Practice the PRESENT PERFECT TENSE in English!

Emma: Hello.

My name is Emma, and we have a very special video for you today.

Okay?

In today's video you're going to learn a little bit of grammar about the present perfect,

and then you are going to play a really fun game.

Not only are you going to get to play a fun game, you're also going to get to meet my

sister.

Yes, Emma has a sister, so you'll get to see my sister a little bit later because she is

going to play the game with us as well.

So, let's get started and let me teach you this grammar point, so then we can get to

the fun stuff.

Okay?

So, today we're going to talk about the present perfect.

The present perfect is a bit of grammar.

Okay?

It's a type of tense that many students get very frustrated with.

They don't know: "Do I use the present perfect?

Do I use the past tense?"

It can be really difficult.

So, when do we use the present perfect, and what is the present perfect?

Well, let me first give you an example of a present perfect sentence, because maybe

you've seen something like this before.

"Have you ever been to France?", "Have you ever lived in a different city?", "Has your

sister ever been on TV?"

These are three examples of the present perfect.

So, when do we use the present perfect?

Well, there's different times we use the present perfect in English.

In today's lesson, we're going to focus on using the present perfect to talk about a

past experience.

So, this is something interesting.

An experience is usually an interesting experience; although it doesn't have to be.

So, it's an experience that has happened in the past.

So, it's not happening now, it's not happening in the future; it's already happened.

It happened before, in the past.

That's why a lot of students have a hard time with the present perfect because they see

the word "present", and they get confused.

"But how can we be talking about the past?"

Well, the present perfect can be used to talk about a past experience, and we use it to

talk about a past experience when we're just talking about something that happened, but

we're not talking about when it happened.

We're not talking about a specific time; we're not talking about a date.

We're talking generally about an experience that happened in the past.

So, I wanted to focus on present perfect questions to ask people about their experiences, because

a lot of conversations start this way or have this in them.

So, when we ask a person a question about the past experience, we can ask them: "Have

you ever...?"

This indicates we want to know something about somebody's past.

"Have you ever been to France?" for example.

So I'm asking you: "In the past, have you been to France?"

So, to create the present perfect, let's talk about form now.

We have: "Have you ever" and then we add something called a past participle to make it the present

perfect.

So, what's a past participle?

Well, a "past participle" is a form of the verb.

So, for example, in this case we have the verb "be", "to be".

The past participle form of the verb "to be" is "been".

Okay?

In this case, we have: "Have you ever" and we have our past participle.

What's a past participle again?

It's a verb in a specific form.

Okay?

So it's a specific form of a verb.

In this case, "lived" is the past participle of "live" or "to live".

And our last example.

Oh, we have "been" again, which I've already discussed.

So, we use past participles in the present perfect.

Now, this is where it gets a little bit challenging.

There are two different types of past participles; we have our regular past participles and our

irregular past participles.

So, what's a "regular past participle"?

Well, this is a verb where we just add "ed".

Okay?

So, for example: "play" becomes "played", and I add "ed", and that makes it a past participle.

Another example is just down here: "lived".

"Live", we add "ed" and it becomes "lived", and that's an example of a regular past participle.

Okay?

So, have you ever...?

Let's think of some other examples.

"Have you ever played baseball?", "Have you ever shopped?", "Have you ever visited England?"

We add "ed" in each of those cases to make the past participle.

Now, there are some verbs where we do not add "ed" to make it a past participle.

We call these irregular past participles.

So, here are some examples: "be" is the verb, the past participle is irregular, and it is

"been".

Or "eat": "I eat cake."

The past participle of "eat" is "eaten".

Okay?

And if you visit our website at www.engvid.com, you can actually see a list of verbs and their

past participles, so that can be really helpful, especially for the irregular ones.

And this is something you just might have to memorize.

Okay?

So, to ask the question about somebody's past experience: "Have you ever", with the past

participle.

"Have you ever been to China?", "Have you ever played a musical instrument?", "Have

you ever watched TV?"

These are all examples of asking about past experiences.

Now, here we're focusing on the subject "you".

We can also focus on other subjects, too, to ask about a past experience.

We can say: "Have you", but we can also say: "Have I" if I've forgotten about a past experience.

"Have I ever seen a ghost?"

That's something I probably wouldn't forget about, but...

Or we can use: "Has she" if we're talking about a woman: "Has...?

Has your mother been to France?", "Has your father been to France?"

We can use...

Also use: "Has he..."

Or: "Have they" if you're talking about a group of people.

The main thing is that the form "have" has to match the subject, so: "Have you" go together,

"Have I" go together; "Has she"...

So, if we have "she", this becomes "has".

"Has he...?"

If we have "he", this becomes "has".

Okay?

And so, what do we answer if somebody asks us a question about the present perfect or

in the present perfect?

If somebody asks you: "Have you ever...?

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?"

Your answer might be yes, and if your answer is yes, you can say: "Yes, I have."

If your answer is no, you can say: "No, I haven't."

So these are the simplest ways to answer present perfect questions.

There's other ways as well.

You can also say: "Yes, I've ridden a motorcycle before" or "No, I've never ridden a motorcycle".

So, if you want the short form: "I have" or "I haven't"; and if you want the longer form:

"I have ridden a motorcycle before" or "I've never ridden a motorcycle before".

Okay?

So we've covered a lot of grammar.

Thank you for listening to the grammar explanation.

And now we are going to do something really fun.

We're going to play one of my favourite games to practice the present perfect.

Okay, so now it is time to introduce our special guest.

Come on out, Audra.

So, this is my sister Audra.

Can you tell who's the younger one and who's the older one?

Well, that's a surprise.

We're not going to say who's older.

So, Audra, the reason I've invited you here is because I want you to play a game with

our audience.

Okay?

So you are going to play a game about the present perfect with my sister Audra.

So, let me tell you the rules of the game.

Okay?

And I'll tell Audra the rules as well.

Audra: Thank you.

Emma: Okay.

So, the rules are: We are going to talk about experiences we've done, so I am going to ask

you and I am going to ask Audra questions using the present perfect.

My question is going to be: Have you ever...?

So, for example: Have you ever had a pet dog?

Or: Have you ever played baseball?

Audra is going to answer yes or no.

Now, here's where the game gets interesting.

Audra...

Audra: Yes.

Emma: Can I see your hands?

I want you to put your hands up, like this.

So, we see Audra's 10 fingers.

So, when Audra has done something, she's going to put a finger down.

If you have done the same thing, you are going to put a finger down.

Okay?

So, let's practice this first before we begin.

So, Audra...

Audra: Yes.

Emma: Have you ever eaten Italian food?

Audra: Yes, I have.

Emma: So notice Audra's finger goes down because it's something she has done.

If you have eaten Italian food, you can put a finger down as well-okay?-when we actually

play the game.

So, that's rule number one.

We have our 10 fingers out, and whenever we've done something we put a finger down.

Now, what is the point of the game?

Oh, sorry.

What if we haven't done something?

So, Audra, have you ever had a pet together?

Audra: No, I've never had a pet tiger.

Emma: Notice Audra's hands?

None of the fingers go down.

Okay?

Now, how do you win the game?

Okay?

The way you win the game is I'm going to ask Audra these questions, her fingers are going

to keep going down - when she has no fingers left, if you still have fingers up, even one

finger, you win.

Okay?

If you have no fingers up and Audra has some up, she wins.

Okay?

So, again, just summary of the rules because that's a lot of information: If Audra's done

something, then her finger goes down.

If she hasn't done something, her fingers stay up; nothing happens.

At the end of the game, if your fingers are up, you win.

If at the end of the game all your fingers are down, you lose.

Okay?

So let's get started.

All right.

Audra, have you ever been to South America?

Audra: No, I've actually never been to South America.

Emma: Okay.

For our audience, if you've been to South America, you can put your finger down.

Audra, have you ever fallen in love?

Audra: I can say yes, I have fallen in love.

Finger down.

Emma: Good.

Have you ever been on TV?

Audra: Does this count?

Because otherwise, no I have never been on TV.

Emma: Okay, so this doesn't count.

Audra: Okay.

Nothing happens.

Emma: Okay.

And if you have been on TV, you can put your finger down.

Audra, have you ever gotten a tattoo?

Audra: Yes, I actually have several tattoos.

Emma: Okay, and I think I can see one right there.

Audra: That's correct.

Emma: Okay.

So, Audra put her finger down because she has gotten a tattoo before.

And if you've gotten a tattoo, your finger should go down, too.

Audra, have you ever been to jail?

Audra: No, I have never been to jail.

Emma: Okay.

So, if our audience has been to jail, you can put your finger down.

Hopefully you haven't, so your fingers will stay up.

Have you ever met a famous person, Audra?

Audra: Yes, I have met a famous person.

I met Sandra Bullock.

Emma: Wow, I didn't know that.

All right.

So, if you've met a famous person, you can put your finger down, too.

Audra, have you ever dyed your hair black?

Audra: No, I've never dyed my hair black; only blonde.

Emma: Okay.

Okay.

Have you ever...?

Have you ever been on YouTube?

Audra: No, I've never been on YouTube.

Emma: Except now.

Audra: Except now.

Emma: So we'll have her put her finger down for that.

Audra: Okay, finger down.

Emma: All right.

Have you ever gone fishing?

Audra: Yes, I have gone fishing.

I was not very good at it, but I did go.

Finger down.

Emma: Okay, good.

So, I want you to count how many fingers you have right now.

Audra still has give up, so hopefully you still have fingers up.

Okay?

Because as soon as you have no fingers, you lose.

Audra, have you ever played golf?

Audra: Yes, I recently played golf.

Emma: Okay.

Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?

Audra: Yes, I went out on a date and it was on a motorcycle.

Emma: Have you ever visited China?

Audra: Yes, last year I went and I visited China.

Emma: Okay, good.

Have you ever...?

Hmm, let's pick something.

Have you...?

Have you ever cheated on a test?

Oh, moment of truth.

Audra: Yes, I think I might have, when I was younger, cheated on a test.

Emma: Okay.

So, Audra has one finger up, so this is...

This might be the question to determine: Who's the winner of the game?

Audra: The moment of truth.

Emma: Audra, have you ever been in a fist fight?

Audra: No, I've never been in a fist fight.

Emma: Have you ever had a moustache?

Audra: No, I've never had a moustache.

Emma: Have you...?

Have you ever eaten an octopus or a squid?

Audra: No.

I'm vegetarian; I've never eaten an octopus or a squid.

Emma: Have you ever smoked a cigar?

Audra: Yes, I have smoked a cigar.

Emma: And there you have it.

So, count how many fingers you have.

If you have no fingers, that means you lose.

But if you have a couple of fingers or even one finger left, you win.

So, what I want you to do is I want you to write in the comment section if you have won

the game or if you've lost the game.

Okay?

Do you have...?

Have you experienced these things in the past?

So you can explain what you've done in the past and you can just say if you've won or

you lost.

All right, so I want to thank my sister Audra for being here today; she did a wonderful

job, so well done.

It's her first time on YouTube and on engVid.

And I just wanted to let our audience know that we have a quiz where you can practice

the things we've talked about today.

So, you can visit our website at www.engvid.com, and there you'll find our quiz where you can

practice the present perfect, especially asking present perfect questions, like we've done

today.

I also think this is a great game to practice the present perfect.

We were doing this with fingers.

Some people like to do this at the bar, doing shots.

Now, I wouldn't recommend that, but maybe Audra would, so it can be a fun game to do

either with fingers or with drinks if you drink, so it's your choice.

But it is a really good way to practice.

I also would like to invite you to subscribe to my channel; there, you can find a lot of

other different resources on similar topics, including grammar, as well as many other things.

So, thank you for watching; and until next time, take care.

High-five, Audra.

Audra: Yeah.

Emma: Well done.