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presentperfect

Thepresentperfectisformedfromthepresenttenseoftheverbhaveandthepastparticipleofaverb:
Thepresentperfectcontinuousisformedwithhave/hasbeenandtheingformoftheverb:
Use
Weusethepresentperfecttense:
forsomethingthatstartedinthepastandcontinuesinthepresent:
Theyvebeenmarriedfornearlyfiftyyears.
ShehaslivedinLiverpoolallherlife.
Note:Wenormallyusethepresentperfectcontinuousforthis:
ShehasbeenlivinginLiverpoolallherlife.
Itsbeenrainingforhours.
forsomethingwehavedoneseveraltimesinthepastandcontinuetodo:
IveplayedtheguitareversinceIwasateenager.
Hehaswrittenthreebooksandheisworkingonanotherone.
Ivebeenwatchingthatprogrammeeveryweek.
Weoftenuseaclausewithsincetoshowwhensomethingstartedinthepast:
Theyvebeenstayingwithussincelastweek.
IhaveworkedheresinceIleftschool.

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Ivebeenwatchingthatprogrammeeveryweeksinceitstarted.
whenwearetalkingaboutourexperienceuptothepresent:

Note:Weoftenusetheadverbevertotalkaboutexperienceuptothepresent:
MylastbirthdaywastheworstdayIhaveeverhad.
Note:andweuseneverforthenegativeform:
HaveyouevermetGeorge?
Yes,butIvenevermethiswife.
forsomethingthathappenedinthepastbutisimportantatthetimeofspeaking:
Icantgetinthehouse.Ivelostmykeys.
Teresaisntathome.Ithinkshehasgoneshopping.
Imtiredout.Ivebeenworkingallday.

Weusethepresentperfectofbewhensomeonehasgonetoaplaceandreturned:
A:Wherehaveyoubeen?
B:Ivejustbeenouttothesupermarket.
A:HaveyoueverbeentoSanFrancisco?
B:No,butIvebeentoLosAngeles.
Butwhensomeonehasnotreturnedweusehave/hasgone:
A:WhereisMaria?Ihaventseenherforweeks.
B:She'sgonetoParisforaweek.Shellbebacktomorrow.
Weoftenusethepresentperfectwithtimeadverbialswhichrefertotherecentpast:
justonlyjustrecently
Scientistshaverecentlydiscoveredanewbreedofmonkey.
Wehavejustgotbackfromourholidays.

oradverbialswhichincludethepresent:
ever(inquestions)sofaruntilnowuptonowyet(inquestionsandnegatives)
Haveyoueverseenaghost?
Wherehaveyoubeenuptonow?
Haveyoufinishedyourhomeworkyet?
No,sofarIveonlydonemyhistory.
WARNING:
Wedonotusethepresentperfectwithanadverbialwhichreferstopasttimewhichisfinished:
Ihaveseenthatfilmyesterday.
Wehavejustboughtanewcarlastweek.
WhenwewerechildrenwehavebeentoCalifornia.
Butwecanuseittorefertoatimewhichisnotyetfinished:
HaveyouseenHelentoday?
Wehaveboughtanewcarthisweek.

(https://gamedata.britishcouncil.org/d/Matching_NDQ4MQ==.xml)

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465

COMMENTS

(/en/users/dwishiren)repliedon26March,201517:53IndonesiaPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/75291#COMMENT75291)
Dwishiren

(/en/users/dwishiren)

Teachers,whydothebelowsentenceshave"have"twice?
IwouldhavelikedtohavegotagoalonSaturdayagainstmyoldteam.
IwouldhavelovedtohaveseenRooneyplayforEngland.
Thenormalsentences:IwouldliketogetagoalandIwouldlovetosee....

Kirk

(/en/users/kirk)

(/en/users/kirk)repliedon27March,201507:33SpainPERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/75507#COMMENT75507)

HelloDwishiren,

Pleaseseeourmodals+have(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/verbs/modalverbs/modalshave),will
haveorwouldhave(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/verbs/modalverbs/willhaveorwouldhave)
andConditionals2(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammarreference/conditionals2)pages,whereyoucanfindsome
explanationofthe'wouldhave'form.'tohaveseen'and'tohavegot'arecalledperfectinfinitives,andareusedtorefertocompletedorunrealpast
situations.Inthesecases,theyrefertounrealpastsituations.
Allthebest,
Kirk
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/aileb)repliedon15March,201523:16RussiaPERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/72076#COMMENT72076)

Aile_B

(/en/users/aileb)

DearTheLearnEnglishTeam,

Couldyoupleaseclarify,whichofthefollowingcentencesiscorrectandwhy:
1.Hersisterarrangedagreatpartyrecently.
2.Hersisterhasarrangedagreatpartyrecently.
Does"recently"alwaysrequirethePresentPerfecttobeused?ArethereanyexhampleswhenthePastSimpleisusedwith"recently"?
Manythanks,
Aile

Kirk

(/en/users/kirk)

(/en/users/kirk)repliedon17March,201508:02SpainPERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/72239#COMMENT72239)

HelloAile,

'recently'canbeusedwithbothtenses.Thedifferenceisthatin2,youindicatethatthereissomeconnectionwiththepresent(forwhateverreason)andin1,
theideaisthatthearrangementiscompletelydone,i.e.unrelatedtothepresent.
Ifyoulookup'recently'intheCambridgeDictionariesOnlinesearchboxontheright,youcanseeseveralexamplesentenceswithdifferentverbtenses.
Andformoreonthepresentperfectvsthepastsimple,pleaseseetheTransportandTravelScene2LanguageFocus
(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/wordstreet/transportandtravelscene2languagefocus)video,whereRob
discussesthisindetail.
Goodluck!
Bestwishes,
Kirk
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/dwishiren)repliedon15March,201518:37IndonesiaPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/72061#COMMENT72061)
Dwishiren

(/en/users/dwishiren)
Whyis"hasbeento"usedinthesentencesbelow?
Thegenitivehasalsobeencalledthepossesivesinceoneofitsfunctionhasbeentodenotethepossessorwhenisreferredtobythesecondnounphrase.
MywishhasbeentomovetoCalifornia.
Also,whyisthepreposition"after"followedby"having"?
Iwonderiftherecanbeanythinggoodafterhavingbeenterrible.
Afterhavingmovedtheprefecture,chancestomeetfriendshavedecreaded.
IfeelbetterafterhavinglistenedKpop.
Iusuallysay"after+ingverb"inthesesentences.
Also

Kirk

(/en/users/kirk)

(/en/users/kirk)repliedon17March,201507:55SpainPERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/72235#COMMENT72235)

HiDwishiren,

ThissentenceaboutmovingtoCaliforniahasnocontext,soit'sreallynotpossibletosaywhythepresentperfectisusedthere.Itisanoddusage,thoughit
isnotincorrect.
Asyoualreadyknow,averbthatcomesafter'after'andotherprepositionsgoesinaningform.'havingmoved'isaperfectformof'moving',whichmeans
thatitindicatesthattheactioniscompleted.'aftermoving'canmeanthesamething,butitdoesn'tindicatecompletionasclearlyas'afterhavingmoved'.The
shorterformismorecommonininformalspeech,andisalsousedinformalcontexts,butthelongerisusuallyonlyusedinmoreformalsituations.
Bestregards,
Kirk
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/dwishiren)repliedon18March,201521:18IndonesiaPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/72795#COMMENT72795)
Dwishiren

(/en/users/dwishiren)
Thanks,Kirk.Canyouexplainthissentence?Whyuse"hasbeento"?
Thegenitivehasalsobeencalledthepossessivesinceoneofitsfunctionshasbeentodenotethepossessorwhenisreferredtobythesecondnoun
phrase.
Iusuallysay"oneofitsfunctionsISTO".

(/en/users/kirk)repliedon19March,201507:39SpainPERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/72857#COMMENT
72857)
Kirk

(/en/users/kirk)
HiDwishiren,

Thatdoesn'tmakesense,atleastoutofcontext,tomeeither.Iwouldsaythesamethingasyou.
Allthebest,
Kirk
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/knightrider)repliedon2March,201516:37ItalyPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/71563#COMMENT71563)
Knightrider

(/en/users/knightrider)
Hieverybody,
Thepresentperfectisalsousedwiththequitecommonpattern:"it'sthefirst/second/lasttime...".
Iwasthinkingitmightbeaddedtothelistabove.
Cheers!

(/en/users/karzancamus)repliedon14February,201513:33IraqPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/71003#COMMENT71003)
Karzan_Camus

(/en/users/karzancamus)
Hi.Teachers.
Ifyoucouldpleasetellmewhichofthesetwosentencesiscorrect?Incaseifthesecondsentenceiswrong,why?
1Thesnowofthemountainshasalreadystartedmelting.
2Thesnowhasalreadystartedmeltingofthemountains.