The present perfect refers to an action that either occuered at indefinite time in the past or to an event that occured in the past and is linked to the present.
Take a look at the following examples:
- Ms. Smith has seen that movie. (At some point in the past she saw the movie)
- I have been here for almost two hours. (I arrived here almost two hours ago, and I am still here)
The structure for the present perfect is as follows:
Subject/pronoun + have / has + Participle verb + Complement
I, you, they, we + have + Participle + Complement
He, she, it + has + Particple + Complement
- You have gone to the park twice this week.
- Joan and George have bought some nice clothes. / They have bought some nice clothes.
- My wife and I have lived in this house for three years. / We have lived in this house for three years.
- Jim has approved his final exam.
- My sister has not finished her homework yet.
We use the the present perfect to show that the result of an event in the past is important to the present. The present perfect has some connection to the present.
- The player has broken his leg.
- The kids have broken the window.
We use the present perfect with some adverbs to talk about indefinite events in the past.
- Greg has read that book many times.
- My grandparents have traveled to many countries.
The adverbs twice and often are used to talk about repeated events that occured at an indefinite time in the past. Look at the following examples:
- I have been to Guanajuato twice this year.
- Susana has often had breakfast in the restaurant around the corner.
In the case of the adverbs always and never, we use them in order to state that something continues up to the present.
e.g.:
- Steve has always wanted to have chihuahua dog.
- I've never ridden a horse.
We use the word ever to ask questions that mean "at any time before now". For negative answer we use the word "never".
e.g.:
- Have you ever seen a ghost?
- No, I've never seen a ghost in my life.
We use the adverbs "just", "lately" and "recently" to stress the idea that something in a very recent past time. Remember that still time is not definite.
Just expresses the idea that something happened in a very short time before now.
Lately and recently express the idea that something happened in the near past.
- I've just finished my homework.
- Greg hasn't been to the amusement park lately.
- Joan has recently remodeled her aparment.
