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I. FORM OF THE PRESENT PERFECT

The present perfect simple is formed with the verb have in the corresponding form for the subject of the sentence, followed by the participle of the main verb.

Example sentences:

```
Affirmative: I have done my homework.
```
```
Negative: I haven’t done my homework.
```
```
Question: Have you done your homework ?
```

The present perfect continuous is formed with the auxiliary verb have in the corresponding form for the subject of the sentence, followed by the participle 'been' of the auxilary verb be, followed by the -ING form of the verb.

Example sentences:

Affirmative: I’ve been waiting for three hours.

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Negative: I haven't been waiting long.
```
```
Question: Have you been waiting long?
```

II. THE BASICS

The most important thing to remember about the present perfect is that it can never be used with adverbs which describe finished time periods, such as yesterday, five minutes ago and at three o'clock. If a time adverb is used with the present perfect, it should describe a time period which is unfinished. Example include today and this week. So we say:

I've already been to the shops twice today.

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I went to the shops before toy arrived.
```

This provides a good rule of thumb if you're not sure which tense to use.

III. USING THE PRESENT PERFECT

We can distinguish three situations where the present perfect is used, although there is a lot of overlap between these situations.

They can be described as:

To describe experiences
To describe the duration of continuing states and actions
To describe a past action with result in the present.

A. Experiences

The heading here is a bit misleading as most of the time the 'experiences' described are not really the kind of thing you would write home about. However, they are experiences in the sense that we are interested in what happened, and not exactly when it happened.

In this situation we use the present perfect to describe an action that can still happen, or can happen again.

For example:

The teacher hasn't arrived yet.  (She might still arrive.)

I've spent $20 today.            (I can still spend money.)

Contrast the above sentences with:

The teacher didn't arrive (The class is over, he can't arrive now)

I spent $20 this morning  ('this morning' is over, I can't spend any more money 'this morning')

The final example above shows why you can't use the present perfect with an adverb of finished time (such as 'yesterday'):

```
I went to the bank yesterday.
```

The past simple is necessary as you cannot still do something yesterday (!)
Also use the past simple, even with an adverb of unfinished time, if the action can no longer happen:

I went to the shops today.(But the shops are now closed...)

Finally, note that in both cases the action is finished, and that how recent the action was is not important:

I've only seen him twice in the last ten years.(Possibly a long time ago.)

I saw him two minutes ago.(Very recently.)

B) Duration

We use the present perfect simple to describe the duration ('How long...') of a state which is true now.

For example, compare:

I've lived here for eight years.  (I live here now.)

I lived in London for two years. (We don't know where I live now.)

Like all the other examples of the present perfect, we are being told something about the present in the first sentence. The second sentence tells us only about the past, although we would probably assume that the speaker doesn't live in London now.

The present perfect continuous is used to describe the duration of an activity or action which is happening now.

They've been watching TV since three o'clock. (They are watching TV now)

They were watching TV for three hours.  (We don't know what they are doing now.)

Both forms, simple and continuous, are common in questions with How long...?

```
How long have you had your present job?
```
```
How long have you been waiting?
```

The present perfect simple and continuous should also be compared with the present simple and continuous:

I've lived in Manchester for eight years.

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I live in Manchester.
```

They've been watching TV since three o'clock.

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They're watching TV.
```

In both cases, the perfect form tells us the duration of the state/activity, the non-perfect form only tells us that it is true/happening now. It is incorrect to use the present simple/continuous to describe duration, as in the following:

INCORRECT: * I live in Manchester for eight years. *

C) Past Action with a Result in the Present

We can use the present perfect to describe an action in the past which has a result in the present. Both the simple and continuous forms can be used:

She's broken her glasses.(She can't see...)

They've been painting the flat.(They're covered in paint...)

The result referred to depends on the situation in which you say the sentence. There are a number of differences between the simple and continuous forms.

With the simple form, the action is finished. An important difference between this use of the present perfect simple and the use described above under experiences is that here, when there is no adverb of time, or the adverb of time is used, it is not necessary that the action can be repeated or still happen:

They have knocked down the old station building.

The continuous form does not tell us whether the action is finished or not. Although the person speaking may not be performing the action at the time of speaking, they may be going to continue doing it after speaking - the activity is not 'complete'. In the example given above, we don't know if they have completely painted the flat or not.

IV. JUST

'Just' is commonly used with the present perfect simple to show that an action happened very recently. When 'just' is used the result referred to is often indirect, and this form can be used if you want to make it clear that the action is complete while at the same time explaining an indirect result of the action:

I've just washed the car, that’s why I'm wet.

V. WHICH TENSE DO YOU NEED ?

Talking about habits and
things you do all the time.............Present simple

Talking about things you
are doing at the moment................Present continuous

Talking about things that are
started but not finished...............Present continuous

Talking about finished
actions in the past....................Past simple

Talking about actions in the past when you
say 'when' they happened...............Past simple

Talking about an activity in the past
which is interrupted by another........Past continuous

Talking about a
background activity in the past........Past continuous

Talking about an activity not finished
at a given time in the past............Past continuous

Talking about how often, how much,
how long, how many (up to now).........Present perfect

Talking about a past activity which
is related to the present..............Present perfect

Talking about a past activity which
is just finished.......................Present perfect

Talking about past experience which is not
finished or you can do again...........Present perfect

Using the past and you want to talk
about something which happened earlier...Past perfect

Talking about future plans that were
decided before speaking............... " going to " and present continuous

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