Present Perfect
Have you ever blown up a tank? Every correct choice moves your missile nearer the target. If you make ANY mistakes, you will fail (you can't make mistakes when hunting tanks!) but if are too slow, you will lose as well. Click start to begin.
| Sue: | Would you like some more wine? |
| Jill: | I didn't finish this one yet. I haven't finished this one yet. |
| Mike: | When did you finish that? |
| Tony: | I've finished it an hour ago. I finished it an hour ago. |
| Mike: | Is it finished? |
| Tony: | It has been finished for an hour. It was finished for an hour. |
| Julie: | Why is it so quiet? |
| Pete: | Everyone went. Everyone has gone. |
| Carol: | This was the right answer. |
| Kate: | I would never have guessed. I didn't guess. |
| Ed: | Why have you called me? |
| Mark: | I wanted Sue's phone number. I have wanted Sue's phone number. |
| Alan: | Why do you want to go to Africa? |
| Kate: | I have always wanted to go there. I have wanted to go there. |
| Rachel: | Did you see Mike yesterday? |
| Joe: | I have seen him at the club. I saw him at the club. |
| Rachel: | Do you ride your bike to work every day? |
| Jerry: | Of course I do. Of course I have done. |
| Sam: | Is the game over? |
| Kim: | Yes, it finished. Yes, it has finished. |
Sue: Would you like some more wine?
Jill: I haven't finished this one yet.
Jill still has wine in her glass, so although she started to drink her wine in the past, she has not finished it now (in the present), so she uses the present perfect to describe the situation
Mike: When did you finish that?
Tony: I finished it an hour ago.
By saying 'An hour ago' Tony puts the statement in the past tense, so he must say 'I finished'
Mike: Is it finished?
Tony: It has been finished for an hour.
When something reached its present condition, you describe how long it has been like that by saying 'It has been *like that* for *a particular time*.
Julie: Why is it so quiet?
Pete: Everyone has gone.
The present situation is that it is quiet because everyone went away, so in his reply, Pete says that it has been quiet from the time everyone went away until the time when julie asked.
Carol: This was the right answer.
Kate: I would never have guessed.
Kate is saying that she could not have guessed the right answer, neither when she needed to know it, nor until the moment when Kate told her. To link past and present in this way she uses the present perfect.
Ed: Why have you called me?
Mark: I wanted Sue's phone number.
Here Mark should either use the present 'I want Sue's phone number' or the past 'I wanted Sue's phone number (when I called you)'. However, he can use past or present, but does not need to link the two.
Alan: Why do you want to go to Africa?
Kate: I have always wanted to go there.
This sentence has a temporal indicator (always) which means 'in the past and now as well', so we use a present perfect. However, without that temporal indicator the sentence does not make sense.
Rachel: Did you see Mike yesterday?
Joe: I saw him at the club.
Because 'I have seen him' can mean at any time in the past, it does not answer Rachel's question about 'yesterday'. A simple past tense has the is understood to be in the same time as the question, so this is correct.
Rachel: Do you ride your bike to work every day?
Jerry: Of course I do.
Here a present simple for a repeated action is required.
Sam: Is the game over?
Kim: Yes, it has finished.
Sam's question has an implied present. (i.e. He is asking 'Is the game over now?' so to answer in the present of something which happened in the past, Kim uses a present perfect.
