Part 2: Verbs
Present Perfect Tense
Examples
She has visited London.
Cell phones have become more powerful.
You’ve never seen a play like this before!
Researchers have discovered risks with social media.
Definition
The present perfect tense shows that something happened or existed before now. Although it describes things from the past, it is actually a present tense because the clause is presented as relevant to the present time, even if it didn’t happen recently. The present perfect contrasts with the past simple tense, which describes events that are complete, finished, and distant from the present. Actions in the present perfect often have no specific time marker. For example:
I have never been to China. (present perfect = my whole life until now)
I visited Japan in 2015. (past simple = specific time)
The school has banned cell phones. (present perfect = the focus is on the policy today)
Utah was the first state to ban smoking in public places. (past simple = historical fact)
Discovery
Additional questions:
What do you noticed about the form of the verbs braved, learned, weathered, witnessed?
What is the difference between we’ve learned and we learned, or we’ve witnessed and we witnessed?
Form
The present perfect has two parts: the auxiliary verb have and the past participle. The past participle is the -ed form of regular verbs (lived, walked, worked, followed). The past participles of irregular verbs have to be learned. They often end in -(e)n but not always (been, taken, eaten, gone, written, found, read).
|
auxiliary have |
past participle |
|
I have You have He/she/it has We have They have |
lived gone developed taken been |
The auxiliary have is often contracted in speech and less formal written registers: I’ve read that book, she’s been tired all day.
The negative is formed by adding not between have and the participle. Have not is often contracted to haven’t and has not to hasn’t.
I have not eaten yet.
She hasn’t eaten yet.
They have not finished their homework.
The haven’t finished their homework.
Careful!
The present perfect form of the verb have is have had (have + past participle). It looks funny, but it’s true. For example, I have had a great time today.
Don’t assume that every time you see the verb have, you’re looking at the present perfect!
The school has a tennis court. (present simple tense of have)
You need to have a haircut. (to infinitive of have with the present simple verb need)
I have to hurry. (semi-modal have to, meaning must)
The difference in use between present perfect and past simple tenses is often subtle. For example, I’ve just eaten and I just ate are used interchangeably in American English.
Functions
Verbs in the present perfect tense are often found in framing sentences that introduce nonfiction texts because they are useful for describing background. For example:
The American flag has long been (present perfect) a target of political protest in the United States. One of the earliest recorded times an American flag was burned (past simple) in protest was on May 10, 1861, in Liberty, Mississippi. (Source: History.com)
Another important function of the present perfect is to indicate change over time. For this reason, it is commonly used with verbs such as increase, decrease, change. For example:
The price of eggs has increased.
The stock market has risen.
Have you changed your password?
The present perfect is also often required with for (a period of time) and since (a point in time):
I have lived in Delaware for 16 years.
Dr. Burns has been the principal here since 2023.
Exercises
Choose one or more of these activities to complete individually or with a PLC:
- Read the rest of “The Hill We Climb” and find examples of the present perfect and other tenses. Can you explain why the poet chose these tenses?
- Write a story (or ask your students to write) about something that has changed in their school, city, or community.
- Choose a curriculum text whose KLU is Narrate or Explain, and highlight all the verb tenses. What do you notice about the choice of tenses?
What’s next?
Contrast the present perfect and the past simple
