The PRESENT PERFECT
A quick guide on the Present Perfect for B1 and lower B2 ESL and ESOL students.
1. LIFE EXPERIENCES up to now
1.1. Understanding the present perfect: Click on the arrow and watch the video
1.2. Use "ever" in questions and "never" for negatives:
1.2.1. Ex: Have you ever eaten octopus?" -"No, I haven't." -"Yes, I have." -"Yes, a couple of times" -"No, never." -"No, I've never eaten it
1.3. Use "ever" and "never ever" for emphasis:
1.3.1. Ex: I've never (ever) eaten octopus.
1.3.2. Ex: This is the best octopus I've ever eaten!
1.3.3. You can also express emphasis with phrases like "in my (entire/whole) life: "I've never seen that man in my life."
1.4. To specify the number of times something has occurred so far in someone's life or the period being referred to.
1.4.1. Ex: "I've eaten octopus hundreds of times"
1.4.1.1. BUT "I never ate octopus when I was a kid." I am an adult now and the time referred to -childhood- is over, so I can no longer have that childhood experience.
1.4.2. Ex: "He's been married 6 times."
1.4.3. If the person is not living or can no longer have the experience, we use the past simple.
1.4.3.1. COMPARE: "Jane Austen wrote 6 major novels": (Austin is dead and can't write any more novels); BUT "Margaret Atwood has written several novels." (Atwood is alive AND is still actively writing today.)
1.4.3.2. "Leo Messi has received 6 Ballon d'Or awards and has scored over 438 goals.": (Messi is still actively playing soccer and might win more awards and score more goals.) BUT "Xavi Hernández" was awarded the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award four times." (Xavi Hernández is alive but doesn't play football any more.)
1.5. The emphasis is on the EXPERIENCE itself and not the exact time it occurred.
1.5.1. Although time is not important, we can use general time expressions: "so far", "up to now", "in my life"....
2. UNFINISHED actions or states that began in the past and continue today
2.1. Use "for" and "since" + a time expression to indicate the duration of the UNFINISHED action
2.1.1. "since" indicates when the action began
2.1.1.1. Ex: I've lived in Spain since 2003 / since I was a child/ since last January / since Christmas...
2.1.2. "for" indicates the period of time the actions has been going on
2.1.2.1. Ex: I've lived in Spain for 20 years / for a long time / for as long as I can remember / for 2 months /for a while / for years....
2.1.2.1.1. Native speakers often omit "for", especially in informal speech and writing: "I've lived in Spain 20 years". "I've lived here years."
2.1.2.1.2. Do not use "during": "I've lived in Spain **during** 20 years.
2.2. To ask questions about duration, use "How long + present perfect....?
2.2.1. The response usually contains "long", "for", or "since:
2.2.2. Ex: "How long have you lived in Spain? Response: For a long time. Not long. Since 1994, for 20 years...
2.2.3. Do not use "How much time...:"
2.3. The emphasis is on the DURATION of an UNFINISHED action.
3. RECENTLY FINISHED actions/events that have an effect on or are relevant to the present
3.1. Usually used to report and ask about news and recent events: By definition, "news" is news precisely because it affects or is relevant to the present.
3.1.1. Ex: "Have you heard (the news) about Peter? He's broken his leg!
3.1.2. Ex: Have you heard the latest? The president has been shot.
3.1.3. Because the emphasis is NOT on the completed action itself, we can NEVER use the present perfect when we express WHEN exactly the action was completed: "Peter broke his leg yesterday" ( NOT "Peter **has broken** his leg yesterday.")
3.2. We use certain time expressions to emphasize the relationship to the present.
3.2.1. "still", "already", "yet" and "just"
3.2.1.1. There are a few differences between American and British English: American English tends to use "just"with the past simple: "I just passed my driver's test". In informal spoken English
3.2.2. "recently", "lately", "these days"....
3.2.2.1. Ex: "Recently, the president has published some controversial tweets."
3.2.2.2. Ex: "Have you talked to Mary lately?"
3.2.3. "today", "this morning/ afternoon / month / summer....
3.2.3.1. Ex: "I've had 3 cups of coffee this morning." (it is still morning). "I've seen 3 films this month" (the month is not over)
3.3. The emphasis is on the PRESENT RESULT or EFFECT of a completed past action. If there is no connection to the present, the past simple is used
3.3.1. Ex: "Someone has stolen my wallet." (My wallet is missing now and I'm desperate as a result: I don't have any ID, credit cards, or money. ) NOTICE: We know that the wallet is still missing. If there is no connection between the action and the present moment, the past simple is used: "Someone stole my wallet." (We only know that at some time in the past the wallet was stolen, BUT we don't know if it is still missing)
4. VS. the Past Simple
4.1. Use the past simple to talk about COMPLETED actions in the past when the time is known or when the emphasis is on the completed action itself and NOT on its effect or relationship to the present.
4.2. When we express the exact time an action finished, we use the past simple.
4.2.1. Common past time expressions used with the PAST SIMPLE: "yesterday", "ago", "last", and time prepositions "in", "on", "at"
4.2.2. time expression + "ago" click here for an important clarification about this chart.-->
4.2.3. "when" + clause: when she was a child, when he was in primary school,...
4.3. A great way to master the use of present perfect and past simple is to read biographies of famous living people. See Wikipedia for Leo Messi 's biograpy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi and Xavi Hernández's as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavi
5. PRACTICE
5.1. dozens of Interactive worksheets at liveworksheet
5.2. Match the tiles listening activity
5.3. Test English: B1 past simple vs. present perfect (4 pages)
5.4. Perfect English grammar exercises
5.5. using "ever" & "never"
5.6. Learn English by the British Council
5.7. Cambridge: Past simple vs. present perfect
6. VIDEO explanations
6.1. Oxford Online English
6.2. mmmEnglish
6.3. Tom's Story
6.4. Life experiences
6.4.1. British Council