Present Perfect

By Miguel Villegas

-The Present Perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb Has or Have with the Past Participle.

Example:

• Affirmative

-I, you, we, they + have spoken.-He, she, it + has spoken.

It’s very common to use the contractions ‘ve and ‘s in the present perfect:

-I’ve spoken in English for several hours.-She’s spoken in English since 11 am.

• Negative

-I, you, we, they + have not spoken.-He, she, it + has not spoken.

It’s very common to use the contractions haven’t and hasn’t in the negative form:

-I haven’t spoken in Spanish for several hours.-She hasn’t spoken in Spanish since 11 am.

• Question

-I, you, we, they = Have they spoken in English?-He, she, it = Has she spoken in Spanish?

-For Regular Verbs, we just add “ed”:

Exceptions in spelling when adding ”ed” Example

-After a final ”e” only add ”d” Love – Loved

-Final consonant after a vowel Admit – Admitted is doubled. Travel – Travelled

- Final ”y” after a consonant Hurry - Hurried becomes ”i“

-For Irregular Verbs, we use the participle form.

The Present Perfect expresses An action that started in the past and continues in the present.

- My cousin has lived in this city for six months.- I have been playing the piano since 8 pm.

We use for and since with the Present Perfect:

For is used with a period of time or lenght of time. Example:

How long have they studied English?- They have studied English for two years.

Since is used with a specific point in time. Example:

How long has he worked there?- He has worked there since 2009.

Past PerfectBy Miguel Villegas

-The Past Perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb Had with the Past Participle.

Example:

• Affirmative

-I, you, he, she, it, we, they + had travelled.

It’s common to use the contraction ‘d in the past perfect:

-I’d travelled to New York before I was 20 years old.

• Negative

- I, you, he, she, it, we, they + had not travelled.

It’s very common to use the contraction hadn’t in the negative form:

-She hadn’t travelled to New York before I came to Colombia.

• Question

-I, you, we, he, she, it, they =

Had they travelled to New York before I came to Colombia?

The Past Perfect expresses an action that happened before a moment in the past.

- I had learned to drive before I bought a car.

We use before and after with the Past Perfect:

Had she read the book before the movie?- Yes, she had read the book before she saw the movie. - She saw the movie after she had read the book.

Thank you!