What is?
It is one of the verb tenses present in English. Its correct use is necessary to express experiences or memories that occurred a long time ago, but of which the memory is still preserved or are important today.
Structures and conjugation of the Present Perfect
The present perfect has three structures: affirmative, negative and interrogative, which are ordered in the way you can see in the tables below, and in which you can also find different sentences with their translation into Spanish.
￬ Affirmative structure ￬
￬ Short Form ￬
￬ Negative structure ￬
￬ Interrogative structure ￬
Functions of the present perfect
The purpose of this time is to link the past with the present. However, the attention falls on the result, that is, what has happened or what has not happened.
5 main functions can be listed:
1. The action began in the past and continues in the present. For example:
I have lived in Veracruz since 1990 (He vivido en Veracruz desde 1990)
2. The time for carrying out the action has not ended. For example:
They have gone to swim twice a week (Ellos han ido a nadar dos veces a la semana)
3. The action is constantly repeated in an indeterminate time between the past and the present. For example:
She has visited that museum several times (Ella ha visitado ese museo varias veces)
4. The action concluded recently. For this use use just. For example:
He has just finished his homework (Él apenas terminó su tarea)
5. The time at which the action was performed is not relevant. For example:
We haven’t watched Titanic (Nosotros no hemos visto Titanic)
Reference Video¬