PRESENT PERFECT

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

Ex:
We have seen that movie many times.
Have we seen that movie many times?
We have not seen that movie many times.


With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.

Ex:
You have had a cold for two weeks.
Marry has been in Indonesia for six months.
John has loved chocolate since she was a little boy.

1. You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the experience of..." You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.
Ex:
I have been to England.
I think I have visited that place before.
Tom has never gone by train.

2. We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.
Ex:
She has grown since the last time I saw her.
My Javanese has really improved since I moved to Solo.

3. We often use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. You cannot mention a specific time.
Ex:
Mummy has walked on the Moon.
Doctors have cured many deadly diseases.

4. We often use the Present Perfect to say that an action which we expected has not happened. Using the Present Perfect suggests that we are still waiting for the action to happen.
Ex:
Jane has not finished his homework yet.
Amy has still not arrived.

5. We also use the Present Perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. Present Perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible.
Ex:
I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
The army has attacked Gaza city seven times.

Pattern:
S + have/has + V3 (+)
S + have/has + not + V3 (-)
Have/has + S + V3 (?)

Ex:
Rino has missed the bus.
Rino has not missed the bus.
Has Rino missed the bus?

I have seen the movie before.
I have not seen the movie before.
Have you seen the movie before?

NOTICE

"Last year" and "in the last year" are very different in meaning. "Last year" means the year before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. "In the last year" means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present Perfect.