their meeting

ex.

for personal experiences/changes which have happened.

It's the first time he has attended an interview

ex.

Luke has gone to work

Time expressions

already

yet

just

ever

never

for

since

recently

so far

Abigail has been to London

They have been in the meeting for three hours

have/has+been+verb -ing

from

Short answers

Interrogative

Negative

Affirmative

I/You/They/We have been/'ve been trying

She/He/It has been/'s been trying

I/You/They/We have not been/haven't been trying

She/He/It has not been/hasn't been trying

Have I/you/they/ we been trying?

Has she/he/it/ been trying?

Yes, I/you/they/ we have.

No, I/you/they/ we haven't.

Yes, she/he/it has.

No, she/he/it hasn't.

Use

to place emphasis on the duration of an action which started

for an action that started in the past and lasted for some time. It may still be continuing, or have finished, but it has left a visible result in the present.

to express anger, irritation, annoyance or criticism.

Time expressions

since

for

how long

Present Simple

Present Continuous

permanent states and facts

habits/routines

timetables

temporary situations

actions happening now/around the time of speaking

futures arragements

ex.

ex.

ex.

ex.

ex.

ex.

He fixes computers

She goes to work on the bus every morning.

The departament store opens at 8

He's trying hard to get a promotion

She's talking to her boss now

They're arriving at 10 o'clock tomorrow

verb of the senses

verbs of perception

verbs which express feelings and emotion

agree, be, belong, contain, cost, fit, have, include, keep, need, owe, own

Present Simple

Present Continuous

I think that's Gavin's work colleague (=beliveve)

He has a new computer on this desk. (=own's)

The office smells very strange today (=has the aroma)

I am thinking of training to be a electrician (=am considering)

She's seeing her old boss tomorrow (=is meeting)