{"id":4113,"date":"2021-01-20T00:00:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T06:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=4113"},"modified":"2021-06-09T12:03:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T17:03:54","slug":"present-perfect-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/verbs\/present-perfect-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"Present Perfect Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The English language has three verb tenses to indicate the time an action took place: present, past, and future. Each tense is then further categorized as simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive, resulting in twelve total tenses. In this discussion, we’ll review the present perfect tense<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The present perfect is used to communicate occurrences or experiences either completed or not completed in the past with a relation to the present. To form the present perfect tense, we join the present-tense auxiliary verb has <\/em>or have <\/em>to the past participle of a verb. This pairing connects the past with the present.<\/p>\n

\nExamples<\/em><\/strong>
\nI have<\/u><\/em> (present auxiliary) run<\/u><\/em> (past participle) a marathon.<\/p>\n

He has<\/u><\/em> (present auxiliary) not<\/em> run<\/u><\/em> (past participle) a marathon.<\/p>\n

They have<\/u><\/em> (present auxiliary) been<\/u><\/em> (past participle) to Madagascar.<\/p>\n

She has<\/u><\/em> (present auxiliary) not been<\/u><\/em> (past participle) to Madagascar.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note the statements’ open-ended nature. Although each describes a past event, it does not imply a conclusion; something has been done, and it could take place again.<\/p>\n

The Present Perfect Tense: Passive Voice<\/h2>\n

The passive voice of the present perfect tense is formed with the present-tense auxiliary verb has <\/em>or have, <\/em>the past particle of be <\/em>(been<\/em>), and the past participle of a verb.<\/p>\n

\nExamples<\/em><\/strong>
\nThe proposal has<\/u> been<\/u> reviewed<\/u><\/em> by the committee.<\/p>\n

Eric and Evelyn have<\/u> been<\/u> visited<\/u> <\/em>by their children.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Present Perfect Tense: Time of Occurrence<\/h2>\n

The exact time in the past is irrelevant in the present perfect tense, so we do not use it with specific references such as yesterday, last month, <\/em>and when I was young. <\/em>We do use the present perfect with unspecific time references such as before, once, <\/em>and often.<\/em><\/p>\n

Incorrect: <\/strong>I have played the guitar when I was young.<\/em>
\nCorrect: <\/strong>I have\u00a0played the guitar before<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The occurrence or experience referred to in the present perfect may have happened recurrently or just one time. Some statements using the present perfect might also leave the frequency unanswered or open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

\nExamples<\/em><\/strong>
\nWe have<\/u><\/em> always<\/em> visited<\/u><\/em> Grandma Coleman in August. (One can infer this happens often and continues into the present.)<\/p>\n

Emma has<\/u><\/em> reached<\/u><\/em> the top of Mount Kilimanjaro once<\/em>. (The number of trips to the top is clear.)<\/p>\n

Anita has<\/u> sung<\/u><\/em> at the Civic Opera House. (She may have sung several times or once.)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because the present perfect connects the past with an open-ended present, the tense in a subordinate clause remains in the present.<\/p>\n

\nExamples<\/em><\/strong>
\nHas<\/u><\/em> the attorney stated<\/u><\/em> that the plea deal is<\/em> (not was<\/em>) non-negotiable?<\/p>\n

The Navarros have<\/u> expressed<\/u> which type of flooring they want<\/em> (not wanted<\/em>).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Using what you’ve learned in this article, answer whether the present perfect tense is used correctly in each sentence.<\/p>\n

1. Joseph has won the award when he was in high school. [Yes \/ No]<\/p>\n

2. The painters have painted the wall with several coats. [Yes \/ No]<\/p>\n

3. The director has made two movies last year. [Yes \/ No]<\/p>\n

4. Maria has often been encouraged to set new goals at work. [Yes \/ No]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. No<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Yes<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. No<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. Yes<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The English language has three verb tenses to indicate the time an action took place: present, past, and future. Each tense is then further categorized as simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive, resulting in twelve total tenses. In this discussion, we’ll review the present perfect tense. The present perfect is used to communicate occurrences or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4113"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4993,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4113\/revisions\/4993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}