SMRT 115 - UNIT 7 - PRESENT PERFECT

SMRT 115 - PRESENT PERFECT USE and VERB FORMATION

Present Perfect Verb Form:

'have' or 'has' + past participle

For example, 

I have traveled to many countries.

John has finished his homework.

Those students have been here for three months.

Use:

1. Experience:  Everything that you have done in the past can be expressed by using present perfect tense BUT NEVER use TIME words like 'yesterday, ago, last night, in June, in 2009'.

Quite often the words 'never and ever' are used.

For example,

Have you ever jumped out of an airplane?

I have never jumped out of an airplane.

I have painted many paintings. (You know what I did in the past--painted many paintings, but you do not when I did painted them -- no time words.)

2.  Duration:  How long?  An action or activity started in the past and continues until now.  Signal words are:  for three months,  since September

For example,

How long have you studied English?

I have studied English for five years.

I have studied English since I was 13 years old.

I have been here since September.

I have been here for three months.

3. Past Actions/Present Results:  An action in the past connects to now, so in English, it is common to use Present Perfect to express this.  Sometimes you will find signal words like 'just' or 'already'.

For example,

The window is closed. (Why?)

The teacher closed the window. (past simple)

so present perfect is:

The teacher has closed the window.  (present perfect)

I am not hungry. (Why?)

I already ate. (past simple)

I have already eaten.  (present perfect)

It is not raining. (Why?)

It stopped raining. (past simple)

I has stopped raining.  (present perfect)

His homework is finished. (Why?)

He just finished his homework. (past simple)

He has just finished his homework. (present perfect)

Great Verb Tense Chart

Great Verb Chart for all Tenses. This is a link to a very good verb chart for all tenses with 'key' or 'sign' words that are used with different tenses. This chart also gives questions and negative forms and when to use each tense, with examples. Go to the link and bookmark it for yourself or copy it into a file to keep on your computer.
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/tenses_table.pdf
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/english_tenses.htm

This site has visual explanations with words for verb tense and aspect and is very helpful to understand the most used tenses in English. I recommend this for all ESL students at any level to review. You do not need a teacher to go through this--you can easily follow the notes and diagrams. Very good help to students!! The animated diagrams with the explanations of the verb tenses are really easy to understand to make learning the tenses so much easier!! Try it for yourself. You do not need a teacher to show you anything.
http://www.elihinkel.org/tips/tenses.htm



Irregular Verb List


The following link is just a list of common irregular verbs--easy to copy
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/irregular-verbs-list.htm

Irregular Verb exercise (past participles)
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/irregular-verbs-exercise-1.html