The Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is the bridge between the past and the present. In English there is a clear separation between the past and the present. You could say it is like a wall.

Sometimes you need to go through or around this wall to show the connection between the past and the present. In English you are not allowed to use the Past or Present Simple for this. You need the Present Perfect!

When do we need the Present Perfect?

  • for actions which started in the past and are still true now.
    • e.g. "I have worked for this company for seven years." This means that I started working with this company seven years ago and I still work with them now. If I said "I worked with this company for seven years." it would mean that I do not work with them any longer.
    • * In English you can not say "I work with this company for seven years." because it is not allowed to tie the Present Simple to a past time. You could say "I work with this company." because this is a present fact, but if I want to say when it began or how long it has been, I have to use the Present Perfect. E.g. "I have worked with this company since 1992." or "I have worked with this company for seven years."
  • indefinite time
    • The Present Perfect is often used with indefinite time. Compare: "I have seen the film ‘Titanic’." (but I don’t say "when") & "I saw the film ‘Titanic’ last week."
  • open questions
    • We often combine this "indefinite time" use of the Present Perfect with the word "ever" to make open questions, which are great for starting conversations. E.g. "Have you ever been to Seattle?"
    • A possible answer: "Yes, I have. I went there three years ago." (Note how the tense changes to the Past Simple when we focus on what happened in the past.)

 

Click here to go to page 2 - an overview of the Present Perfect