The Present Perfect, An Overview.
The International Club is a club at our university that celebrates different
cultures from around the world.
This is Henry.
He was the old president of the club, but he just graduated.
So we need a new president.
Luckily, there are two candidates for the position, or
two people who want to be the new president.
Judy and Joe are both running for the position.
Let's take a closer look at Judy's experience.
She has traveled all over the world.
She has lived in China and Japan.
She has studied English for 15 years.
She has been a member of the International Club since 2014.
Wow, she seems like a pretty good candidate to me.
What about, Joe?
He has traveled to Europe and Latin America.
He has never lived in another country.
He has studied English for five years.
He has been a member of the International Club since 2013.
He seems like a pretty good guy for the position as well.
What do you think?
Who is better for the position?
Who has had more experience?
This verb form, has had, is an example of the present perfect.
Okay, let's look at how we make the present perfect.
We need the verb have or has, and
not if we want to make a negative, and a past participle.
For example, Judy has traveled all over the world.
Joe has not visited every country.
They have met friends from other cultures.
We use has for he, she and it and
have for all other subjects.
But you already knew that.
Traveled, visited, and
met are all examples of past participles.
Also known as verb free.
We can also make contraction forms, or shortened forms, of the present perfect.
Take a look at these examples below.
Okay, let's talk about why we use the present perfect.
Look at these two sentences.
The first sentence, I have traveled to China,
is an example of one use of the present perfect.
Unspecified time in the past.
The other sentence, I have lived here for three years,
is an example of how we can use the present perfect with since or for.
Let's take a closer look at the first use.
When we say unspecified time in the past, what we mean
is that we're talking about an activity that started and finished in the past,
but with no mention of a specific time.
So for example, we can't say last week or yesterday.
It's not important when the event happened, but
rather it's about life experience.
We can also use the present perfect in this way
To describe repeated events in the past.
For example, I have traveled to China thee times.
Okay, let's look at the other use of the present perfect.
Using since, or for.
When we since or for
we're talking about an activity that began in the past and is still going on now.
For example, I have lived here for three years
means that I moved here three years ago and I'm still living here.
It's used to talk about how long an activity has been going on.
We use for with the duration of time.
Or length of time, an example one year,
three months, or five days.
We use since with a specific point in the past.
For example, last year, September, or 9:00.
Okay, it's important to remember that
these are two different uses of the same verb tense.
Let's go back to Judy and Joe.
Now we can see the examples of these two uses of the present perfect.
Can you find examples of a completed past event that
does not mention a specific time?
Yeah, there's one, she has traveled all over the world.
We don't know when, and it's not important.
What's important is her experience.
Yeah, she has lived in China and Japan.
We're talking about an event in the past with no specific time.
Now, can you find an example of an event that started in the past and
is still going?
Here's a hint.
Look for since or for.
Yeah number three.
She has studied English for fifteen years.
That means she started 15 years ago and she is still studying it.
She has been a member of the International Club since 2014, and she still is.
Good job.
Okay, it's your turn.
How are the blue sentences different from the red ones?
You're right.
These ones represent an unspecified time in the past.
And what about these ones?
Now, with these ones, we use since or for
to talk about something that started in the past and is still going.
Good job.
So who's your pick for the president of the International Club?
And why?
I think they're both good candidates.
See you next time.
