The present perfect - what it is, why it's difficult for learners (and teachers) and some ideas on how to teach it. A unit from the 'Grammar for language teachers' course at www.elt-training.com
21. Meaning
What is the time reference?
• I’ve been to China
• He’s lived there for two years.
• I’ve had a cup of coffee, thanks.
• I’ve written three letters this
morning.
22. I’ve been to China
Experience in the non-specified past
Now
? ? ? ? ? ?
23. He’s lived there for two years.
Unfinished action continuing to the present
24. He’s lived here for two years.
Unfinished action continuing to the present
Now
2 years
ago
25. I’ve had a cup of coffee, thanks.
Finished action in the recent past
Now
28. Often used in the news…
The next leader of Britain’s top public schools
has warned parents to stop hothousing children
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/u
k_news/Education/article1224538.ece
29. I’ve written three letters this morning.
Finished action in unfinished time
Now
Specified time
30. Meaning – continuous form
What is the time reference?
• She’s been playing the recorder for a
while now.
• She’s been running- she’s tired.
31. She’s been playing the recorder for a while now.
Unfinished action continuing
to the present
Now
Continuous or regular action
32. She’s been running- she’s tired.
Recently finished action
With a current result
Now
33. So we have…..
Present Perfect Simple
• Experience (at a non-specified past time)
• Action started in the past continuing to now
• Recent action (news)
• Action in an unfinished time
Present Perfect Continuous
• Action started in the past continuing to now
• Longer actions that have recently ended (with a present result)
Task: Think of an example for each (not the same as mine!)
34. Michael Swan
‘Basically speaking, the present perfect deals with
finished events that are connected to the present.’
Practical English Usage. Swan; 2005
47. Adverbs commonly associated…
With the present perfect
Yet, already, this (morning/ year/ decade), since,
for, ever, never, before, recently.
With the simple past
Yesterday, ago, last ___, then, in 2007 (any specific
time reference)
49. Which do we teach first?
Obviously there’s no set-in-stone order, but
generally……….
50. Present perfect with unfinished time
Late elementary
How many e-mails have you received this
week?
What other personalised questions could you ask them
using the same form and meaning?
52. Present perfect for experience: Pre-Int
I’ve ridden a camel.
vs
I was very sore afterwards!!
53. (ride) a horse (eat) snake (see) the Pyramids
(go) to London (oversleep) (fall) in love
(learn) another
foreign language
(swim) in the sea
at night
(play) chess
Have you ever……
54. Present perfect simple and continuous with
‘for’, ‘since’ and other time expressions.
I’ve lived here since 2001
I’ve been playing in a band since January.
How long have you …….?
Now
56. He has already cut the grass.
He hasn’t mended the garage door yet.
C.Granger and J.Plumb 1995 Heinemann
57. Intermediate
Present perfect cf simple past
Read this brief biography of Barack Obama. Which is the correct tense?
Barack Obama ____ (have) an interesting life. He _____ (be born) on
August 4th 1961 in Honalulu. His father _____ (be) from Kenya, but
Barack __________ (never live) there. He _____ (go) to Harvard Law
School) and he _______ (be) a university lecturer as well as a lawyer.
He ______ (be involved) in many elections since 1996, and he ______
(be elected) as the 44th President of the USA in January 2009.
Do this exercise – which tense and why?
58. What’s the pattern?
Three climbers, missing for thirty hours, have been found safe and well by rescue
teams in Scotland. The three, two men and a woman, who are all from Glasgow, had
been climbing in the Highlands, when they were forced to take shelter, by the bad
weather. They were found early this morning.
Intermediate
News: Present perfect cf simple past
59. Upper levels
Review/ contrast of all uses and differences
between simple and continuous forms;
Guided discovery approach works well
60. I’ve lost some money/ I’ve been losing money.
She’s studied/ been studying a lot lately.
She’s forgotten/ been forgetting so much
recently.
_____ is used to talk about things that happened more than
once.
____is used to emphasise the process.
____is used to emphasise the finished action.