Present perfect and present continuous perfect tense

Formation of the present perfect: Regular verbs The Present Perfect tense of any English verb is formed from the Simple Present of the auxiliary to have, followed by what is generally r

CHAPTER 4 THE PRESENT PERFECT AND THE PRESENT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS

1 Use of the present perfect

The English Present Perfect tense is used to express actions which have already been

completed, or perfected, at the time of speaking or writing In the examples given

below, the verbs in the Present Perfect tense are underlined.

e.g I have done the work.

She has answered half the questions.

In the first example, the use of the Present Perfect tense emphasizes the fact that, at the time of speaking or writing, the work has already been completed In the second example, the use of the Present Perfect indicates that, at the time of speaking or writing, half the questions have been answered.

2 Formation of the present perfect: Regular verbs

The Present Perfect tense of any English verb is formed from the Simple Present of

the auxiliary to have, followed by what is generally referred to as the past

participle of the verb.

Most English verbs form the past participle in a regular, predictable manner These

verbs are commonly referred to as regular verbs.

The past participle of a regular English verb is formed by adding the ending ed to the bare infinitive of the verb For instance, the past participle of the verb to

work isworked.

Thus, the Present Perfect tense of the verb to work is conjugated as follows:

I have worked you have worked

he has worked she has worked

it has worked

we have worked they have worked See Exercise 1

The following contractions are often used in spoken English:

Without Contractions With Contractions

It should be noted that the contractions for he has, she has and it has are the same as the contractions for he is, she is and it is.

See Exercise 2

3 Spelling rules for adding ed to form the past participle Some regular verbs change their spelling when the ending ed is added to form the past participle.

a Verbs ending in a silent e

When a regular verb ends in a silent e, only the letter d must be added in order to form the past

participle For example:

b Verbs ending in y

When a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a consonant, the y is changed

to i before the ending ed is added For example:

However, when a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a vowel,

the y is not changed before the ending ed is added For example:

See Exercise 3

c Verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel

The rules concerning the doubling of final consonants which apply when adding the

ending ing to form the present participle also apply when adding the ending ed to

form the past participle.

Thus, when a one-syllable verb ends in a single consonant other

than w, x or y immediately preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant must be doubled before the ending ed is added to form the past participle In the following examples, the consonants which have been doubled are underlined For example:

When a verb of more than one syllable ends in a single consonant other

than w, x or y immediately preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled before the ending ed only when the last syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest stress

In the following examples, the syllables pronounced with the heaviest stress are underlined For

example:

In the first four examples, the last syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest

stress, and the final consonant is doubled before ed is added In the last four examples,

the first syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest stress, and the final

consonant is not doubled before ed is added.

The final consonants w, x and y are never doubled when the ending ed is added For example:

It should also be noted that final consonants immediately preceded by two vowels are

not doubled when the ending ed is added For example:

Infinitive Past Participle

See Exercise 4

4 Pronunciation of the ed ending The ending ed is usually not pronounced as a separate syllable For instance, in each of the

following examples, both the bare infinitive and the past participle consist of one syllable For example:

However, when the ending ed is added to verbs which end in d or t, the ed ending of

the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable The reason for this is that the

sounds of d and t are so similar to the sound of the ed ending, that the ending must be

pronounced as a separate syllable in order to be heard clearly.

In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables For example:

Similarly, when d is added to verbs ending in a silent e preceded by d or t, the

final ed of the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables For example:

See Exercise 5

5 Formation of the present perfect: Irregular verbs

In addition to regular English verbs, there are many irregular English verbs, which do not form the past participle with the ending ed The English irregular verbs are related to the strong verbs

of the German language The following are examples of irregular English verbs For example:

The past participles of irregular English verbs are formed in an unpredictable manner, and must be memorized A table of common English irregular verbs is provided.

Except for the irregularity of the past participle, the formation of the Present Perfect tense is the same for an irregular verb as for a regular verb In both cases, the Simple

Present of the auxiliary to have is followed by the past participle of the verb.

For instance, the irregular verb to take has the past participle taken Thus, the Present Perfect of the irregular verb to take is conjugated as follows:

I have taken you have taken

he has taken she has taken

it has taken

we have taken they have taken See Exercise 6

6 Questions and negative statements

As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative statements in the Present Perfect

are formed using the auxiliary In the case of the Present Perfect, the auxiliary is have or has.

a Questions

In order to form a question, the auxiliary is placed before the subject of the verb For example:

He has worked Has he worked?

b Negative statements

In order to form a negative statement, the word not is placed after the auxiliary For example:

Affirmative Statement Negative Statement

You have worked You have not worked

They have worked They have not worked

The following contractions are often used in spoken English:

c Negative questions

In order to form a negative question, the auxiliary is placed before the subject, and the

word not is placed after the subject However, when contractions are used, the

contracted form of not follows immediately after the auxiliary For example:

Without Contractions With Contractions

Have I not worked? Haven't I worked?

Have you not worked? Haven't you worked?

Has he not worked? Hasn't he worked?

Has she not worked? Hasn't she worked?

Has it not worked? Hasn't it worked?

Have we not worked? Haven't we worked?

Have they not worked? Haven't they worked?

d Tag questions

Tag questions are also formed using the auxiliary In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined.

Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question

I have worked I have worked, haven't I?

You have worked You have worked, haven't you?

He has worked He has worked, hasn't he?

She has worked She has worked, hasn't she?

It has worked It has worked, hasn't it?

We have worked We have worked, haven't we?

They have worked They have worked, haven't they?

See Exercise 7

7 The present perfect continuous

a Use

The Present Perfect Continuous tense is used to express continuous, ongoing actions which have already been completed at the time of speaking or writing.

In the following example, the verb in the Present Perfect Continuous tense is

underlined.

e.g The bus has been waiting for one hour.

The use of the Present Perfect Continuous tense in this example indicates that, at the time of speaking or writing, the bus has completed one hour of continuous waiting.

b Formation

The Present Perfect Continuous tense of any English verb is formed from the Present

Perfect of to be, followed by the present participle of the verb For instance, the Present Perfect Continuous tense of the verb to work is conjugated as follows:

I have been working you have been working

he has been working she has been working

it has been working

we have been working they have been working

Thus, it can be seen that the Present Perfect Continuous tense has two auxiliaries The

first auxiliary is have or has, and the second auxiliary is been.

See Exercise 8

c Questions and negative statements

When a verb has more than one auxiliary, it is the first auxiliary which must change its form to agree with the subject of the verb It is also the first auxiliary which is used

to form questions and negative statements.

Questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject of the verb For example:

I have been working Have I been working?

You have been working Have you been working?

He has been working Has he been working?

She has been working Has she been working?

It has been working Has it been working?

We have been working Have we been working?

They have been working Have they been working?

Negative statements are formed by placing the word not after the first auxiliary For

example:

Affirmative Statement Negative Statement

I have been working I have not been working

You have been working You have not been working

He has been working He has not been working

She has been working She has not been working

It has been working It has not been working

We have been working We have not been working

They have been working They have not been working

Negative questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject, and the

word not after the subject However, when contractions are used, the contracted form

of not follows immediately after the first auxiliary For example:

Without Contractions With Contractions

Have I not been working? Haven't I been working?

Have you not been working? Haven't you been working?

Has he not been working? Hasn't he been working?

Has she not been working? Hasn't she been working?

Has it not been working? Hasn't it been working?

Have we not been working? Haven't we been working?

Have they not been working? Haven't they been working?

Tag questions are formed using the first auxiliary In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined For example:

Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question

I have been working I have been working, haven't I?

You have been working You have been working, haven't you?

He has been working He has been working, hasn't he?

She has been working She has been working, hasn't she?

It has been working It has been working, hasn't it?

We have been working We have been working, haven't we?

They have been working They have been working, haven't they?

See Exercise 9

EXERCISES for Chapter 4

1 Using the Present Perfect tense, fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs shown in brackets For example:

We the contest (to enter)

We have entered the contest

He the work (to finish)

He has finished the work

1 They _ a pizza (to order)

2 It _ to rain (to start)

3 You _ the question (to answer)

4 I _ the eggs (to cook)

5 We _ the sauce (to heat)

6 He _ the room (to clean)

7 She _ the car (to start)

8 They _ on the door (to knock)

9 You _ on the lights (to turn)

10 She _ them to come (to ask)

Answers

2 Rewrite the following sentences, using the contracted form of the auxiliary to have For

example:

It has started

It's started

We have telephoned

We've telephoned

1 I have agreed

2 You have moved

3 He has looked

4 We have argued

5 They have explained

6 You have waited

7 She has answered

8 We have finished

9 It has cooled

10 I have ordered

Answers

3 Paying attention to the spelling of the past participles, fill in the blanks using the Present Perfect tense of the regular verbs shown in brackets For example:

She _ hard (to try)

She has tried hard

He _ his friend (to annoy)

He has annoyed his friend

1 We _ them (to envy)

2 She the clarinet for five years (to play)

3 You _ for the job (to apply)

4 We _ the eggs (to fry)

5 They _ six people (to employ)

6 He the wall with paint (to spray)

7 I home (to hurry)

8 They _ unusual intelligence (to display)

9 It _ our chances (to destroy)

10 You on your bicycle (to rely)

Answers

4 Paying attention to the spelling of the past participles, fill in the blanks using the Present Perfect tense of the regular verbs shown in brackets For example:

He the child (to scare)

He has scared the child

They the hillside (to scar)

They have scarred the hillside

1 She (to apologize)

2 I the soup (to stir)

3 It _ (to stop)

4 We _ what happened (to explain)

5 They a concert (to plan)

6 You the table (to wipe)

7 We _ our hopes on you (to pin)

8 She _ the choir (to join)

9 They an eagle (to spot)

10 It _ every day (to rain)

11 You _ the cream (to whip)

12 She _ everything (to arrange)

Answers

5 Keeping in mind that the ending ed forms a separate syllable only when it follows the

letter d or t, indicate the number of syllables in each of the following past participles Read each

of the the past participles aloud For example:

pained

1 pained

painted

2 painted

1 _ waited

2 _ wailed

3 _ pinned

4 _ printed

5 _ acted

6 _ added

7 _ wanted

8 _ warned

9 _ raced

10 _ rated

11 _ joined

12 _ jumped

13 _ folded

14 _ frowned

15 _ passed

16 _ patted

17 _ raided

18 _ rained

19 _ stared

20 _ started

Answers

6 Referring to the table of irregular verbs if necessary, fill in the blanks with the Present Perfect tense of the irregular verbs shown in brackets For example:

They _ tall (to grow)

They have grown tall

He it (to choose)

He has chosen it

1 We _ lunch (to eat)

2 I the floor (to sweep)

3 She in a choir (to sing)

4 They to work (to go)

5 You your way (to lose)

6 He _ earlier than usual (to rise)

7 We to everyone (to speak)

8 I the kingfisher (to see)

9 They _ each other a long time (to know)

10 She _ here from France (to fly)

11 He very helpful (to be)

12 I _ the blue cloth (to cut)

13 We two letters (to write)

14 They _ the competition (to win)

15 She no one (to tell)

16 It _ a long time (to take)

17 You to do it (to forget)

18 I it (to hear)

19 They _ town (to leave)

20 He the problem (to understand)

Answers

7 Following the model of the examples, rewrite the following affirmative statements as

questions, negative statements, negative questions without contractions, negative questions with contractions, and affirmative statements followed by negative tag questions For example:

I have read this book

Have I read this book?

I have not read this book

Have I not read this book?

Haven't I read this book?

I have read this book, haven't I?