Present Perfect

Present Perfect Verb Conjugation
The Present Perfect is formed this way: subject + have/has + past participle. Here are some examples with I, you, he/she/it, they and we.
1. I have talked. I have walked. I have danced. I have eaten.
2. You have talked. You have walked. You have danced. You have eaten.
3. She/He/It has talked. She/He/It has walked. She/He/It has danced. She/He/It has eaten.
4. They have talked. They have walked. They have danced. They have eaten.
5. We have talked. We have walked. We have danced. We have eaten.
Present Perfect lesson plans for verb conjugation can have blanks for students to fill in the correct past participle or the correct helping verb.

Simple Past Verb Form (five forms the ESL student must learn)
1. Affirmative Usage (e.g., She has studied the Present Perfect.)
2. Negative Usage (e.g., She hasn't studied the Present Perfect.)
3. Yes/No Questions (e.g., Has she studied the Present Perfect?)
4. Short Answers (e.g., Yes, she has. No, she hasn't.)
5. WH- Questions (e.g., When has she studied the Present Perfect?)

Present Perfect Functions
Here are the three functions of the Present Perfect.
1. Unspecified time
2. Repetition
3. Started in the past and continues until the present, may or may not continue into the future (there just isn't a short way to describe this function)


Function 1: Unspecified time
The Present Perfect verb tense can be used to express something in the past when we don't know when it happened or when it happened is not important. For example, "I've gained ten pounds!"
This function of this verb tense is often confusing for ESL students. Compare the Present Perfect usage to the Simple Past. "I traveled to Europe in 2004." The Simple Past is used when a time is specified. The specified time could be "this morning," "yesterday," "at 6pm," "when I was a child," etc. "I've traveled to Europe." Since no time is specified, the Present Perfect verb tense is used.
Present Perfect lesson plans often ask ESL students to decide which of these two tenses to use.

Function 2: Repetition
The Present Perfect is used to describe something that has happened many (or a couple of) times in the past. For example, "I've traveled to Brazil many times," "I've eaten at that restaurant twice," "John Grisham has written several books."

Function 3: Started in the past, continues until now, and may or may not continue into the future
For example, "I've watched All My Children since 1970." This tense can often be replaced with the Present Perfect Progressive when emphasizing duration. "I've been watching soap operas since 1970." You'll notice that "for" and "since" are often clues to use the Present Perfect verb tense instead of the Simple Past.

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Source:
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