Back to: Communicative English Language Skills I
📘 The Present Perfect Tense – Deep Dive
1. 📌 What Is the Present Perfect Tense?
The Present Perfect Tense connects the past to the present. It describes actions that:
- happened at an unspecified time before now,
- have present results, or
- started in the past and continue to the present.
✅ Examples from your textbook (p. 17):
- “Over the years authors have identified the issues…”
- “The reading skills that you have already developed can be put to good use…”
👉 Notice: No exact time is mentioned (e.g., *not* “in 2020” or “last week”).
2. 🔧 How to Form the Present Perfect
Structure:
Subject + have/has + past participle
| Subject | Auxiliary Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| I / You / We / They | have | worked, seen, written |
| He / She / It | has | worked, seen, written |
- We have finished the assignment.
- She has never visited Hawassa.
- Have you ever eaten kitfo?
3. 🕰️ When to Use the Present Perfect (4 Key Uses)
A. Unspecified Past Time
The action happened before now, but when is not important.
- “I have read that novel.” (When? Doesn’t matter.)
- “They have visited Gonder.”
B. Present Result of a Past Action
The past action has a visible or logical consequence now.
- “I have lost my keys.” → So I can’t open the door now.
- “She has cooked dinner.” → The food is ready!
C. Life Experiences (with “ever”, “never”, “before”)
- “Have you ever been to Axum?”
- “I have never failed an exam.”
D. Actions That Started in the Past and Continue (with “for”, “since”)
- “We have lived in Addis Ababa for five years.”
- “He has studied engineering since 2022.”
4. ⏳ Present Perfect vs. Simple Past – Critical Difference!
Your textbook (p. 17–18) emphasizes this contrast. Let’s clarify:
| Present Perfect | Simple Past |
|---|---|
| No specific time mentioned. “I have read this book.” |
Specific time mentioned. “I read this book last year.” |
| Time is connected to now. “She has just arrived.” |
Time is finished. “She arrived an hour ago.” |
❌ Common Error (from your textbook, p. 18):
“I have read this book last year.” → WRONG!
✅ Correct: “I read this book last year.”
💡 Rule: **NEVER** use present perfect with finished time expressions like *yesterday, last week, in 2010, ago*, etc.
5. 📅 Signal Words for Present Perfect
These words often “trigger” the present perfect:
6. 🧠 Practice Exercises (with Full Solutions)
Exercise 1: Choose Present Perfect or Simple Past.
- Yesterday we ______ (play) football.
- The boys ______ (clean) the car. It looks new!
- I ______ (meet) my best friend in 2020.
- She ______ (never / visit) another country.
- We ______ (just / read) the book.
Solutions:
- played (yesterday = specific time)
- have cleaned (present result: car looks new)
- met (2020 = specific time)
- has never visited (life experience)
- have just read (“just” = present perfect signal)
Exercise 2: Correct the errors.
- I have seen that movie last week.
- She has finished her homework an hour ago.
- Have you ever been to Bahir Dar in 2019?
- I saw that movie last week.
- She finished her homework an hour ago.
- Have you ever been to Bahir Dar? (Remove “in 2019”)
7. 💬 Teacher’s Final Advice
My dear students: The Present Perfect isn’t just a tense—it’s a bridge between your past efforts and your present identity. When you say, “I have studied hard,” you’re not just reporting—you’re declaring your readiness for tomorrow’s exam! 🌟 Practice it in your study groups. Use it when you reflect: “We have learned so much in Unit 1.” And remember: Mastery comes not from memorizing, but from **using it with purpose**.
Based on Communicative English Language Skills I (FLEn 1011), Unit 1.4 – Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ethiopia (2019)