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تعلم الانجليزية Learn English

19 Nov 2022 18:50

⚡️Further reading on the uses of the Present Perfect Tense⚡️

♦️1. to indicate completed actions in the very recent or immediate past:
a. She has just gone out. (She is out now, not at home!)
b. I have just eaten. (I don't feel hungry now. I have just finished eating!)

♦️2. an action completed in the past whose effect lingers in the present (Here, we usually concentrate on the effect (which can be still noticed in the present) more than the action itself (which happened in the past):
a. Oh! I have cut my finger. (S/He may be bleeding now! A cut can clearly be seen in the finger)
b. She has not tidied her room yet. (Her room is not tidied. The room is totally messed up)

♦️3. We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently, even if there isn't a clear result in the present. (This is common when we want to introduce news or new information. (We often use the words 'just / yet / already / recently'.) However, the past simple is also correct in these cases, especially in American English:
a. The Queen has given a speech.
b. The Mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.

♦️4. unspecified time before now (We use the present perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. (The exact time is not important)
a. I have never known him to be angry.
b. I have been to the USA twice.
(Notice: You CANNOT use the present perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, ago, last week, or when I was a child, etc. But we CAN use the present perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

♦️5. long actions which started in the near past and went on until very recently. (whether they are finished or unfinished actions, states or even habits (we usually use stative verbs in this case and "since" & "for" are often needed):
a. He has lived here since 2002. (long action)
b. I have known her for 10 years. (stative verb)

♦️6. life experience or accomplishments. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person's life. We don't say when the experience exactly happened, and the person needs to be alive now. (We often use the words 'ever' and 'never' here):
a. He has done a lot of interesting things in his life. (He is still alive)
a. He did a lot of interesting things in his life. (He is dead)
b. I have never seen a real lion.

♦️7. with an unfinished time word/phrase (this month, this week, today). The period of time is still continuing:
a. I have not had any coffee this morning. (It is still morning)
a. I did not have any coffee this morning. (Maybe it's afternoon or evening now, but not morning)

♦️8. change over time:
a. The government has become more interested in recycling resources.
b. Every country has developed its code of laws over hundreds or thousands of years.

♦️9. multiple actions at different times (We also use the present perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. Present perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible).
a. The army has attacked that city five times.
b. She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.