Present Perfect
The Present Perfect Tense is often taught in relation to certain adverbs. The Insights method focuses on three usages (for experiences, for states, and for results), which are all really variations of one overarching theme: the Present Perfect is used when verbs that began (and maybe finished) in the past are still relevant in the present, either because they continue or because their effects are more important than the actions.
What to Expect
The Present Perfect tense is often taught in relation to groups of adverbs that tend to go with it, each serving a different purpose:
- ever & never
- already, still & yet
- for & since
- just
The video focuses less on the adverbs and more on the reasons they are associated with. But more importantly, what students need to remember the most is that the Present Perfect tense is a way to express the past and the present together.
In addition to looking at the 3 reasons for using Present Perfect, we’ll also compare each to a Past Simple usage.
Prerequisites
Learners should already be familiar with the following:
Positive, Negative, & Question structures: to form a negative sentence out of a positive one, add not or never after the 1st auxiliary verb. For questions, the 1st auxiliary verb needs to come before the subject.
Present Simple and Past Simple are the tenses that students learn from the beginning, and they will be important here as they serve as comparisons to Present Perfect.
Have as an auxiliary verb is used for perfect tenses and comes before the main verb (in perfect participle form). The form ‘has’ works with 3rd-person singular subjects, and the form ‘have’ works otherwise. They are often contracted with the subject.
The Perfect Participle form is sometimes referred to as the ‘Past Participle’ form, and is what Insights designates as ‘V3’ (or Verb 3).
Regular verbs add ‘-ed’ to the end to create the Perfect Participle form. Irregular verbs have ‘-en’ endings or different changes. See the appendix for more.
Proficiency Level
Students at the A2 level are expected to know the Present Perfect tense. They might start learning it at the end of Elementary level (or 2nd out of 6).*
*actual starting level varies from one course-book series to the next
Present Perfect Usage
to express that a past action or its effect continues into the present:
- EXPERIENCES that happened in the past and could happen again
- STATES that began in the past and continue through the present
- past actions with present RESULTS, in which the results are the focus
Bonus Notes
Check out our interactive list of Irregular Verbs to see Perfect Participle forms that don’t simply take the conventional -ed ending. Sort or filter this list in order to group irregular verbs together according to how they change from their base form to their Perfect Participle form.
Practice Activities
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