Present Perfect

A2–B1TensesJanuary 13, 2026

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when do we use the present perfect why

is the present perfect so confusing why

can't I use the simple past i'm arnelle

from arnelle's everyday English and

today I'm going to help you answer these

questions this tense can be very

confusing so you need a pen and a

notebook get ready to take notes today

is the grammatical structure with the

pronunciation connection to the present

[Music]

finished and unfinished time and typical

mistakes we're going to look at all of

these step by step let's begin the

grammatical structure we formed the

present perfect have has plus past

participle when do we use have when do

we use has I have you have he she int as

we have they have remember that s in has

is pronounced like like zebra

this isn't like zebra what's the past

participle the past participle is a verb

number three infinitive eat past simple

ate past participle eaten the same goes

for regular verbs dance danced danced

affirmative

I have eaten Pete has eaten negative I

have not eaten Pete has not eaten

question have you eaten has he eaten in

spoken English

we normally contract this is very

natural I have becomes I you have youth

he's she's it's we live for negatives

the contractions are a little bit

different

I have not becomes I haven't you haven't

he fee it hasn't we haven't they haven't

for this lesson I'm going to contract a

lot of things because I'm speaking

rheumatica structure done let's keep

going a connection to the present this

is really important with the present

perfect let's do a few examples together

but

needham ieave perfect we have the past

and the present I've lived in New York

for five years I moved to New York in

the past what's the connection to the

present now I still live in New York

will I continue to live in New York

that's not important that information

doesn't matter and I have been together

for eight years we got married in 2011

what's the connection to the present now

we are still married we are still

together will this action continue in

the future is not important I had my dog

bubbles since I was 15 I bought bubbles

when she was a little puppy what's the

connection to the present now I still

have bubbles when we're using the

present perfect we're really trying to

link the past to the present there's a

present impact

Riley's lost his job in the past he lost

his job now what's the present impact

now he doesn't have a job now he's

stressed I can't find my keys I've

looked everywhere I lost my keys I've

looked everywhere what's the present

impact now I

get in my house now I don't know what to

do we see this grammar a lot in the news

why because past actions have present

impacts the government has decided to

increase taxes the decision was made in

the past now what's the present impact

now taxes are rising heavy rain has

caused flooding in many areas

what's flooding flooding is when water

hits gets too high

it started reading in the past now

what's the present impact now people

need help

cars have been damaged the roads are all

ruined let's continue finished an

unfinished time remember this will

return to this we use the present

perfect for past experiences I've been

to France twice my best friend and I

have watched Titanic so many times I've

met the Pope these are all life

experiences when did these things happen

what we use the present perfect we do

not give a specific finish time I have

been to France twice in 2015 and 2016

2015 and 2016 are finished times now

it's 2019 my best friend and I have

watched Titanic so many times in high

school now I'm not in high school it's a

finished time I've met the Pope in July

now it's September July is a finished

time so are now what is unfinished time

I have a calendar today it's the eighth

is the month finished it's not finished

I haven't been to the gym this month

this month is correct the month isn't

over my flatmate and I have cooked

Indian food twice this week this week

isn't over it's only Wednesday well I've

written over 50 emails today is today

over it's only it's only 2 o'clock the

day isn't finished in my life I have

traveled to so many places in my life

isn't a finished time I'm still living

No

pasen bull present perfect I've been to

France twice I went to France in 2015

and 2016 my best man and I have watched

Titanic so many times we watched Titanic

so many times in high school I've met

the Pope

I met the Pope in July typical mistakes

number one using the past simple instead

of the past participle I have eight I

have eaten

she has saw she has seen remember to use

the past participle this is very

important with irregular verbs

number two we spoke about this a lot

using the present perfect with a

specific finished time last night I've

gone to the pub with a few friends last

night I went number three it's important

to remember the time doesn't need to be

the same sentence it needs to be in the

context of a conversation here's a

conversation

have you tried that Greek restaurant

Heracles

you you mean the one by the by the train

station yeah oh actually my boyfriend

and I went there last week as you can

see we begin the conversation with the

present perfect have you been I'm

interested in the experience I don't

care when as the conversation continues

we use a past simple why

because last week is a specific finish

time how was it was it okay yeah the

food was great I I had the Maya platter

now we continue in the past employer

because last week is my finish time and

we continue because I have the time in

mind wow you've done a great job

if you left this lesson don't forget to

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I'm here on YouTube you can also find me

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arnelle's everyday English and I'll see

you soon for another video

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About this lesson

Learn how to use the present perfect to connect past actions to the present, including life experience and unfinished time.

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