The Present Perfect Part 1

By -Elizabeth D. Andres

Photo credit: Freepik 


Many ESL students think that this is the most challenging grammar rule to remember. I told them that they don’t need to remember it, they just need to feel it.

The Present Perfect Tense is formed by using Has (for singular subjects) or Have (for plural subjects) PLUS the Participle Form of the verb. (My ESL students call the Past Participle Form PP. So be it.)

 So, when do we use the Present Perfect?

FIRST, The Present Perfect has a connection with NOW. It is an accomplished action, yes, but I repeat, it has a connection with NOW.

 Examples:

I have forgotten her mobile number. (I can’t remember her mobile number right NOW.)

We have run out of butter. (We have no butter NOW.)

SECOND, we use the Present Perfect when we declare or announce something that happened very, very recently.

 Examples:

There are policemen at the shopping mall entrance. There has been a robbery.

Do you remember our high school classmates Jack and Jill? They have gotten married.

Additionally, there are three expressions that ALWAYS go with the Present Perfect Tense, and these are the expressions Just, Already, and Yet. Not all Present Perfect Sentences need these three expressions, but as I mentioned earlier, these three expressions always use the Present Perfect Tense and thus, the verb is always in the PP form.

 Examples:

I’m very full. I have just eaten a big bowl of yakiniku.

I can take a rest now. I have already done all of my homework.

I haven’t tasted authentic takoyaki yet.

 Note: Never, never, never use a Past Time Expression (last night, yesterday, etc.) with Present Perfect Sentence. This is awfully wrong.

 

JAPANESE TRANSLATION by Google Translate 

現在完了形

多くのESLの学生は、これが覚えておくべき最も難しい文法規則であると考えています。私は彼らにそれを覚える必要はなく、ただそれを感じる必要があると言いました。

現在完了形は、Has（単数形の場合）またはHave（複数形の場合）に加えて、動詞の分詞形を使用して形成されます。 （私のESLの学生は、過去分詞形PPと呼んでいます。そうです。）

では、いつ現在完了形を使用するのでしょうか。

まず、現在完了形はNOWと関係があります。それは達成された行動です、はい、しかし私は繰り返します、それは今と関係があります。

例：

I have forgotten her mobile number. (I can’t remember her mobile number right NOW.)

We have run out of butter. (We have no butter NOW.)

2つ目は、ごく最近に起こったことを宣言または発表するときに、現在完了形を使用します。

例：

There are policemen at the shopping mall entrance. There has been a robbery.

Do you remember our high school classmates Jack and Jill? They have gotten married.

 

さらに、常に現在完了形に対応する3つの表現があり、これらはJust、Already、Yetの表現です。すべての現在完了形がこれらの3つの表現を必要とするわけではありませんが、前述したように、これらの3つの表現は常に現在完了形を使用するため、動詞は常にPP形式になります。

例：

I’m very full. I have just eaten a big bowl of yakiniku.

I can take a rest now. I have already done all of my homework.

I haven’t tasted authentic takoyaki yet.

 

注：現在完了形で過去時間表現（昨夜、昨日など）を使用しないでください。これはひどく間違っています。

 

 

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