Present Perfect Pt1
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[00:00:00] Hi everyone. Today is part one of present perfect. So in part one we are going to define and describe the present perfect. Its structure and the time references, and then we're going to compare it with the simple past. And part two, which is an a separate video, part two we're going to describe ways that we use the present perfect and all of its examples, sentences, and its application and use. So that will be in another video. Let's go ahead and start with part one. What is the present perfect? Okay, you're probably using it a little bit. It's actually one of the 12 verb tenses of English. We actually use the present perfect.
To describe something that happened in the recent past. Now, sometimes it can be in our whole experience. It doesn't always have to be the recent past. It can just be sometime in the [00:01:00] past. It can be a long time ago as well. But we don't know when. It was just sometime in the past. But again, it's very common to use present.
Perfect for the recent past, for recently completed actions. So present Perfect is for a completed action sometime in the past, and we don't know when it happened. Okay. There's no specific time reference. Okay. We just know that it completed its structure is, has, or have plus the past participle has or have, depending on whether the subject is singular or plural.
Okay. We can say it has, she has, he has. Everyone has someone has. Then we use, we have, they have. You have, okay. You, you can be [00:02:00] singular or plural, you know the group of you, okay, but you say you have, we just kinda have to remember singular and plural with has and has or have now the past part of simple form.
Okay? That's your past tense verb form. If it's a regular verb, it's going to end with Ed. But if it's an irregular verb, like "see", or "take" or "give" its form is going to change completely. For example, see seen has or have seen, okay, he has seen that movie before. Okay, take is taken, has or have taken. Give given.
Alright, so that's something to remember as well. Now, as I just mentioned, we use the present perfect for an action or something that has been completed in the past [00:03:00] or something that has not completed. Okay. And we expect it to complete sometime, sometime in the future. Okay? I'll give you an example.
It hasn't. Stopped raining yet. Okay. We would say it that way. It's raining, okay? But we expect it to stop. And when we express that end result, you know that the rain stops. We say the rain hasn't stopped or the rain hasn't stopped yet. Okay? Or Tom hasn't finished his homework yet. Okay. We expect him to finish sometime in the future, but he hasn't finished it yet.
Okay. But we're expressing, we're looking at the end result. . So that hasn't happened yet. So we say he hasn't finished. Now we mentioned that with present Perfect. We don't use. Specific time reference references with this tense, it's not [00:04:00] important to know when something completed. Okay? That is not the objective of this tense, it's just that you know it finished at some point in the past.
So sometimes we will use what's called non-specific time references. So what are non-specific time references? Those are words like yet. The rain hasn't stopped yet. Okay. We can say already. In fact, here's a list of some non-specific time references that are used with the present perfect. We have already yet before for, and since those are really common, never, ever, always.
And then you can say several times, twice, many [00:05:00] times, because those are not tied to one specific time. Okay. It was more than one time. You can also say in the last week, in the last month or in the last year, because that's like a range of time. It's, you can't tie it down to one specific time event.
Okay. It's like saying within, a timeframe. Those are some non-specific time references that you see with the present. Perfect. I have moved five times in the last year. Okay. And two things there. There's five times I've moved, five different times, and within a range of the past year.
Okay, we say in the last year, sometimes people say over the past year, sometimes you'll hear those expressions in the last month in the last year, over the past week, over the past month. Okay. This basically, [00:06:00] generally a range of time, not one specific time. So talking about a specific time that kind of carries us over into the simple past.
So when we talk about the simple past, we use a specific time. I turned in my project yesterday, when? Yesterday. So my verb is in the simple past. It is not correct to say I have turned in my project yesterday. No, because yesterday is specific. I need to use the simple past. Not have turned in, but turned in or turned.
The ed, simple past and we usually say turned in or handed in. I moved to Canada last year when last year, so my verb is moved. The simple past. [00:07:00] Of move now. I didn't say in the last year, or over the past year. I said last year. Last year as opposed to this year. Okay, so last year is specific.
So now I'm gonna give you some sentences and we're going to compare the present Perfect. With the simple past. So our first sentence yesterday. My friend Leah left me a voicemail inviting me to her barbecue on Sunday. I have known Leah since we were in high school. She has always been a great friend.
This morning I called her back and accepted her invitation. I have already gone to three barbecues in the last month. Alright, so our first sentence, specific time reference. Yesterday. Okay, so yesterday my [00:08:00] friend Leah left me a voicemail. Okay, so left is in the simple past, because I have yesterday specific time reference.
Next sentence. I have known Leah since we were in high school, have known . Present perfect. Because of the non specific time reference since. With "since" you can use the present perfect. She has always been a great friend. Okay. A couple things here. Always she has always been . 'Always' is not one specific time reference, always is "in your whole experience", in your whole life or the whole time you've known that. I have known Leah, so always I say has been past participle of be been. Next one specific time reference. This morning I called her simple past, called her back and [00:09:00] accepted. Simple past last sentence. I have already gone to three barbecues in the last month.
Have already gone. Okay. We've got a couple things here already. It's been finished, and then we have three. So it's not just one time, it's three different times, but this has already been accomplished. I have already gone to three barbecues in the last month, so we have a lot of non-specific time references here.
So I just wanted you to compare the difference between the present perfect and simple past with these time references, non-specific time references or no time references you used. Present perfect specific time references. Yesterday, Tuesday last last night. Those are all specific time references.
So I hope this video was helpful. If you liked it, please like it and subscribe If you [00:10:00] haven't subscribed yet, and watch for part two coming up, happy learning everyone
