Learn English Tenses: PRESENT PERFECT

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Welcome to this class on the present perfect tense.

This class is part of a series created by www.engvid.com , to help you learn and master

the different verb tenses in English, okay?

So, now, the present perfect tense is the first of the advanced tenses.

It's advanced, not only in terms of the grammar but also in terms of the way that we think

about time when we use this tense.

And, I'm going to explain to you all about that.

Now, by using this tense, you will definitely be able to speak and write at a much higher

level in English, whether it's for social situations or business or in an academic environment,

the present perfect tense will allow you to communicate in a much more advanced way.

So, are you ready to level up?

Let's get started.

So, the present perfect tense connects the present with the past, okay?

It's not just about the present or the past, it links and connects the present and the

How does it do that?

This tense shows us that an action in the past has a result in the present, or an effect

in the present.

That means that something that happened before now has an effect or a result on something

So, there's that connection between past and present in the present perfect tense.

Now, it is different, therefore, from some of the tenses that you've learned before.

For example, you have learned probably, if you've been going step by step, you have learned

the past simple, right?

So, let's look now at an example to show you how the past simple is different from this

present perfect.

So, in the past simple, I could say, "I lost my book", right?

So, the verb here, the past tense verb is what?

I lost my book.

Or, I could say to you in present perfect, "I have lost my book".

I have lost my book.

Here, "have lost" is present perfect.

So, is there a difference between saying "I lost my book", and "I have lost my book"?

In English, there is.

Sometimes, people use it almost in the same way, but actually, it's different.

So, if I say to you, "I lost my book", maybe I lost my book on Monday, but then I found

So, if you say just "I lost my book", it doesn't mean that that is true today, it means it

was true in the past.

But, if you tell me, "I've lost my book", I have lost my book means what happened in

the past is still true now, and my book is still lost, okay?

Because maybe here, you lost it on Monday, you found it on Tuesday, and it's not true

But, when you say, "I have lost", it means you lost it at some time in the past, we don't

know when exactly and it doesn't matter, because what matters is the result, and the result

here in this example is that I don't have my book now.

See that difference?

So, this tense allows you to take something from the past, bring it into the present,

and make it true now.

That's one of the most common ways in which we use the present perfect, and we'll also

be looking at some other ways while we go through this class.

So, how does it actually look when we use it?

This is just a quick overview of that, we'll go into detail.

So, to construct a sentence in the present perfect, we take the subject, we take the

helping verb "have", the verb "to have", we have to use that, and then we take a regular

verb or an irregular verb and we have to use the third form, or the past participle.

Don't worry about that right now, it's not hard, you can learn it, okay?

I'll give you an example, these are just example verbs, okay?

I have worked in this company for five years.

You have worked.

We have worked.

They have worked.

Or, if we give an example with an irregular verb, like the verb "to do", we could say,

he has done homework.

That means he did his homework and it's still done; it's still finished.

She has done her homework.

It has done the job.

So, this is a quick overview of it.

We're going to now learn exactly when to use this tense.

We use the present perfect in different situations.

Let's look at what they are.

So, the first one, we can use it to talk about something that happened in the past and it's

still true now, okay?

We looked at an example of this before.

For example, we could say, "I have seen that movie".

So, if somebody asks you, would you like to watch this movie, and you say no, it's okay,

I have seen it.

So, you saw it and it's still true that you have seen it.

So, "have seen" is the present perfect part of that.

Or, "I have found my keys."

"Have found" means you've found them and it's still true and you don't need to look for

your keys anymore, because now you have found them.

Next, we can talk about the past for a finished action using the present perfect.

For example, you could say, "I have finished my homework", alright?

I have finished my homework means I don't need to work on it anymore, it's done, it's

Or, you could say, "I have cooked dinner".

That means dinner is ready, I don't have to spend any more time cooking, I have cooked

it, it's finished, it's over, alright?

So, we can use it to talk about actions that finished in the past, and they're still true.

Or, sometimes you will hear people using it to talk about something that happened in the

past, but it's not finished.

For example, and these are actually the most common examples of this, of this situation.

Somebody could say, "I have worked here for five years."

What does that mean?

I started to work here five years ago, and I still work here, okay?

So, "I have worked", alright?

Or, "I have lived here since 2012."

"Have lived"; I started to live here in 2012, and I still live here, okay?

It's still true.

It's still relevant.

So, we can use present perfect for that, and it's not a finished action, because in this

case, I still work here.

I still live here.

Next, we can use it to talk about something that happened in the recent past, means not

very long ago, just a short time ago.

Maybe a minute ago, or maybe a short time ago, and it has some kind of effect or result

Let's look at an example.

Suppose somebody says, "Would you like to go for lunch?" and you say, "Oh, that's too

bad, I have just eaten lunch."

"I have eaten", the word "just" kind of emphasizes that recent part a little bit.

I have eaten lunch, so what does that mean, what's the result?

Well, I don't need to go for lunch again, right, with you.

So, that's when you would say something like that.

Or, if someone says, "Wait, don't send that email!", but you say, "Oh no, I have just

sent the email".

"Have sent", so maybe it just happened in the recent past again and it already happened,

and it's still true that it happened, okay?

So, we can use it like that.

And we could also use it for things that happened in the past, but they happened often, they

happened repeatedly or repetitively, okay?

They happened again and again, so you could say, for example, "I have shopped here for

"Have shopped", okay?

It didn't mean that you kept shopping for years, no, but at different times over the

years, you shopped, you have shopped in that particular shop, store, or mall or something

So, you could also use it for these kind of repetitive or repeated actions.

So, these are some situations in which you can use the present perfect tense.

Another way to understand when to use the present perfect tense is to look at some of

the common words and expressions that we use with this tense.

Okay, so let's do that.

So, I've divided the board here between some words and expressions that describe things

or actions that already finished, and some that have not finished, that are still continuing.

For example, the first one, "I have already read that book".

So, let's look at this here.

Have - I have read is the present perfect, and the word is "already".

So, when we say I have already done something it means I did in the past, and it's still

true, because if I already read that book, then I already know what is in that book,

It's still true now.

That's that connection between past and present.

Another example of a finished action in the past that's still true now: Our team as just

So, here we have "has just won", the word is "just".

So, sometimes we can refer to an action in the past that happened very recently with

the word "just".

Our team has just won, okay?

Maybe it just happened, alright?

But it's still true now, so it's part of present perfect.

Now, let's look at a few other kinds of examples.

She has worked here for three months.

So, "has worked" is the present perfect and the word which we can use often with it is

the word "for".

She has worked here for three months.

Let's look at another example and then I'll show you the difference between for and something

The next one says, "She has worked here since January", okay?

So here, again, "has worked" is the present perfect, and "since" is the word you can use

with the present perfect.

So, what's the difference between saying "She's worked here for three months", or "since January"?

Do you remember?

So, "for" should always be used with a period of time, right?

And "since" is used with the point in time when something began.

So, let's suppose that she started in January, now it's March, so we can say she's worked

here for three months, it's the end of March.

So, since + the point when something started and for + the length of time or the period

of time that something lasted.

So, we can use those two words with present perfect.

Next, "The flight has not arrived yet."

So, this is a negative sentence, but it doesn't matter.

"Has not arrived" is the present perfect.

"Has arrived", "has not arrived", and the word we can use is "yet".

This is unfinished, because yet means till now, till this moment, from the past, till

this moment, it has not arrived.

So, we can say, "The flight has not arrived yet", okay?

You can use that for lots of things.

The pizza hasn't arrived yet.

John hasn't arrived it.

It means till now.

Next, "Have you ever been to Italy?", okay?

So now, we're talking about in all your life, till now and including now, have you ever

been, it means have you ever visited, Italy?

So, the present perfect can include all of the past, all of your life until now.

So, it could be here: Have you been, and the word is "ever".

So, a lot of times, we can ask these kind of questions and when you're asking these

kind of questions, you're using present perfect.

Have you ever done this?

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever seen that movie, and so on and so forth, okay?

Next, "He has never eaten sushi."

So, this is kind of the flip of "have you ever", the negative version, right?

He has eaten, and here we're making it negative, he has never eaten.

What does that mean?

In all of his life, in the past, till now and including now, he has not eaten sushi.

And the last one, "How long have you known each other?", okay?

Have you known, right?

Present perfect, have known, and this is the phrase that you can use with it, how long

have you known each other?

So, you could say what?

"We have known each other for many years.", or you could say, "We have known each other"

+ a particular year.

Since 2015, okay?

So, these are some of the common words and expressions you can use with the present perfect

Now, let's look at when not to use the present perfect tense, okay?

So, you cannot use the present perfect tense with any kind of finished time expression.

What does that mean?

What is a finished time expression?

For example, words like yesterday, last week, last month, last year, in the 1960s, these

are all times that are finished and over, right?

We cannot use present perfect with any of those expressions, if you have a sentence

or if you have a question, okay?

But you can use the present perfect with an unfinished time expression or with no time

Let me explain.

For example, what do I mean by an unfinished time?

An unfinished time would be like today.

Today is not over, right?

So, it's considered, in English, an unfinished time expression.

Or, this week, it's not over.

This month, it's not over.

This year, it's not over.

Or, in my life, it's not over, right?

So, if you're talking about something like that, an unfinished time, then yes, you can

use present perfect.

Or, you can just use present perfect and use no time expression, alright?

So, if your sentence or question doesn't have any time expression, that's fine.

Because this tense, we're focusing more on the result of the action, not when something

If you need to tell me or ask me when something happened, then you need to go to another tense,

which is the past simple tense.

But with unfinished time or no time, you can use present perfect.

So, let's look at some examples so you understand exactly.

It's really very easy.

So, in the past simple, with the finished time expression, we would say something like

this: I spoke to him three times last week.

Now, "last week", right?

It's over, it's finished, it's a finished time expression, so here I had to use "I spoke",

and "I spoke" is the past simple.

It's not the present perfect, right?

So, if I have to say, "last week", then I have to go back to just using past simple.

But here, I could say, "I have spoken to him three times this week."

Now, "this week" we said is what?

It's an unfinished time.

And "I've spoken", I have spoken, is present perfect, it's perfectly fine to use it because

it's an unfinished time this week, alright?

See the difference?

As soon as you use the finished time, then use past simple.

If you're using the unfinished time or no time, use present perfect.

Let's check another example.

Here, somebody asks, "When did you meet John?"

So, this word "when", right?

Very critical word in this tense, because as soon as you see that word, you can't use

present perfect, because if somebody says, "When did you meet John?", you're going to

talk about a time in the past, even if that time was one minute ago or ten years ago.

So, if you use the word "when" in your question, then again, use past simple.

Do not use present perfect.

But, what question words can we use with present perfect?

We could say, for example, "How long have you know John?", right?

"How long" is okay, because how long is talking about a time that started in the past and

it's still true now, it still counts, includes now.

So, that's fine.

That's like an unfinished time.

So, that would be okay.

Here, we can use present perfect, alright?

Let's take another example, "When did you visit Spain?"

Again, that word, right?

"When", and that would have to be past simple immediately, because let's say I visited Spain

last year, or in 2015, whatever, but it's going to be - I'm going to tell you an answer

which is finished, it's over, right?

But you could say, "Have you ever visited Spain?"

Because "Have you ever" is an unfinished time.

It means - what does "have you ever" mean?

It means at anytime in your life, till now and including now, have you ever visited Spain?

So, that question would be okay.

So you see, it's really important to know when to use the present perfect but also when

not to use it with finished time expressions.

Now, let's look at how we form the present perfect tense.

First, with regular verbs.

So, what's a regular verb?

A regular verb is one where, when we put it into the past tense, we usually add only -ed

or just -d or sometimes -ied.

We're going to look at some examples, so don't worry.

You'll understand exactly.

The basic structure of using the present perfect is like this: we use the subject, which is

I, You, We, They, etc., then we use the helping verb have or has and then we have to use what's

called the past participle.

The past participle is just what I mentioned before, it's the past tense form of the regular

So, let's look at an example so you understand really, really well.

So, I've divided the board into three parts - positive, positive sentences, negative sentences,

So, let's go through it step by step.

So, with these subjects, we use a - we use "have" and with the subjects, we're going

Let's see how it works.

You have worked.

We have worked.

They have worked.

Just like we always say I have, you have, we have, they have, we have to keep using

that and we add, let's say our sample verb "to work", and then all we're doing to make

the past participle off that is we added that -ed form, okay?

So, I have worked, alright?

That's the first part.

With he, she, and it, it changes, because even when we just use "have", we don't say,

"He have", we say "He has worked".

She has worked, and it has worked.

So, this is different, so be careful of that, not to make that mistake.

Next, let's see what happens when we make all of these negative.

So, I have not worked.

You have not worked.

We have not worked.

They have not worked.

Or, you can contract it or shorten the "have not" and make it into "haven't".

Say it after me: haven't.

That's the contraction.

Basically, what did we do?

We took these two words, have not, we cancelled the o, right, and then we joined them together

and put an apostrophe where we took out the o, alright?

So, you could say, "We haven't worked".

Now, let's look at what happens here.

Basically, we're adding "not", so, "He has worked" in the negative becomes what?

He has not worked.

She has not worked.

It has not worked.

Or, more often in conversation, we just say, "He hasn't worked".

Say it after me: hasn't.

There is an s, but it sounds a little but more like a "zz" sound.

She hasn't worked.

It hasn't worked.

Next, for the questions.

So, in the questions, we have to change the order.

So, instead of saying "I have", we say "Have I?", instead if "You have", "Have you?"

Have I worked today?

I don't know, I don't remember.

Have you worked this week?

Have we worked?

Have they worked?

So, the same have, which we're using, all down the line, and here, what do we need to

Has he worked this week?

Has she worked today?

So, that's basically it.

Now, you're looking at the whole structure of the present perfect tense in the positive

sentence, the negative, and the question.

Now, if you want to add a question word like who, what, where, why, we cannot say when,

but we can say those other ones, then you could add those here.

For example, you could say, "Where have you worked this week?", right?

So, if you need to add a question word but not the question word "when", if you need

to add a question word, you put it before this structure.

But, keep that same form.

Where have you worked?

Who have you worked with?

That's basically it.

So, when you can make a sentence - a positive sentence, a negative sentence, and a question,

then you can use this tense.

Now, to show you that, let's do one more example.

This time, let's use the verb "to call", okay?

That's our base verb.

It's a regular verb.

How do we make it into a past participle?

Yesterday, I called.

Called, with -ed.

So, we could say, "They have called", right?

I'm not going to write it every time, but just for you to see it.

They have called.

Let's use this: They haven't called.

Let's ask a question: Have they called?

Now, here we would say, "He has called".

He hasn't called.

Has he called today?

Basically, you can work it through with any regular verb just like this.

Now, let's look at how we form the present perfect tense with irregular verbs.

So, basically, it's exactly the same as what you learned for the regular verbs.

There's only one difference that I will tell you about.

So, the structure is the same.

You have your subject, I, You, We, They, we have the helping verb, have or has, and we

have the past participle.

The only thing is the past participle of irregular verbs is something that you have to learn,

because sometimes, it's completely different from the base form of the verb.

Sometimes, it's a little bit different, and sometimes it doesn't change at all, which

is why it's irregular.

So, let's start with this example verb, the verb "to go", alright?

So, the verb "to go", the first form and the base form is "to go", go, in the past it becomes

Today, I go, or every day, I go.

Yesterday, I went, but I have gone.

The third form is what we need to use in this perfect tense, alright?

So, a positive sentence, "I have gone".

They have gone.

But he has gone.

The same structure as we use for the regular verbs, except that this past participle is

basically going to be different.

Alright, and different - quite different.

Negative, I haven't gone.

You haven't gone.

We haven't gone.

They haven't gone.

He hasn't gone.

She hasn't gone.

It hasn't gone.

And again, the question, change the order.

Have I gone to England?

I don't remember.

Have they gone?

Or, has it gone out, let's say we're talking about the light, okay?

So, that's basically what you do with the irregular verbs.

It's very, very similar to the regular verbs, except for the past participle part.

So, with the irregular verbs, you do have to learn them by heart.

Usually at the end of most grammar books, they have an appendix, they have a section

where they have a list of the most common irregular verbs in three forms, and that past

participle, the third form, is what you need to use and learn to use the present perfect

Sometimes, the verb will change completely, like this: go, went, gone.

Some of the verbs change like meet, the verb "to meet".

The regular is "meet", the past is "met", and the past participle is also "met", so,

"I have met", okay?

Or sometimes, you have a verb like the verb "to put".

It's irregular because it doesn't change at all.

I put this here today.

I put this here yesterday, and I have put this here every day of my life.

So, that one is irregular because it changes like that.

And another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes the verb you want to use here is

the verb "to have", okay, yes, we can have this kind of weird sentence in English.

So then, it would be what?

So, "have" becomes "had", okay?

In the past participle form.

So, what would we say here?

We would say, "I have had a wonderful time."

He has had a wonderful time.

He hasn't - I haven't had, same thing, okay?

Have you had, or has he had, let's say, has he had lunch?

Have you had breakfast?

So, it might sound a little weird to you to hear somebody saying, "Have you had", but

yes, we can say "I have had", he has had, because the verb we're using is "to have".

Sometimes it's that, and sometimes it's go, and sometimes it's work, and sometimes it's

something else, but don't be surprised if you see so much of the verb "to have", okay?

So, that's how you form the irregular verbs in the present perfect tense.

Now, let's look at how we form and pronounce contractions in the present perfect tense.

So, let's start with this one: I have.

When we shorten it or contact it, it becomes "I've".

Say it after me: I've.

So, if it was with a verb, it would be something like, "I've worked", okay?

But we're just going to practice this part for now, because this is the part that sometimes

students have a little bit of difficulty with, especially trying to figure out the pronunciation.

So, along with paying attention to the spelling, pay attention to the pronunciation.

So, in terms of spelling, what happened here?

How did we go from this to this?

We basically cancelled this part, added the apostrophe where we took out some letters,

and we joined these two parts.

So, I have became I've.

You have - You've.

We have - We've.

Okay, I'm saying the "ve", "ve" sound, we've, we've.

They have - They've.

He has becomes He's.

what happened here?

We took this out, right, we took the apostrophe in its place and we joined those two parts.

She has becomes She's.

It has becomes It's.

Now, I want to point out something important here.

Now, when we say "He's", yes, he's is the contraction for "he has", but by itself, he's

can be a few different things.

Let's look at what they are.

He's could be "he is", because the contraction of "he is" is also "he's", like, "He is a

doctor" becomes "He's a doctor".

And "he's" can also be, again, "He is" when "is" is being used as a helping verb with

present continuous as in a sentence like, "He is studying".

So, this sentence could also be written as "He's studying".

Or, "he's" can be the way we're doing it here, the way we're using it here, he's can be "he

has", as in the present perfect tense.

"He has taken a taxi."

So, when you see "he's" by itself, it could be "he is" or "he has".

So, how do you know?

You know based on what follows it, and if it's something like this, then it will be

"He is", or "He is studying".

But here, based on if there is a past participle verb after that, he has worked, he has called,

he has taken, he has gone, then we know that this "he's" stands for "he has", alright?

Now, let's look at the negative form.

I have becomes I haven't.

Now, what's really important here is you need to pronounce the last part in a way that people

can hear it, because if you say it really fast and you kind of say it much softer at

the end, people won't hear that and then the meaning will be different.

So, make sure you're saying all parts of it at equal volume.

That was the pronunciation and the spelling of the negative form, so what was - how did

we achieve that spelling?

So basically, what did we take out here?

We took out the o, right?

And there, we put the apostrophe.

The have and the have not came together and became haven't, and the same with hasn't.

Again, the not, we took out the o, and it became hasn't.

So, pay attention to your spelling, and once you understand where that apostrophe goes,

you won't be guessing, and you won't make mistakes.

Because you'll know it's meant to go wherever there is a missing letter or a few missing

letters, alright?

And these are also the correct pronunciation ways for these contractions.

Now, let's look at how to answer yes or no questions, or to give short answers using

the present perfect tense, because when somebody asks you a question, you don't have to give

the full answer by repeating everything they said, you just give what's called a short

answer, so this is how we do it.

So, if someone says, "Have you visited New York?", you've going to have either a yes

or no answer, right?

So, you would say, "Yes, I have", or "No, I haven't."

Now, the two things to keep in mind, it's really easy to know how to make those short

You just take the have from the question and you add it here.

Yes, I have, and for the positive answer, we cannot contract it.

There's no contraction possible, alright?

You have to say it in full.

But for the negative, you can use the contraction by itself.

So, "Yes, I have", or "No, I haven't."

Here, the question is, "Has she had dinner?"

Remember, I told you that sometimes the verb itself is "have", and then we use the past

participle of "have".

So, "Has she had dinner?"

You could answer, "Yes, she has", right?

Take the question, the word from the question itself, it will help you to answer.

"Yes, she has", or "No, she hasn't", right?

Again, it comes here as well as here.

So, in all cases, you're just taking that answer, you're forming that answer from the

question itself.

The mistake that some students make is when someone says, "Have you visited New York?",

they might answer, "Yes, I visited."

It's not really the right answer there.

You should be saying, "Yes, I have", or "No, I haven't".

So, let's do a little practice.

For example, "Have they left already?"

"Yes, they have", yes, they have, or "No, they haven't".

Good, okay, just like here.

Let's try another one.

"Has he bought a car?"

"Yes, he has", okay, we're getting it from here, or "No, he hasn't."

Now, a question for you.

Have you understood this tense?

You could say, "Yes, I have", and we're not going to say the second one because I hope

you have, alright?

That's how you give short answers.

Now, are you ready to practice what you've learned?

So, we have some positive sentences, some negative sentences, and a few questions, alright?

So, I've written the verb here, the regular verb, and in some cases, some other information,

and what you're going to do is you're going to change them all into the present perfect.

So, first we'll just read it and then we'll go back and change it.

He ___________ (develop) a new app.

So, how would we change that to the present perfect?

He - yes, has developed a new app.

That's with an -ed there.

He has developed a new app.

We __________ (be) to London.

The verb "to be".

So, what does that become in the present perfect?

What is the past participle?

I am, I was, I have - something.

So here, it will be: We have - and then the past participle of the verb "to be" is "been",

We have been, and even though it's written with two e's, we still say it pretty short.

We have been to London, okay?

We have been to London means we went there, and we have come back.

It doesn't mean that we're there now, that is "We have gone to London", okay?

Or, "They have gone to London" means they went there and they're still there.

But if you say "They have been to London", it means they're back now, but that's where

they were and now they're here.

That's a little bit of a difference between the verb "to be" and the verb "to go", okay,

be careful of that one.

Now, number three: She _________ (give) me an answer.

Now, what we want to do, we want to make it present perfect, but we want to make it negative.

So, what would that be?

She - yes, you can give me the contraction - hasn't, right, she hasn't given - she hasn't

given me an answer, okay?

Next: They ___________ (sign), right, sign the contract.

Make it negative.

They haven't signed - they haven't signed the contract, right?

This was a regular verb, so it became "signed".

This was an irregular verb, "give" became "given".

"Be", irregular verb, became "been".

And "develop", regular verb, became "developed", alright?

Good, you're doing really well.

Now, let's make some questions.

So, right now, the information we have is: _________ (They make) a decision?

How would we turn that into the present perfect?

We would say, okay, "Have" - what - "Have they made" - Have they made a decision, right?

Make, another very popular and commonly used irregular verb, right?

Make becomes made.

Have they made a decision?

Next: ____________ (he take) his medicine?

So, what will that be?

Think about it.

What do we start with?

Not "have", but it's "he", so we have to start with "Has he", "take" becomes what?

Has he taken his medicine?

And the last one: _________ (you do) your homework?

What would we do with that?

How would we change it?

What do we have to say, have or has to start, for you?

Have you - what does "do" become here?

What's the past participle?

Have you done - Have you done your homework?

Because "do" was an irregular verb, became "done", "take" also an irregular verb, became

"taken", and "make" became "made".

So, as I said, with the irregular verbs, you need to learn what that form is, but once

you know it, you know it.

And probably, a lot of the most common ones, you hear them all the time, so just pay attention

to what's happening around you, listen, pay attention when you're reading, and you will

learn them kind of naturally, okay?

And then you can always go through the list and you can particularly focus on the ones

which you're not sure of, okay?

But this is a really good review exercise if you went through it really well, congratulations.

Now, let's look at some common mistakes that are sometimes made while using the present

Alright, so the first three have to do with the verb itself.

So, let's look at what they are and what kind of mistakes that students sometimes make.

So, the first one: He have won the prize.

So, what's the mistake there?

What mistake did the student make?

It should be not "he have won" but "he has won".

So here, the wrong helping verb was used.

So, be careful of always matching the helping verb with your subject.

He, she, it has.

I, you, we, they have.

Number two: this student wrote "She been to Paris".

That's wrong, but what's missing?

How can we fix it?

It should be, "She has been to Paris."

So here, the student wrote the subject, they wrote the past participle, but they forgot

the helping verb, and we need that helping verb with the present perfect tense.

Next, number three: this student wrote, "They have saw the movie."

What's the mistake there?

We have the subject, we have the helping verb, but the mistake is here.

It's incorrect, this is only the past simple form.

We need the past participle, which should be "They have seen the movie", okay?

So, we can have mistakes with verbs in different places, so be careful of that, okay?

That's what I'm trying to show you here.

Sometimes, it's the past participle.

Sometimes, it's in the helping verb, and sometimes it's the form of the helping verb, okay?

So, pay attention to that entire package.

Next, sometimes we have mistakes in questions, alright?

Questions are always a little bit confusing in English, because we have to change the

order and all of that, but as long as you're thinking, think of your chart, think of the

order, you can definitely get it right, okay?

So, let's look at these mistakes.

Have you ever fly in first class?

So, what did that student want to say?

Have you ever flown, okay?

So, the mistake here was in that past participle again, alright?

Next, this student wrote, "Did you ever eaten there?"

So, they used the right past participle, but was missing?

It shouldn't be "did", it should be "have".

Have you ever eaten there?

Number six: When have you started your new job?

Now, yes, there is something wrong with that.

Do you remember what it is?

Okay, well, it's here.

You cannot use "when" with - when you ask questions in present perfect.

If you say "when", then it would have to be "When did you start your new job?"

That's a past simple question.

When did you start your new job?

Or, if you want to use present perfect, then you can't use "when", you could only say,

"Have you started your new job?", okay?

If you want to know when, you're going to have to change that question into a past simple

question, alright?

So, if you started it here, and you don't ask when, then of course it should be with

a capital letter.

Have you started your new job?

And the person says, "Yes, I have", then you can ask them, "When did you start?", okay?

So sometimes, we move on.

We start in one tense; we go on to another tense.

That's completely fine, okay?

Now, here's another mistake.

This one has to do with tense.

The tense itself is wrong, but why?

Number seven: We have visited them yesterday.

What's wrong with that?

You know by now, alright?

So, what happened?

Again, what did the student write?

When is yesterday?

Is it a finished time or an unfinished time?

It's a finished time, right?

So, can we use present perfect with finished times?

No, we can only use unfinished times, right?

So, that's a common mistake.

So, the way we can correct this is in two ways.

We can either take out the present perfect tense altogether and just make it into a past

simple sentence: We visited them yesterday.

That's okay, past simple you can definitely use all of those past time markers.

Or, you'd have to say, "We have visited them", okay, without saying "yesterday", so let's

We'll just say, "We have visited them", or, "We visited them recently", or, "We visited

them this week", this month, this year, that's all okay because it's an unfinished time.

Next, a lot of times, there are pronunciation errors which, unfortunately, can end up sounding

like it's a grammar error, okay?

Let me show you what I mean.

So here, I've written it correctly, but I'm going to show you what sometimes happens when

students are pronouncing it.

So, they might say something like this: They known the truth for a long time.

So, what happened here?

In this case, the student didn't say this part fully to the end.

So, it sounded like "They known", even though the student might actually known "They've

known", but they didn't say the ending and so it doesn't - other people don't hear it

and it sounds like a grammar mistake, okay?

So, make sure you say "They've".

Also, sometimes the mistake is not at this end, but at this end.

So sometimes, people say "They've know the truth for a long time."

Because they're trying to speak fast, but don't try to speak fast, necessarily, try

to speak accurately and clearly.

They've known, not "They've know", they've known, okay?

It's okay, take your time, say the endings very clearly and especially when you know

the grammar, you want to make sure that everyone can hear your clear, correct English sentences,

The same thing here.

The sentence is supposed to be: She's broken her arm.

She's broken her arm.

But sometimes, when people are saying it, they might say something like "She broken

So there, what happened?

Didn't hear the s.

You want to say "She's", she's, okay?

Or sometimes, again, the ending here is left off.

"She's broke her arm", no.

She's broken her arm.

So, make sure you're saying all of the endings correctly, especially in the grammatical part

of the sentence, alright?

And of course, with the short answer, let's do one of those.

Have you checked your lottery ticket?

And the person answered, "Yes, I've."

You know what the right answer is.

It cannot be this.

Because we cannot make a contraction of that short answer.

What do we need to say?

Alright, so these are some of the common mistakes that you want to make sure you avoid when

you're using the present perfect tense.

Now, let's review.

So, you know the present perfect tense when you can make what?

A positive sentence, a negative sentence, and a question using both regular verbs and

irregular verbs.

For example: They have planned the party.

They haven't planned the party.

A negative sentence.

Have they planned the party?

Or, with the irregular verb: She has written an essay.

The negative sentence: She hasn't written an essay.

The question: Has she written an essay?

When you can do this easily and comfortably, then you've got it, you've got this tense,

and congratulations on reaching this level.

As soon as you start using the present perfect tense in conversation, in writing, immediately

it's obvious to everyone that you are writing and communicating at a much higher level,

So, congratulations on that.

Where do you go from here?

Well, practice it, right?

Either say or write some sentences about your life.

What have you done recently?

What have you watched?

What have you read?

What have you learned?

When you can write some sentences about yourself, it becomes more personal, more meaningful,

and you'll remember it more easily.

Then, when you're ready, you can go on to watch the next lesson in this series, and

if you'd like a little more practice on this one, the present perfect, then go to www.engvid.com

where you can do a quiz.

Thanks very much for watching, and all the best with your English.