Week 4

Grammar: Present perfect

I + have + past participle:

	Positive	Negative	Question
I / you / we / they	I have spoken.	I have not spoken.	Have I spoken?
he / she / it	He has spoken.	He has not spoken.	Has he spoken?

When do we use the present perfect?

1. For an  Unspecified Time Before Now

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.

Examples:

• I have seen that movie twenty times.
• I think I have met him once before.
• There have been many earthquakes in California.
• People have traveled to the Moon.
• People have not traveled to Mars.
• Have you read the book yet?
• Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
• A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
  B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.

Practice: Have you ever questionnaire 

2. An action that started in the past and is still happening, or that has an influence on the present

Examples:

• James has not finished his homework yet.
• Susan hasn't mastered Japanese, but she can communicate.
• I have been doing yoga for three years
• The rain hasn't stopped.

Practice: Write sentences about Harry's life. 

Now draw a timeline for your own life and write sentences on it.

Reading and speaking: Multi-tasking / Multitasking 2