Habilidades Integradas

do Ingls I
Profa. Carolina Da
Evening classes
 Present Perfect
Source: DECAPUA, Andrea. Grammar for teachers: A guide to American English for native and non-Native
speakers. Springer Science & Business Media, 2008 .
 You will recall that the present
perfect consists of the auxiliary
verb have + past participle of the
main verb.
The Present Perfect is a present tense but it often implies a strong connection
between present and past. The fundamental meaning of the Present Perfect
tense is that the speaker is looking back in time from the point 'now' and the
tense provides the speaker's present view of an action or event which
happened some time in the past (LEWIS, 1979).
We regard the present perfect as
occurring in two primary ways:
stable and variable
(Marshall, 1989).
Stable Time
The present perfect is used to express continuative or durative time, that is, to
describe an event or action that occurs over a period of time. This is stable time.
The present perfect often co-occurs with such expressions of time as for and
since.

I have lived here for ten years.

She has studied English since 2003.
Stable Time
Because the present perfect is also used to express repeated time, that is, an
event or action that occurs more than once, that is repeated. Frequency or time
expressions often co-occur with this use of the present perfect.

Andy has always lived in New York.

Thats my favorite movie. I have seen it at least 20 times.
Florida has had numerous hurricanes.
Variable Time
The present perfect is also used for what is commonly called indefinite time.
Here the present perfect is used to describe events or actions that ended in the
recent past but without a specific time marker to indicate when they ended or
occurred. The time is unspecified. Because native speakers alternate between
using simple past and present perfect to describe such events with little or no
change in meaning, this use of the present perfect is variable. Choice of one
tense over another when referring to one event or action occurring in the recent
past is dependent on context, and the individual.
Cleo just took her exams.
Cleo has just taken her exams.
Cleo has taken her exams.

Ethan already* took his exams.

Ethan has already* taken his exams.
Leech, Geoffrey N. Meaning and the English
Verb. London: Longman. 1987.

State up to the Present

Indefinite Past
Habit in a Period Leading up to the Present
Resultative Past
Leech, Geoffrey N. Meaning and the English
Verb. London: Longman. 1987.

State up to the Present

We've lived in London since last September.

Indefinite Past
Have you been to America?

Habit in a Period Leading up to the Present

I've always walked to work.

Resultative Past
The taxi has arrived (i.e. 'The taxi is now here').
I've had/taken a bath (i.e. 'I'm now clean').