Present perfect

Level: beginner

The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of a verb.

We use the present perfect:

• for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

They've been married for nearly fifty years.
She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

• when we are talking about our experience up to the present:

I've seen that film before.
I've played the guitar ever since I was a teenager.
He has written three books and he is working on another one.

We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience up to the present:

My last birthday was the worst day I have ever had.

and we use never for the negative form:

Have you ever met George?
Yes, but I've never met his wife.

 

Using the Past Perfect

Read about how to make the past perfect here.

 1: A finished action before a second point in the past.

• When we arrived, the film had started (= first the film started, then we arrived).

We usually use the past perfect to make it clear which action happened first. Maybe we are already talking about something in the past and we want to mention something else that is further back in time. This is often used to explain or give a reason for something in the past.

• I'd eaten dinner so I wasn't hungry.
• It had snowed in the night, so the bus didn't arrive.

If it's clear which action happened first (if we use the words 'before' or 'after', for example), the past perfect is optional.

• The film started before we arrived / the film had started before we arrived.

2: Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the past. The past perfect tells us 'how long', just like the present perfect, but this time the action continues up to a point in the past rather than the present. Usually we use 'for + time'. We can also use the past perfect continuous here, so we most often use the past perfect simple with stative verbs.

• When he graduated, he had been in London for six years. (= He arrived in London six years before he graduated and lived there until he graduated, or even longer.)
• On the 20th of July, I'd worked here for three months.

3: To talk about unreal or imaginary things in the past. In the same way that we use the past simple to talk about unreal or imaginary things in the present, we use the past perfect (one step back in time) to talk about unreal things in the past. This is common in the third conditional and after 'wish'.

• If I had known you were ill, I would have visited you.
• She would have passed the exam if she had studied harder.
• I wish I hadn't gone to bed so late!

TERCER PERIODO

HILO CONDUCTOR

How can we express and identify the differences between zero and first conditional and learn to use the past perfect in a daily life

TÓPICO GENERATIVO

* zero conditional

* first conditional

*Past perfect

*Relative clauses

*Direct and indirect questions

*Tongue twister 

META ESPECIFICA

The student will understand sentences to express and identify the differences between zero and first conditional and learn to use the past perfect in a daily life 

ACTIVITY CLASS MAY 20th

 ACTIVITY CLASS

PODIUM

 

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