Page 88 - New Grammar with a Smile 6

The Perfect

11 Tenses

Warm-up

Write the past participle form of these verbs.

1. bet 2. become 3. catch

4. begin 5. choose 6. draw

7. fall 8. fight 9. find

10. grow 11. hide 12. lose

13. see 14. sell 15. speak

16. tear 17. swing 18. teach

19. wake 20. spin 21. sink

Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense describes an action that started in the past, but has
just been completed. The term present perfect suggests that the action has been
completed recently.

Uses

The present perfect tense is used

1. to talk about unfinished actions or habits that started in the past and the results of
which we can see/feel even in the present. For example,
• I have walked four kilometres already. (and I am still walking.)
• He has lived in New York for many years and he really likes the city. (and he
still does.)

2. to talk about a past action whose time of occurrence is not known or is not
important. For example,

A collision has occurred outside my house. A bus and a truck have collided
against each other. The truck has fallen into the ditch on the other side of
the road. The police has arrived. Several passengers in the bus have reported
injuries. The police has sent for an ambulance for them.

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