DIALOGUE

Practice by reading the dialogue with your tutor. After you are done, switch roles and do it again!

• K: Have you read the email that Joe sent this morning?
• D: No, I haven’t even gotten a chance to turn on my computer yet.
• K: Joe announced that he has left the company!
• D: Oh wow, what a surprise! That’s too bad, as I have really enjoyed working with him.

 

NEW SKILLS

The Present Perfect Tense is used when an activity has started in the past and continues into the present. Below, you’ll see many examples of positive, negative, and interrogative present perfect sentences. Read them out loud with your tutor.

Positive Present Perfect

Subject	Have	Past Participle	Rest of the Sentence
I	have	studied	for the exam.
You	have	bought	a new computer.
He	has	eaten	my chocolate.
She	has	written	an e-mail.
It	has	been	cold this month.
We	have	won	the championship.
You	have	tried	to learn a lot.
They	have	forgotten	my birthday.

Exercise: Now try creating a positive present perfect sentence yourself.

 

Negative Present Perfect

Subject	Have	Past Participle	Rest of the Sentence
I	haven’t	studied	for the exam.
You	haven’t	bought	a new computer.
He	hasn’t	eaten	my chocolate.
She	hasn’t	written	an e-mail.
It	hasn’t	been	cold this month.
We	haven’t	won	the championship.
You	haven’t	tried	to learn a lot.
They	haven’t	forgotten	my birthday.

Exercise: Now try creating a negative present perfect sentence yourself.

Questions (interrogative)

Have	Subject	Past Participle	Rest of the Sentence
Have	I	been	chosen for the team?
Have	you	bought	a new car?
Has	he	eaten	my sandwich?
Has	she	written	the letter?
Has	it	started	on time?
Have	we	won	a trophy?
Have	you	kept	my secret?
Have	they	driven	there?

Exercise: Now try creating an interrogative present perfect sentence yourself.

 

Past Participles

You may have noticed that the present perfect sentences above all use past participles. Past participles are verbs that end in “ed” (most of the time). Sometimes however past participles are irregular.

Note: For more irregulars click on this link: http://www.myenglishteacher.net/irregularverbsprintable.html

 

 

 

EXERCISE

Make a positive present perfect sentence using the words.

 

• I / study / English I have studied English.
• He / live / here / for three years (1) _________________________________.
• John / teach / English / in Bogotá, Colombia (2) _____________________________.
• My parents / miss / the train (3) _______________________.
• You / eat / all of the cake (4)  _______________________________.

 

 

Make a negative present perfect sentence using the words.

• John/finish/his homework    John has not finished his homework. 
• They / buy / a house yet (5) ___________________________.
• We / go / on a vacation in three years (6) __________________________________.
• His friend / work / for one year (7) _________________________________.
• Her boyfriend / graduate / from the university (8) __________________________.

 

 

Make a present perfect interrogative sentence using the words.

• The Chinese students / visit / the USA? Have the Chinese students visited the USA?
• How long / your mother / be / sick? (9) ________________________________.
• What / you / do / today? (10) ______________________________.
• John / talk / with his mother today? (11) ________________________________.
• Where / your brother / be / all week? (12) ___________________________________

 

Using John’s Life Timeline above, make present perfect sentences using the words. Some of the sentences are questions.

• John / achieve / his CELTA certification in Bogota Colombia     John has achieved his CELTA certification in Bogota Colombia.
• He / graduate / from high school? (13) _____________________________.
• John / live / abroad in Chile? (14) __________________________________.
• He / work / for Warner Lambert (15) _________________________________.
• John / complete / his military enlistment (16) _______________________________.

 

Discussion Questions

• Tell your tutor your life story starting from your birth to the current day. Try to use some past perfect sentences.
• What are some hobbies you’ve always enjoyed?
• What are some pet peeves that you have always had?

 

 

(Source: 1. http://www.grammar.cl/Present/Perfect_Tense.htm, 2. http://images.slideplayer.com/10/2895525/slides/slide_9.jpg)

 

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Answer Key:

(1) He has lived here for three years.

(2) John has taught English in Bogotá, Colombia.

(3) My parents have missed the train.

(4) You have eaten all of the cake.

(5) They have not bought a house yet.

(6) We have not gone on a vacation in three years.

(7) His friend has not worked for one year.

(8) Her boyfriend has not graduated from the university.

(9) How long has your mother been sick?

(10) What have you done today?

(11) Has John talked with his mother today?

(12) Where has your brother been all week?

(13) Has he graduated from high school?

(14) Has John lived abroad in Chile?

(15) He has worked for Warner-Lambert.

(16) John has completed his military enlistment.