PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
Singular number plural number
First person I have a pen we have a pen
Second person you have a pen you have a pen
Third person has a pen they have pens
Action completed in the immediate past.
Examples:
We have planned the meeting for next week.
I have joined the duty.
She has completed the home work.
Event in the past at an unspecified time
Examples:
She has been to London
I’ve seen the movie
Duration from the past till now
Examples:
She has been a teacher since 2012
Change over time
Examples:
Your English has improved since the last time we met
My niece has grown lot in the past year.
Repeated events in the past until now
Examples:
We have had four exams so far in this semester
I’ve been to the restaurant many times since I moved next door.
The Present Perfect is used
(1) To indicate completed activities in the immediate past (with just): as;
Page 83
• He has just come in.
• It has just struck nine.
(2) To express past actions whose time is not given and not definite; as,
Have you read "Alice in wonderland?
I have never known him to be angry.
Mr. Mari has been to Japan.
(3) To describe past events when we think more of their effect in the present than of the
action itself; as,
Guru has eaten all the biscuits (i.e., there aren't any left for you).
I have cut my finger (and it is bleeding now).
I have finished my homework (= now I am free).
(4) To denote an action beginning at some time in the continuing up to the present
moment (often with since- and/or-phrases); as,
• I Have known him for a long time.
• He has been ill since last month.
• We have lived here for five years.
• We haven't seen him for two months.
The following adverbs or adverb phrases can also be used with the Present Perfect
(apart from those mentioned above): never, ever (in questions only), so far, till now, yet
(in negatives and questions), already, today, this week, this month, etc.
Note that the Present Perfect is never used with adverbs of past time. We should not say,
for example, 'He has gone to Kolkata yesterday'. In such cases the Simple Past should be
used ('He went to Mumbai yesterday').