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Present Perfect

What is the present perfect tense?The present perfect tense describes an action that happened in the past that is directly related to the present, such as actions that are continuing or that indicate a change over time. It is one of the common verb tenses in English.Don’t let the name confuse you—even though the word present is there, the present perfect tense deals with actions that happened or started in the past. The present perfect tense is often used interchangeably with the simple past tense, although there are some unique situations in which you can only use one or the other, which we’ll explain below.How to use the present perfect tenseIn the present perfect tense, the main verbs always use the auxiliary verbs (helper verbs) has or have. The main verb takes a participle form, specifically the past participle. The past participle is often the same form as the simple past form of the verb unless it’s an irregular verb with a unique past participle form.Only the auxiliary verbs are conjugated to fit the subject-verb agreement in the present perfect tense; the past participle of the main verb remains the same no matter what the subject is.Generally, you use have for all subjects except the singular third-person, which instead uses has.First-person: I have come a long way.Second person: You have come a long way.Third-person plural: They have come a long way.Third-person singular: He/she/it has come a long way.The present perfect tense has specific constructions for standard statements, negatives, and questions, explained below.The present perfect tense for statementsFor general statements (the most common use of the present perfect), use have or has plus the past participle form of the main verb.The present perfect formula for statements is: [have/has] + [past participle]Charlotte has become friends with Wilbur.We’ve broken up before, but this time feels different.