Comrie, Bernard (1976) Aspect: An introduction to verbal aspect and related problems. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University, pp.52ff Sezer, Engin "Finite Inflection in Turkish", p.17. In Taylan, Eser Erguvanlı (ed.) (2002), The Verb in Turkish, John Benjamins, Amsterdam.

The English perfect is made with a form of the auxiliary verb have together with the past participle of the main verb. The auxiliary is inflected for tense and mood, and can also appear in non-finite forms (infinitive, participle or gerund), thus giving rise to a number of constructions which combine the perfect aspect with other verbal properties: The answer to that question is almost definitely 'yes'. If we ask that question in English - Have you ever felt confused about which verb tense to use in English? - we are referring to something (confusion) in the past, and yet we are using the present perfect tense. Not surprising that you might feel confused, particularly about the use of perfect tenses in English. You can also combine the present perfect tense with the present continuous tense to show an ongoing action that started in the past and continues to the present. This hybrid tense is called the present perfect continuous tense . The construction is similar to using the present perfect tense in the passive voice, except that the main verb uses the present participle instead of the past participle. The present perfect indicates a connection to the present, as you say. That's why it's often used when somebody introduces a new topic into the conversation. It shows that the new topic that the speaker is introducing has relevance to the current or existing topic. So, if you say She has asked for my number, it might be because you and the listener were talking about her just before (i.e. the current topic is "her"), and then you introduce this new topic (her asking for your number). The present perfect shows that this new topic is relevant to the current one. If you say I think I have made it worse, it might be because the current topic of conversation is your injury, and you are introducing a new topic (how you made the injury worse) and want to show the listener that it's relevant to the current topic.

Forming the Past Participle (Irregular Verbs)

Lindstedt, Jouko "The perfect – aspectual, temporal and evidential". In Dahl, Östen (ed.) (2000). Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin and New York, p.267. Evidential or inferential perfect (a statement that something must have happened because of the evidence available): Incorrect Explanation: Sorry, that’s not right! Remember, present perfect tense implies an action that started in the past and continues in the present day and is shown by the combination of the auxiliary verb, has or have , and the past participle form of the main verb. Here is another example of the present perfect tense (highlighted). For comparison, the example is given alongside similar-looking example featuring the simple past tense.

The present perfect can also be used along with future simple tense constructions to describe a future action. In these instances, the present perfect clause is usually preceded by a subordinating conjunction (e.g., “when”, “until”). Examples: Present perfect and future simple I’ll call you as soon as I’ve arrived.

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The be-perfect developed similarly, from a construction where the verb meaning be was an ordinary copula and the participle expressed a resultative state of the subject. [15] It is consequently used mostly with verbs that denote a change in the state or location of the subject, and in some languages the participle inflects to agree with the gender and number of the subject. In this sentence, had left is the correct past perfect verb tense since the Oompa Loompas left their home for good in the past. If necessary, we will provide circuit diagrams, component part lists or other information that will assist authorized service personnel to repair the device.

On the trip sentences, I would say "I didn't start my trip on Sunday and I still haven't started it (until now)." Perhaps it is the word 'since' that is confusing? We usually use present perfect continuous after since because it describes an ongoing action that started in the past and is still continuing. When we talk about tenses, we also need to talk about aspect. Tenses tell you whether something is in the present, past or future, whereas aspect tells you more information about a verb - is the action finished or in progress? How does it relate to other actions or times? Future perfect verb tense is formed by combining the auxiliary verbs will+have with the past participle form of the verb. This tense is used to show actions that either will be completed at some point in the future or will continue into the future. She has witnessed her start-up company evolve from a few employees in a single room to a multi-million dollar business with employees stationed around the world. Spanish uses haber ("have") as the auxiliary with all verbs. The "present perfect" form is called the pretérito perfecto and is used similarly to the English present perfect. While ser ("to be") was used as an auxiliary verb in a similar sense to modern French and Italian, this use disappeared by the 18th century. [16] See Spanish verbs.

The Negative Version

Correct Explanation: That’s right! The verb phrase, has witnessed , implies an action that started in the past and continues in the present day. Therefore, this verb is present perfect tense . When we use the Present Perfect in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this in informal writing. I have The sentence "We have been to California before" is grammatically correct because the adverbial "before" is not a specific finished past time, but rather a general reference to a time that occurred before now. This is an acceptable usage of the present perfect tense. 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 .