INSTITUTO DE IDIOMAS INGLÉS I
UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA
The Present Perfect tense
•The Present Perfect is a form of present tense and is used to talk about present facts, or
the present state or result of a past action. It is never used with expressions of past time.
e.g. I’ve made spaghetti for lunch. (i.e. there is spaghetti for lunch.)
I haven’t done my homework. (i.e. I don’t have any homework to give you.)
I’ve bought a new dress. (i.e. I have a new dress.)
I’ve lost my keys. (i.e. I don’t know when or where I lost them, but I haven’t got them now.)
•But to talk about the circumstances of the action and to ask questions about them, we use
the Past Simple:
e.g. Did you use tinned or fresh tomato for the spaghetti sauce?
I didn’t do my homework because I had to study for another exam.
Where did you buy the dress?
When did you last use your keys?
•We use the Past Simple in these cases even if the action is very recent:
e.g. That’s £30, please. - Sorry, did you say £30 or £13?
•The Present Perfect is used to talk about experience (at an unspecified time in the past)
during a present period of time, sometimes stated
e.g. I’ve had three exams this week.
and sometimes implied, especially with ever and never:
e.g. Have you ever been to Greece? (i.e. at some time in your life) - No, and I’ve never been to
Italy either.
But be careful with the implied time reference:
e.g. (At 3 p.m.) I’m hungry. I haven’t had lunch.
but (At 9 p.m.) I’m going to have a big dinner. I’m very hungry because I didn’t have lunch today.
(Today still continues but lunchtime has finished.)
•We also use the Present Perfect with just to talk about very recent actions:
e.g. Peter has just phoned. (But to talk about the details, as always, we continue in the Past
Simple: What did he want? - He said he can’t come this evening.)
•Other expressions used with the Present Perfect are already and yet:
e.g. Don’t buy any butter this afternoon. I’ve already bought some.
It’s too early to go out. I haven’t had breakfast yet. (I’m going to have it now.)
Have you seen The Iron Lady yet? (I know you go to the cinema every week, so I’m sure
you’re going to see the film some time.)
Compare:
Has John phoned? (I don’t know if he is going to phone.)
Has John phoned yet? (Either he said he was going to phone, or he usually phones.)
N.B. All of the above reflects British usage. In many cases, the Americans use the Past Simple
when the British use the Present Perfect.
•Present Perfect with for and since:
