The document discusses the different uses of the present perfect tense in English, including: 1) The state present perfect which refers to a state that began in the past and continues to the present. 2) The event present perfect which refers to one or more past events within a period leading to the present, reported either as recent news or more remote past events. 3) The habitual present perfect which refers to past events that repeatedly occur up to and including the present.

2. The present perfect
The present perfect – used to refer to a situation set
at some indefinite time within a period beginning in
the past and leading up to the present.
3 major types of the present perfect:
I) The STATE PRESENT PERFECT
II) The EVENT PRESENT PERFECT
III) The HABITUAL PRESENT PERFECT

3. The state present perfect
I) The STATE PRESENT PERFECT – used with
stative verb senses to refer to a state that began in the
past and extends to the present, and will perhaps
continue in the future:
(1) They have been unhappy for a long time.
(2) We have lived in London for five years.
(3) She has owned this house since her father died.
(4) I’ve always liked her.

4. The event present perfect
II) The EVENT PRESENT PERFECT – used with
dynamic verb senses to refer to one or more events
that have occurred at some time within a period
leading up to the present.
There are 2 subtypes:
(a) the event or events are reported as news; usually
they have occurred shortly before the present
time:
(5) The Democrats have won the election.
(6) I’ve just got a new job.
(7) There’s been a serious accident.

5. The event present perfect
(b) the event or events occurred at some more
remote time in the past, but the implicit time
period that frames the event or events leads up
to the present:
(8) She has given an interview only once in her life (but
she may yet give another interview).
(9) Have you seen the new production of King Lear at
the National Theatre? (You still can do so.)
(10) All our children have had measles (and they are
not likely to have it again).

6. The habitual present perfect
III) The HABITUAL PRESENT PERFECT –used with
dynamic verb senses to refer to past events that
repeatedly occur up to and including the present:
(11) The magazine has been published every month
(since 1975).
(12) Socrates has influenced many philosophers (until
now).

7. The present perfect
The present perfect does not normally occur with
adverbials that indicate a specific point or period of
time in the past:
(13) I saw her a week ago. [simple past]
(14) *I have seen her a week ago. [present perfect]

8. The use of the present perfect for
recent events – resultative perfect
The use of the present perfect for recent events may
imply that the result of the event still applies:
(15) He’s broken his arm. (“His arm is broken”)
(16) I’ve emptied the basket. (“The basket is empty”)
(17) The train has arrived on Platform 4. (“The train is
now on Platform 4”)

9. The simple past tense for recent
events in American English
The simple past is often used in place of the present
perfect for recent events, esp. in AmE:
(18) I just got a new job.

10. Adverbials with the present perfect
These adverbials include:
(a) the adverb since:
(19) I haven’t seen him since.
(b) prepositional phrases and clauses introduced by
since:
(20) I haven’t seen him since Monday.
(21) I haven’t seen him since I met you.
(c) the phrases till now, up to now, so far.

11. The present perfect with temporal
since-clauses
A temporal since-clause generally requires the
present perfect in the matrix clause (main clause)
when the whole construction refers to a stretch of
time up to (and potentially) including the present:
(22) I have lost ten pounds since I started swimming.
(23) Since leaving home, Larry has written to his
parents just once.
In AmE, and increasingly in informal BrE, nonperfect
forms are commonly used in the matrix clauses – for
example, lost instead of have lost in (22), and wrote
instead of has written in (23).

12. The present perfect with temporal
since-clauses
When the whole construction refers to a stretch of
time up to (and potentially including) the present, the
verb in the since-clause may be the simple past or the
present perfect.
The simple past is used when the since-clause refers
to a point in time marking the beginning of the
situation:
(24) She has been talking since she was one year old.
(25) Since I saw her last, she has dyed her hair.
(26) Derek hasn’t stopped talking since he arrived.

13. The present perfect with temporal
since-clauses
The present perfect is used in both clauses when the
since-clause refers to a period of time lasting to the
present:
(27) Max has been tense since he’s been taking drugs.
(28) Since I have been here, I haven’t left my seat.
(29) Since I’ve known Caroline, she has been
interested in athletics.
(30) I’ve had a dog ever since I’ve owned a house.
(31) I’ve gone to concerts ever since I’ve lived in
Edinburgh.

14. The perfect with temporal since-
clauses
When the whole period is set in past time, the past
perfect or the simple past is used in both clauses:
(32) Since the country (had) achieved independence, it
(had) revised its constitution twice.
(33) Since he had known/knew her, she had been/was a
journalist.

15. The perfect with other temporal
clauses
When an after-clause or a when-clause refers to a
sequence of two past events, the verb in the temporal
clause may be in the past perfect, though it is more
commonly in the simple past:
(34) We ate our meal after/when we returned/had
returned from the game.
All four forms of these sentences are acceptable, and
mean roughly the same.
The only difference is that when and the simple past
(probably the most popular choice here) suggests that the
one event follows immediately on the other in sequence.

16. The perfect with other temporal
clauses
However, there may be a contrast when the
subordinator is when if the predication in the when-
clause is durative:
(35) They walked out when I gave/had given the
lecture.
‘when I gave the lecture’ = means “as soon as I started
giving the lecture” or “during the time I was giving the
lecture”
‘when I had given the lecture’ = means “after the
lecture was over”

17. The perfect with other temporal
clauses
The present perfect is common in temporal and
conditional clauses when the clauses refer to a sequence
of future events and when the accent is on the
completion of the event:
(36) When they’ve scored their next goal, we’ll go home.
(37) As soon as I’ve retired, I’ll buy a cottage in the
country.
(38) After they have left, we can smoke.
(39) If I’ve written the paper before Monday, I’ll call you.
In each case, the simple present is a alternative.

18. The perfect with other temporal
clauses
 Consider the following sentences, which seem to be equivalent in meaning:
 (40) I saw him before he saw me. (PAST SIMPLE + PAST SIMPLE)
 (41) I had seen him before he saw me. (PAST PERFECT + PAST SIMPLE)
 (42) I saw him before he had seen me. (PAST SIMPLE + PAST PERFECT)
 (43) I had seen him before he had seen me. (PAST PERFECT + PAST PERFECT)
 Sentence (42) appears to be paradoxical in that the second in the succession
of events is marked with the past perfect. One explanation is that the before-
clause in (42), and perhaps also in (43) is nonfactual, i.e. “He did not get a
chance to see me”.
 But it is also possible that the meaning of the subordinator before has
influenced the use of the past perfect as one of the choices of verb forms
 It is also possible that there is an analogy with the use of the past perfect in an
after-clause.

19. The simple past vs. the present
perfect
The simple past must be used if the implicit time
period does not reach up to the present moment:
(44) She has given an interview only once in her life. vs.
She gave an interview only once in her life. (She can give no
more interview since she is dead)
(45) Have you seen the new production of King Lear at the
National Theatre? vs. Did you see the new production of
King Lear at the National Theatre? (You can no longer do
so, because the production has closed)

20. The future perfect
If will or shall is combined with the perfect infinitive,
the resulting future perfect conveys the meaning “past
in future”. The action expressed by the future perfect
will be completed before another future event or
action, or a stated time in the future.
(46) By next week, they will have completed their
contract.

21. The past perfect
The past perfect refers to s time earlier than another
past time (secondary past). It may represent the past
of the simple past, a tome earlier than that indicated
by the simple past:
(47) They had moved into the house before the baby
was born.
The simple past can often replace the past perfect in
such cases, if the time-relationship is clear:
(48) They moved into the house before the baby was
born.

22. The past perfect
The past perfect may also represent the past of the
present perfect:
(49) She had owned the house since her parents died.
(50) She has owned the hose since her parents died.
(50) entails that she still owns the house, (49) implies
that she does not own it now.

23. The past perfect
 The past perfect has special uses analogous to those for the simple
past:
 In indirect speech constructions it indicates a backshift into the more
remote past:
 (51) I told her the parcel had not arrived.
 The attitudinal past perfect refers more politely than the simple past
to a present state of mind:
 (52) I had wondered whether you are/were free now.
 The hypothetical past perfect is used in certain subordinate clauses,
especially if-clauses, to imply that the situation did not occur:
 (53) If I had been there, it would not have happened. (“I was not there”)
 (54) I wish I had been there. (“I was not there”) (Željela bih da sam bila
tamo - rather rare; Da sam barem bila tamo – more frequent)

24. The past perfect
 To indicate the secondary past, B/S/C frequently employs the Perfekt
modified by adverbials, mostly već, još, ranije, nekad(a) in the past
time context:
 (55) Nothing so thrilling had happened there for years.
 (55a) Već se godinama ondje nije dogodilo ništa tako uzbudljivo.
 (56) I had not then acquired the technique that I have now.
 (56a) Tada još nisam stekao tehniku koju imam sada.
 (57) It was funny I had never noticed it.
 (57a) Čudno da to nikada ranije nisam primijetio.
 (58) He had been a butler in very good families.
 (58a) Nekad je bio sluga u vrlo dobrim porodicama.
 In all these examples the B/S/C Pluskvamperfekt (e.g. bijah/bjeh/bio
sam sačuvao)is possible, with the exception of the last one because of
the reluctance to use the verb biti as an auxiliary to itself (e.g. Nekad je
bio bio or Nekada bijaše bio).