Present And Past Perfect Tense

Present perfect tense

1.To describe an activity or situation that occurred in the past. The time it happened is not important and need not be mentioned. The activity is connected to now.

Eg

The droning of the aeroplane has awakened the baby.

I have put the icing and the cherries on the cake.

 

2. To describe an activity or an event which began at a specific time in the past and continues to now.

Eg

I have been awake since 5 a.m. this morning

His relationship with his classmates has worsened since they accused him of stealing their money last week

 

3. To show an activity that happened in the past. The time expressions used do not show specific time.

Eg

Recently, the prices of goods have remained high.

It has been so hot lately.

 

4. To describe repeated actions in the past which are likely to continue in the future. The time expressions used are so far and up to now.

Eg

So far, they have had three concerts to raise funds for the orphans.

Up to now, she has submitted five of her latest designs to the lecturer.

 

5. To describe an activity that started in the past but has not been completed. The negative form of the tense is used. The activity may be completed in the future.

Eg

Ilman has been in karate class since 8 a.m this morning. It is noon now and he has still not returned home.

Salma has taken a piece of paper to write to her penpal. However, she has not yet written anything on it.

 

6. To show an activity that has neither happened at any time in the past nor at the time of speaking. The negative form of the tense is used.

Eg

The twins have never attended acting classes. They have never liked acting.

Karimah has never ever met her real parents. She was adopted at birth.

 

Simple past tense	Present perfect tense
She checked out of the hotel yesterday afternoon and she is going to town now.	She has just checked out of the hotel
They bought a lot of souvenirs when they were in Canada	They have bought a lot of souvenirs
A thief stole her purse last night	A thief has stolen her purse
She had a medical check up last week	She has already had a medical check up.

 

Both refer to actions that took place in the past.

We usually use the simple past tense with a specific time and use the present perfect tense when a specific time is NOT mentioned.

 

I have been awake since last 10 minutes.

I have been awaken for two hours.

Mount Eroku has not erupted (for,since) 25 years ago

They have repaired the pipe just now.

The pipe  was  repaired just now.

They are repairing the pipe now.

They were repairing the pipe just now.

They have been repairing the pipe since last Monday.

They have been repairing the pipe for I month..

Past perfect tense;

She had been a teacher before she became a nurse.

After I had left the place, Salma arrived.