Welcome to today's ESL Help Desk
podcast! Since our last podcast, we've been busy filling the shelves of our
Library
with audio stories and grammar lessons for learners of English and
speakers of English who want to have a little bit of fun with the English
language. We recently received a request to discuss the present
perfect tense, so today we are going to present the first in a perfect
mini-series.
Asking the Right Questions
First, I'd like to ask a question.
What's so perfect about the present perfect tense?
Secondly, the name present perfect
really confuses me. I think that with the name present perfect, the
action should all refer to the present.
However, I have noticed that many times we use this tense when we are
referring to events that occurred in the past.
You notice correctly. For example, perhaps
the last time I saw you was six months ago, and today I meet you on the
street and I would like to ask you about all the time since then. I
want to know not only about how you are now, but also all of the time
leading up to now, from the last time I saw you up to and including now.
I ask you, "How've you been?"
So I am confused because we call this the present perfect tense, but we
use it when referring to the past, also.
The Structure and Verb Form of the Present Perfect Tense
Let's begin by discussing
the structure and verb form of the present perfect verb tense. Let's
use the verb be as our main verb.
Notice that the verb form have been, which represents the
present perfect tense, and the verb form had been, which
represents the past perfect verb tense,
are structurally similar. Each one consists of two parts: 1)
Each uses a
form of the verb have as the helping verb,
and 2) each uses the past participle of the main
verbbe, been. The only difference
between the two is
that the helping verb for present
perfect is in the present
tense, as in have been and has been, and the
helping verb for past perfect is in the
simple past tense, as in had been. Thus, when the helping verb is in the present tense, as in have
been or has been, we have
formed the present perfect tense. When the helping verb is in the
simple past tense,
as in had been, we have formed the past perfect tense.
Try this with any
main verb and the results will be the same.
to talk: (present perfect) have/has talked
(past perfect) had talked
to write: (present perfect) have/has
written (past perfect) had written
to go: (present perfect) have/has gone (past
perfect) had gone
to walk: (present perfect) have/has
walked (past perfect) had walked
to have: (present perfect) have/has
had (past perfect)
had had
Notice that the present (has
or have)
part of the name present perfect refers ONLY to the structure of
the verb form: The helping verb (has or have)
is in the simple present tense.
Similarly, the past (had) part of the name
of past perfect refers ONLY to the structure of the verb
form: The helping verb had is in the simple past
tense.
Review
The present perfect tense consists of
two parts. To
form it, use
-
1.
… the proper form of the verb have, and
2.
… the past participle(also known as the
3rd part)
of the main verb.
Examples
Over the years, I
have learned that love remains only if the husband and wife help and understand each
other.
Since my father decided to move to America, he
has changed and my parents' lives have gone in different directions.
Homework
Complete this chart below, focusing only on correct verb forms. Remember
to change the verb form to account for subject/verb agreement. The
main verbs below are all irregular verbs. Use your dictionary if
necessary to obtain the proper past participle form of the main verb.
main verb
I
He
They
break
give
see
Check your answers in our
next
episode, when we discuss the uses of the present perfect verb tense.
So from the ESL Help Desk, thanks for listening to us this week,
and remember to send us your questions about English grammar via
our blog.
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