PRESENT PERFECT TENSE | Complete English Grammar Review

hey what's up Stefanie the English coach here from EnglishFullTime.com

today we're gonna talk about the present perfect tense in English now I know this

tense is difficult for many of you because either it doesn't exist in your

native language or if it does exist it's used differently than it's used in

English so hopefully I can make this tense very very very easy for you

the way I see grammar is that grammar is logical in any language you just have to

understand the pattern or how the grammatical structure is formed and then

you have to learn when to use it situation scenarios etc so if you can

understand all of that something that's very vague and abstract suddenly becomes

very easy so if you really want to get deep into this tense and understand it

fully I highly recommend that you download the guide that I'm gonna link

in the description I created a complete guide for you guys

it's all about how to use this tense with tons of sentence examples I spent

well over eight hours making this guide for you so it is an excellent resource I

think you're really gonna like it so download it study it highlight it

take a picture put it on Instagram use #EnglishFullTime tag my

account and show me that you are practicing with this material and I will

keep making more also if this video gets to ten thousand likes at least then I

will know you really liked grammar videos and I will make another one just

let me know what grammar tense you want me to cover next this is the first

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let's continue with the lesson okay so how do we form the present perfect tense

we use the subject has have and the past participle form of a verb let me give

you some examples I have walked I have played I have wanted right now

you have to be careful with the past participle form of the verb though

because sometimes it's irregular I have sung I have broken I have flown with

irregular past participles you just have to memorize them there's really no rhyme

rule or reason to which is which and how to remember etc etc just focus on

memorizing the list so that you can use these words correctly now when we

combine subjects like I you he she wiII they etc with having has there

are several different ways we can do it check this out I have I have not I've I

haven't I've not okay so that's five different ways that we can make these

combinations and just a tip for you native English speakers love contracting

words so if we can use a contraction we do okay it makes you speak a lot faster

and it's just easier so if you can use a contraction you want to use it unless

you're writing a formal academic essay or if you're trying to emphasize

something you might want to say no I have wanted that for a long time

that's when maybe you wouldn't use a contraction for emphasis okay so now

let's talk about when to use the present perfect tense the most important thing

to remember is that the present perfect connects the past and the present so for

example something that started in the past and continues today like he's been

a manager for seven years this means he became a manager seven years ago and

he's still a manager today another example is I've been really sick

lately this could mean that I got sick and then I got better I got sick and

then I got better I got sick and then I got better okay but I've been really

sick lately I get started in the past and I'm still sick on and off again okay

we also use the present perfect when we don't care to emphasize when exactly

something happened so someone could say I've been to Spain twice now this means

they went in the past two times but it's also indicating that they could

potentially go again right something that happened in the past and could

continue in the future another example is I've had three exams

this week okay so I'm saying that it happened this week but I'm not telling

you exactly if my exams were on Monday because if not I would say I had three

exams on Monday I'm using the past simple but if I say I've had three exams

this week I'm just telling you that they happened sometime this week and I'm also

indicating that perhaps I will have more exams this week that they're not

finished I'm not emphasizing

that my exams are over I'm just emphasizing that it has happened again

if I say I had three exams this week I am clearly emphasizing that I completed

three exams and I have no more this week I had three exams this week versus I've

had all right we can also use the present perfect when we talk about

achievements like she's won three Oscars and noticed that I contracted that there

I didn't say she has won three Oscars I said she's won she's won she's won three

Oscars that is an achievement and the reason I'm using the present perfect

it's because she won them in the past but I'm indicating that she is still an

actress and she still has the potential to win more Oscars so it could continue

in the future on the other hand if I'm talking about maybe an actor who's no

longer alive I might say he won two Oscars I'm using the simple past because

he did it in the past and there's no chance he's going to be doing any of

that in the future okay cuz he's dead another way that we

use the present perfect is to talk about things that haven't happened yet but

that we expect to happen okay so for example let's say you had a job

interview and I say hey did you get the job and you say I don't know yet I

haven't heard back from the company you haven't heard back meaning they have not

called you yet but you are expecting to get a call back okay another example is I

haven't been to Brazil yet okay I am dying to go to Brazil I cannot wait a

lot of people ask me about this in the comments but I haven't been to Brazil

yet I haven't gone to Brazil yet so I have not because I expect to go I'm not

gonna say I didn't go to Brazil because that's awkward it's like when when

didn't you go do you didn't go when in a specific year in 2013, 14, when you had a

specific opportunity what are you talking about using the past simple

connects something that happened in the past to a very specific time or instance

or occasion okay so I could say oh I had the opportunity to go to Brazil in 2014

but I didn't go right so I had the opportunity at a specific time and I didn't

go that's not what I'm talking about I'm saying I haven't gone meaning I expect

to go I just haven't gone in the past but I

expect to go in the future so think about things that you expect to happen

that have not happened yet and you can write some examples in the comments

actually you can write examples for all of these in the comments just to

practice okay another example of something that has not yet happened

scientists have not yet discovered a cure for cancer okay so why do we say it

like this they have not discovered or have not yet discovered because we

expect them to eventually discover a cure for cancer right we also use the

present perfect to talk about change over time so let's say that I see a kid

and then I don't see him for two years and he gets really tall and then when I

finally see him again I say wow you've grown up a lot since the last time I saw

you or Wow you've gotten a lot taller since the

last time I saw you okay so that is indicating a change over time you've

gotten taller since the last time I saw you you've grown up a lot since the last

time I saw you now think about when you first started

learning English I bet your English has improved a lot since then right I bet

your English has improved a lot since then I'm talking about a change over

time okay another example of change over time she's lost a lot of weight since

she started the diet she has lost a lot of weight since she started the diet

again I contracted that the first time she's lost a lot of weight she's lost

okay change over time she has lost a lot of weight since she started the diet she

started the diet over there somewhere and then she's lost a lot of weight over

time until today and she continues to lose weight now if you're talking about

a diet that she did a long time ago and maybe she stopped the diet gained the

weight back or who knows what then you would say yeah she lost a lot of weight

on the diet she lost it in the past maybe it found her again I'm just

kidding okay now one of the most common ways to use the present perfect is to

talk about life experiences like have you ever been on a plane

have you ever seen the office have you ever met the

president now speaking of life experiences there is a really common and

well-known game that English speakers play you can look it up later it's

called never have I ever and there's different variations of this game but

basically it helps you learn interesting things about your friends and whoever

you play the game with so basically you say never have I ever okay and then you

say something you've never done so I'm going to go first and I'll tell you guys

some things that I've never done using this sentence construction and then you

can practice in the comments by telling me five things you've never done and

then as you guys read each other's comments you'll find things that people

say that they've never done and if you have done that you can comment and say

hey I have done that so someone can say never have I ever climbed Mount Everest

but by saying that maybe you'll meet someone who has climbed Mount Everest

okay so never have I ever driven a motorcycle never have I ever been to

Brazil never have I ever broken a bone never have I ever donated blood and

never have I ever been to Disney World so again we use the present perfect to

talk about life experiences and we even have this game never have I ever to talk

about our life experiences and to figure out what people have done and what

people haven't done so now it's your turn tell me five things in the comments

that you've never done using the construction never have I ever okay so

that was a little detour we still have more to this lesson there's lots to

learn here but the next thing I want to say is that sometimes a sentence in the

present perfect can accomplish multiple functions at the same time let's just

look at this sentence I've been a teacher for over years and I've

worked with hundreds of students around the world

#TrueStory okay so here we are showing something that started in the

past and continues today I've been a teacher for over 10 years right and I've

worked with hundreds of students around the world but this is also talking about

life experience and it's talking about achievements so remember that all the

things I list previously in the video like we can use

the present perfect to talk about achievements life experience etc etc

sometimes in one sentence we're doing multiple things okay so I hope you guys

are hanging in there with me things are about to get a little bit

more advanced alright let's compare the following

sentences and analyze what the difference is between these two

sentences they cannot grow their business until they get some investors

or they cannot grow their business until they've gotten some investors what's the

difference it's so subtle it's very subtle

basically the sentence that uses the present perfect tense is emphasizing

that one action must be completed before the other action can happen it is about

emphasis okay they're essentially saying the same thing but one is placing more

emphasis on the fact that something has to be completed before the other thing

can happen so they cannot grow their business until they get some investors

it's kind of matter of fact they cannot grow their business until they've gotten

some investors meaning it's absolutely impossible for them to grow their

business until they've gotten some investors again essentially they are

saying the same thing the difference is very subtle but sometimes this emphasis

is necessary if you're a freelancer for example a lot of freelancers take

payment after they've completed the work but then they run into experiences where

their client doesn't pay or they pay late so what I've done and the

freelancers that I work with they all say the same thing we do not begin our

work until we have received the payment okay or we will not begin until we have

received the first payment okay basically ensuring I need to receive

payment first and then I will begin the work or then I will turn in the work or

whatever the arrangement is okay so we can also use the present perfect with

the passive voice I know a lot of you guys hate the passive voice and you hate

the present perfect so this is probably the worst combination in the world but

again my goal is to make it easy for you I hope I'm

making it easy please let me know in the comments if this is making more sense

okay so how do we do this how do we form the present perfect in the passive voice

we use has or have plus been plus the past participle okay it's actually

pretty easy gold has been associated with wealth for centuries the lost dog

has been found once the car has been washed then it can be painted remember

in the passive construction we're not emphasizing the subject of the sentence

we're not emphasizing who does the action we are just emphasizing the

result okay like the lost dog has been found who found the dog we either don't

know or we don't care okay but the dog has been found yay next we're gonna talk

about how the present perfect can be used in sentence clauses now remember a

clause is simply a group of words where you need a group of words to express

something okay but it's not exactly a complete idea let me give you some

examples so this makes sense whenever I've made up my mind okay

whenever I've I have made up my mind so that is in the present perfect but when

you hear that by itself does it make sense no because it's a clause it is a

group of words but by itself it does not make sense whenever I've

made up my mind but now let me put this in a sentence for you so you see the big

picture and you see how this works I'll let you know my final decision

whenever I've made up my mind okay I don't know what I'm gonna decide right

now but I will let you know my final decision

whenever I've made up my mind okay next wait I've dropped this month that by

itself does not really make sense right but what if someone says oh my goodness

I cannot believe the weight I've dropped this month right we're talking a lot

about diets in this video aren't we oh well okay

I can't believe the weight I've dropped this month now we are going to do a

clause that is in past participle form okay which have been considered the most

valuable gemstone for centuries right that doesn't make sense

alone which have been considered the most valuable gemstone for centuries now

let me put it into a sentence diamonds which have been considered the most

valuable gemstone for centuries are actually not that rare diamonds which

have been considered the most valuable gemstone for centuries are actually not

that rare next although we've been friends for many years right that alone

by itself is incomplete you can just hear that it's incomplete now let me

finish it although we've been friends for many years we still disagree on many

things although we've been friends for many years we still disagree on many

things ok so now we are going to cover some common phrases that we use with the

present perfect tense okay now it's really great to have these phrases in

your repertoire okay to just have them in your mind and your memory at the

front of your brains

so you can just use them whenever you

need them the first one is where have you been

okay hey where have you been like let's say someone has been your I don't know

your dad your mom I don't do you live with your dad in your mom maybe your

wife your husband your your kid I don't know someone's been gone all day and

they come back and you're like hey where have you been like you you don't know so

you're asking okay where where you been where have you been next I haven't seen

her in years or I haven't seen him in years or I haven't seen them in years

okay I haven't something that hasn't happened for a long time and continues

to not happen that's a little bit awkward because it's a negative sentence

but it still makes sense logically if you think about it something that hasn't

happened and continues to not happen right okay maybe draw a diagram so that

can make sense or something if you're struggling with it we haven't talked in

ages we haven't talked in ages I haven't heard from him in a while

I haven't heard from him in a while I haven't gotten around to that yet

so for example Renzo has been asking me to make a rather important phone call

for a couple weeks I have been so busy I literally haven't gotten around to it

yet okay I haven't been able to do it or in my case I have not prioritized it

above the other things I've been doing just because I've been so busy next I've

had a rough day or some people might say I've had a tough day I tend to use rough

I don't know why it just feels better I've had a rough day okay tough just

seems anyways but people do use it okay I've had a great day I've had a rough

day I've had a great time another one is have we met before

if you're meeting somebody and you're not sure I think this is a pick-up line

that guys use also have we met before when they no they didn't actually meet

the person anyways I could be wrong but I feel like I've seen that in movies a

couple times so it probably happens if you're a guy maybe you can try that and

just you know let us know if it works in the comments next has anyone seen my and

then whatever you're looking for has anyone seen my keys has anyone seen my

wallet has anyone seen my baby I'm just kidding has anyone seen my phone okay so

that pretty much covers the ways the many ways that we use the present

perfect tense again if you really wanted to

into this and keep studying and get lots of examples then please download the

guide that I've linked in the description it's absolutely free and I'm

still as at the point of making this video I am still working on it it's

almost finished but it's already like 10 pages long okay I'm trying to make it as

concise as possible but the reality is there's so much information to share and

examples that I want to give you so that it all comes together and makes sense so

it's a bit long but I think you're really going to like it and I think it's

gonna help this whole tense make sense now before I end this video I just want

to share a couple mistakes that people make with the present perfect tense so

that you can avoid these mistakes the first mistake is basically not knowing

your past participles you have got to memorize the past participles because if

you don't you will use these incorrectly so to give you an example of this and to

throw Renzo under the bus a little bit when we were dating it had been like a

few months or something like that and when he realized how quickly the time

had gone by he said Wow time has really flowed up hasn't it and I was like

flowed up what is this guy talking about for those of you who don't know my

husband is not a native English speaker and when we met his English was not that

good okay so anyways he said time had really he said time had really

flowed up and when I finally realized what he was trying to say I was like oh

my gosh he was trying to say that time had flown by

so yeah memorize your past participles another mistake that I've seen is

students using contractions where they shouldn't use contractions let me give

you an example if someone asks you have you seen that movie you can say yeah or

yes or yes I have okay but don't say yes I've yes I've okay don't contract it

right there contractions don't go at the end of

sentences they go at the beginning or somewhere in the middle so don't end

your sentence with a contraction next if someone says have you gone to the bank

and your answer is yes you know that you went this morning don't say yes I have

gone to the bank this morning because this morning indicates a specific time

and remember with the present perfect we're not indicating a specific time you

could say yes I've gone to the bank but if you're going to indicate a specific

time you need to use the past simple and say yes I went to the bank this morning

okay the last thing I want to say is that in sentences we can often combine

multiple tenses in this video I tried to give you sentences that focused mainly

on the present perfect without combining any other tenses because I don't know

how well you know those tenses and I didn't want to confuse you but for

example the sentence have you ever wondered what life would be like if

cellphones had never been invented have you ever wondered that is in the present

perfect tense but everything that comes after that is in different tenses okay

so we can combine conditional tenses present perfect past perfect past simple

future etc but there's always going to be a rhyme and a reason to everything it

all depends on the specific idea you're trying to communicate so remember that

grammar is very precise it's used to communicate very specific ideas as you

saw earlier in this video a small difference can make a very subtle change

in a sentence but it's still a change nonetheless the constructions don't mean

exactly the same thing so a lot of this might not make sense in the beginning

but now that you're aware of it and as you see this tense more and more

and more you will start to internalize this grammar tense you'll start to

understand how to construct it naturally without having to think okay I have to

put the subject here in the past participle here and this you won't have

to think about any of that and you'll start to understand the tense the way

native speakers do where we just know how to use it but we might not even be

able to explain how we know or why it needs to be used that way we just say I

don't know that's the way that's right that's the way it's supposed to be used

okay so that is it thank you so much for watching this video again give it a

thumbs up if you liked it subscribe to this channel if you're are subscribe to

this channel if you're not a subscriber yet and again if this video gets to

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lesson and want more just let me know in the comments which grammar lesson you

want next and don't forget to check out Lingoda alright you guys that is it and

I will see you in the next video bye