TABLE OF PERFECT TENSES IN ENGLISH

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Have a look at the perfect tenses in English: present perfect, present perfect continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous.

 

TENSE	USE	EXAMPLES	SIGNAL WORDS
Present perfect	• to put emphasis on the result • to express an action that is still going on • to express an action that stopped recently • for a finished action that has an influence on the present • for an action that has(n't) taken place before	He has studied two units She has lived here for two years I have made coffee I have lost my keys I have never been to Canada	since, for, ever, just, never, yet, so far, till now, up to now, already, recently, lately
Present perfect continuous	• to emphasise the duration or continuous course of an action • temporary situation • an action that has just stopped	I have been running for an hour I have been living here for a month I have been watching a film on TV	How long , since, for, so far, up to now,
Past perfect	• For past actions or situations which happened before anther past action or situation • For events before a specific time in the past	When I arrived, they had gone to bed By 12:30 they had finished lunch	already, by ..., until that day
Past perfect continuous	• to emphasise the duration or course of an action which happened before another past action	The flowers were wet because it had been raining	for, the whole day,

PRESENT PERFECT

El Present Perfect está de cada vez más en desuso, ya que los americanos no lo utilizan; utilizan el Pasado Simple directamente.

El Present Perfect es un tiempo verbal que se utiliza para referirnos a acciones que suceden enmarcadas en un espacio temporal aún vigente.

I have sent the letter today.
Yo he enviado la carta hoy.
(El espacio temporal "hoy" no ha terminado)

Para poder construir la forma afirmativa del Present Perfect debemos utilizar como auxiliar el verbo TO HAVE en Presente (I, you, we, they HAVE/ he, she, it HAS) acompañado del Participio del verbo (si es un verbo regular +ed, si es irregular lo encoontraremos en la tercera columna de la lista de verbos irregulares)

I have bought a new dress.	Yo he comprado un nuevo vestido.
You have studied the lesson.	Tú has estudiado la lección.
He has broken the window.	Él ha roto la ventana.
She has lost the keys.	Ella ha perdido las llaves.

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En cambio, para formar una interrogación deberemos colocar el auxiliar al comienzo de la oración, luego el sujeto y posteriormente el verbo principal también en Participio:

Have they bought a new dress?	¿Han comprado ellos un nuevo vestido?
Have you studied the lesson?	¿Has estudiado la lección?
Has he broken the window?	¿Ha roto él la ventana?
Has she lost the keys?	¿Ha perdido ella las llaves?

Por su parte, la forma negativa se forma poniendo la negación NOT entre HAVE/HAS y el Participio, por ejemplo:

I have not bought a new dress.	Yo no he comprado un nuevo vestido.
You have not studied the lesson.	Tú no has estudiado la lección.
He has not broken the window.	Él no ha roto la ventana.
She has not lost the keys.	Ella no ha perdido las llaves.

También puede utilizarse la forma contraída de la negación colocando HAVEN'T o HASN'T según corresponda.