Explanation about the Present Perfect and the Past Perfect

2. -The Present Perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary
verb Has or Have with the Past Participle.
Example:
• Affirmative
-I, you, we, they + have spoken.
-He, she, it + has spoken.
It’s very common to use the contractions ‘ve and ‘s in the
present perfect:
-I’ve spoken in English for several hours.
-She’s spoken in English since 11 am.

3. • Negative
-I, you, we, they + have not spoken.
-He, she, it + has not spoken.
It’s very common to use the contractions
haven’t and hasn’t in the negative form:
-I haven’t spoken in Spanish for several hours.
-She hasn’t spoken in Spanish since 11 am.
• Question
-I, you, we, they = Have they spoken in English?
-He, she, it = Has she spoken in Spanish?

4. -For Regular Verbs, we just add “ed”:
Exceptions in spelling
when adding ”ed” Example
-After a final ”e” only add ”d” Love – Loved
-Final consonant after a vowel Admit – Admitted
is doubled. Travel – Travelled
- Final ”y” after a consonant Hurry - Hurried
becomes ”i“
-For Irregular Verbs, we use the participle form.

6. The Present Perfect expresses An action that
started in the past and continues in the present.
- My cousin has lived in this city for six months.
- I have been playing the piano since 8 pm.

7. We use for and since with the Present Perfect:
For is used with a period of time or lenght of time.
Example:
How long have they studied English?
- They have studied English for two years.
Since is used with a specific point in time.
Example:
How long has he worked there?
- He has worked there since 2009.

9. -The Past Perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary
verb Had with the Past Participle.
Example:
• Affirmative
-I, you, he, she, it, we, they + had travelled.
It’s common to use the contraction ‘d in the past perfect:
-I’d travelled to New York before I was 20 years old.

10. • Negative
- I, you, he, she, it, we, they + had not travelled.
It’s very common to use the contraction hadn’t in the
negative form:
-She hadn’t travelled to New York before I came to
Colombia.
• Question
-I, you, we, he, she, it, they =
Had they travelled to New York before I came to
Colombia?

11. The Past Perfect expresses an action that
happened before a moment in the past.
- I had learned to drive before I bought a car.

12. We use before and after with the Past Perfect:
Had she read the book before the movie?
- Yes, she had read the book before she saw the movie.
- She saw the movie after she had read the book.