To get a better understanding of how tenses (the present perfect tense) work in English grammar, let’s quickly track back and take a review from our previous post on verbs;
Verbs are words that express an action or a state of being. There is always a verb in the predicate of a sentence and this verb agrees with its subject in number and person. Verbs that take an object are transitive verbs; verbs that don’t take an object are intransitive verbs.
Now, the tense of a verb shows the following;
- The time (present, past, or future) when an action takes place, took place, or will take place.
- The completeness or incompleteness of an action. The present continuous tense is used for an act still going on. The simple present tense is used for repeated or habitual action. The past continuous tense is used for an act that was continuing in the past. The simple past tense is used for an act completed in the past.
Verbs form their negative in two ways;
- By adding not with the infinitive (the method of the peculiars)
- By using do (does, did) not, and the infinitive (the technique of all verbs except the Peculiars).
Also, the part of the verbs that can be a predicate by themselves is called finites. The part of verbs that form their past tense alone is called Non-Finites. Verbs that form their past tense and the past participle by adding d, ed, or t to the present are called weak or regular verbs.
Verbs that form their past tense and the past participle by changing their vowel are called strong or irregular verbs.
To explain clearer all that we have been saying above, we have to consider the illustration below;
Pay close attention to the little illustration below;
Teacher: (to one of the students): Come here, John. I want you to help me with this lesson. I am going to ask you to do some simple things and then ask you a few questions. First of all, will you open the door, please? (John does so). Now, what have you just done, John?
John: I have opened the door
Teacher: Good. I’ll write your answers on the whiteboard. (the teacher writes John’s answer “I have opened the door” on the board). Now turning to Hassan, the teacher asked; What has John just done?
Hassan: He has opened the door
Teacher: Now write your name on the whiteboard. (He writes ‘John’). What have you done, asked the teacher.
John: I have written my name
Teacher: What has John done, Rufia?
Rufia: He has written his name
Teacher: And what have I just asked you, Rufia?
Rufia: You have asked me a question
Teacher: John, shake hands with Lewis. What have John and Lewis just done, Paul?
Paul: They have shaken hands
Teacher: Now, all the class, close your books. What have you all just done?
Class: We have closed our books.
Teacher: Now, look at these sentences on the board. John put a line under all the verbs. (John does so)
I have opened the door
I have written my name
He has opened the door
He has written his name
We have closed our books
You have asked me a question
They have shaken hands.
Now, notice that all these verbs have two parts. The first is have (or has), and the second is a non-finite; the non-finite is called the Past Participle.
The tense of a verb shows two things;
1. When an action takes place
2. Whether the action is finished or not.
In the sentences that we have just written down, it is quite clear that the action is finished. When John said, “I have opened the door,” the door was wide open, which means he has completed the action of opening it. When he said, ‘I have written my name,’ his name was already on the whiteboard. But in these cases, we are not really interested in exactly when the action took place (unless we add a word like ‘just’ to show that the action was finishing at that moment). Our greater interest is in the present result of the finished action. We are not wondering at what time in the past, or how long ago, John opened (simple past tense) the door, we are only interested in the fact that at this moment the door is open because of John’s action of opening it.
Therefore, this tense is a Present Tense. (The verb that is used to show the time of the action is a present tense, have). But the action is finished (or ‘perfected’). So the tense of this verb is called the Present Perfect. All the verbs that were written on the whiteboard are examples of the Present Perfect Tense.
Thus, the Present Perfect Tense is formed by using ‘have’ (‘has’) and a past participle. The Present Perfect Tense is used for an action that is just finished. It is used when we are thinking more about the present result than about the past action.
The Present Perfect Tense Part 2
The present perfect tense forms its negative by putting not after have (or has). It forms its interrogative by changing the position of the subject and the verb has (have).
Here are some examples;
Positive: You have opened the door
Negative: You have not (haven’t) opened the door
Interrogative: Have you opened the door?
Positive: John has been to the market
Negative: John has not (hasn’t) been to the market
Interrogative: Has John been to the market?
Positive: I have taught you this before
Negative: I have not (haven’t) taught you this before
Interrogative: Have I taught you this before?
Now, to make you understand the concept of the present perfect tense clearly, you will have to first, understand that present perfect tenses always have the idea of NOW, that is, of the PRESENT TIME.
For example, we can use the following sentences to illustrate why it is so;
I have done English grammar for two years —– UP TO NOW
Jake has been to Paris three times —— UP TO THE PRESENT
I haven’t seen Jerry —– UP TO THE PRESENT TIME.
Looking closely, you will notice that in all of the examples above, there is an idea of NOW or PRESENT TIME in them. Unlike in other examples such as the teacher’s discussions with his students in the present perfect tense part 1 above, where all the events that happened were completed in the past. Thus, we used the simple past tense.
Also, I’m going to compare the present perfect tense and the simple past tense in a column below so that you can easily see the difference between them.
A B
Present Perfect Simple Past Tense
I have done English grammar for two years I did grammar last year and the year before
James has been to Paris three times He went to Paris last March, then in June & July
Have you ever flown to France? I’m asking him if he flew in 1982
In examples in the past tense, there is often a definite time in the past mentioned. In sentences in the present perfect tense, the time is often indefinite.
The present perfect tense is used for an action that is just finished. It is used when we are thinking more of the present result (‘up to now’) than about the past action. The simple past tense is used when we are thinking of an action completed in the past.
Tenses in English grammar are quite vast. However, we will take time gradually to explain the key things you will need to know about this part of grammatical function. Stay tuned for our next updates.