Present Perfect

THE PRESENT PERFECT

Have / has + past participleI have written a letter

She hasn’t been to Paris

Have they left?

PRESENT PERFECT USES

We use the Present Perfect to talk about past events that happened at an indefinite time in the past (LIFE EXPERIENCES)

Have you ever met a famous person?

Yes, I’ve met Brad Pitt.

No, I’ve never met Brad Pitt.

Present perfect vs. past simple

We use the Present Perfect to talk about the experience in general. When and where are not important.

I’ve eaten sushi.

We use the Past Simple to talk about more details.

I ate it last week in Japan

present perfect: PAST AND Present

The present perfect shows a connection between the PAST and the PRESENT.

The plane has landed = The plane is on the ground NOW

PRESENT PERFECT: GIVING NEWS

We often give a piece of news in the present perfect

We’ve bought a new car!

Your parcel has arrived.

The Police have arrested the two criminals.

JUST, ALREADY & YET

JUST: “A short time ago”: I’ve just had an idea. (+)

ALREADY: “Sooner than expected”: My brother has already crashed his new car. (+)

YET: “Something that hasn’t happened, but we are expecting it” : have you finished breakfast yet? no, I haven’t finished yet. (-, ?)

ALREADY & JUST: come before the PAST PARTICIPLE.

YET: comes at the end of a question or a negative sentence.

FOR OR SINCE?

We use PP for states that began in the past and continue into the present. The states are unfinished.

How long have you had your pet?

I’ve had it FOR many years.(a period of time)

I’ve had it SINCE my sixteenth birthday.(a specific point in time)

I’ve seen Mary twice this week

I saw Mary twice last week

PP: we talk about finished states that happened in an unfinished period of time (today, this week, in the last 12 months, etc)

Past simple: we talk about finished actions and states that happened in a finished period of time

unfinished time