CHAPTER 4.

THE PRESENT PERFECT AND THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. USE OF THE PRESENT PERFECT

2. FORMATION OF THE PRESENT PERFECT: REGULAR VERBS

3. SPELLING RULES FOR ADDING ED TO FORM THE PAST PARTICIPLE

a. Verbs ending in a silent e
b. Verbs ending in y
c. Verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel

4. PRONUNCIATION OF THE ED ENDING

5. FORMATION OF THE PRESENT PERFECT: IRREGULAR VERBS

6. QUESTIONS AND NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

a. Questions
b. Negative statements
c. Negative questions
d. Tag questions

7. THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

a. Use
b. Formation
c. Questions and negative statements

Exercises

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 1. USE OF THE PRESENT PERFECT
The English Present Perfect tense is used to express actions which have already been completed, or
perfected, at the time of speaking or writing. In the examples given below, the verbs in the Present
Perfect tense are underlined.
e.g. I have done the work.
She has answered half the questions.

In the first example, the use of the Present Perfect tense emphasizes the fact that, at the time of speaking
or writing, the work has already been completed. In the second example, the use of the Present Perfect
indicates that, at the time of speaking or writing, half the questions have been answered.

2. FORMATION OF THE PRESENT PERFECT: REGULAR VERBS

The Present Perfect tense of any English verb is formed from the Simple Present of the auxiliary to have,
followed by what is generally referred to as the past participle of the verb.

Most English verbs form the past participle in a regular, predictable manner. These verbs are commonly
referred to as regular verbs.

The past participle of a regular English verb is formed by adding the ending ed to the bare infinitive of
the verb. For instance, the past participle of the verb to work is worked.

Thus, the Present Perfect tense of the verb to work is conjugated as follows:

I have worked
you have worked
he has worked
she has worked
it has worked
we have worked
they have worked
See Exercise 1.
The following contractions are often used in spoken English:
Without Contractions With Contractions
  I have   I've
  you have   you've
  he has   he's
  she has   she's
  it has   it's
  we have   we've
  they have   they've
It should be noted that the contractions for he has, she has and it has are the same as the contractions for
he is, she is and it is.
See Exercise 2.

3. SPELLING RULES FOR ADDING ED TO FORM THE PAST

PARTICIPLE
Some regular verbs change their spelling when the ending ed is added to form the past participle.
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a. Verbs ending in a silent e

When a regular verb ends in a silent e, only the letter d must be added in order to form the past participle.
For example:

Infinitive Past Participle

to close closed
to move moved
to please pleased
to receive received

b. Verbs ending in y

When a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to i before the
ending ed is added. For example:

Infinitive Past Participle

to study studied
to rely relied
to carry carried

However, when a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a vowel, the y is not changed before the
ending ed is added. For example:

Infinitive Past Participle

to play played
to convey conveyed
to enjoy enjoyed
See Exercise 3.

c. Verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel

The rules concerning the doubling of final consonants which apply when adding the ending ing to form
the present participle also apply when adding the ending ed to form the past participle.

Thus, when a one-syllable verb ends in a single consonant other than w, x or y immediately preceded by a
single vowel, the final consonant must be doubled before the ending ed is added to form the past
participle. In the following examples, the consonants which have been doubled are underlined. For
example:

Infinitive Past Participle

to rub rubbed
to trim trimmed
to plan planned
to stop stopped

When a verb of more than one syllable ends in a single consonant other than w, x or y immediately
preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled before the ending ed only when the last
syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest stress. In the following examples, the syllables
pronounced with the heaviest stress are underlined. For example:
Infinitive Past Participle
to control controlled
to infer inferred
to occur occurred
to permit permitted

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 to fasten fastened
to order ordered
to focus focused
to limit limited
In the first four examples, the last syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest stress, and the final
consonant is doubled before ed is added. In the last four examples, the first syllable of the verb is
pronounced with the heaviest stress, and the final consonant is not doubled before ed is added.
The final consonants w, x and y are never doubled when the ending ed is added. For example:
Infinitive Past Participle
to follow followed
to box boxed
to portray portrayed

It should also be noted that final consonants immediately preceded by two vowels are not doubled when
the ending ed is added. For example:
Infinitive Past Participle
to greet greeted
to rain rained
to soak soaked
to treat treated
See Exercise 4.

4. PRONUNCIATION OF THE ED ENDING

The ending ed is usually not pronounced as a separate syllable. For instance, in each of the following
examples, both the bare infinitive and the past participle consist of one syllable. For example:
Bare Infinitive Past Participle
puff puffed
work worked
miss missed
watch watched
However, when the ending ed is added to verbs which end in d or t, the ed ending of the past participle is
pronounced as a separate syllable. The reason for this is that the sounds of d and t are so similar to the
sound of the ed ending, that the ending must be pronounced as a separate syllable in order to be heard
clearly.
In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle
consists of two syllables. For example:
Bare Infinitive Past Participle
add added
land landed
hunt hunted
wait waited

Similarly, when d is added to verbs ending in a silent e preceded by d or t, the final ed of the past
participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive
consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables. For example:
Bare Infinitive Past Participle
fade faded
glide glided
cite cited
note noted
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See Exercise 5.

5. FORMATION OF THE PRESENT PERFECT: IRREGULAR

VERBS
In addition to regular English verbs, there are many irregular English verbs, which do not form the past
participle with the ending ed. The English irregular verbs are related to the strong verbs of the German
language. The following are examples of irregular English verbs. For example:
Bare Infinitive Past Participle
begin begun
find found
go gone
let let
take taken
The past participles of irregular English verbs are formed in an unpredictable manner, and must be
memorized. A table of common English irregular verbs is provided.
Except for the irregularity of the past participle, the formation of the Present Perfect tense is the same for
an irregular verb as for a regular verb. In both cases, the Simple Present of the auxiliary to have is
followed by the past participle of the verb.
For instance, the irregular verb to take has the past participle taken. Thus, the Present Perfect of the
irregular verb to take is conjugated as follows:
I have taken
you have taken
he has taken
she has taken
it has taken
we have taken
they have taken
See Exercise 6.

6. QUESTIONS AND NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative statements in the Present Perfect are
formed using the auxiliary. In the case of the Present Perfect, the auxiliary is have or has.

a. Questions

In order to form a question, the auxiliary is placed before the subject of the verb. For example:
Affirmative Statement Question
I have worked. Have I worked?
You have worked. Have you worked?
He has worked. Has he worked?
She has worked. Has she worked?
It has worked. Has it worked?
We have worked. Have we worked?
They have worked. Have they worked?

b. Negative statements

In order to form a negative statement, the word not is placed after the auxiliary. For example:

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 Affirmative Statement Negative Statement
I have worked. I have not worked.
You have worked. You have not worked.
He has worked. He has not worked.
She has worked. She has not worked.
It has worked. It has not worked.
We have worked. We have not worked.
They have worked. They have not worked.

The following contractions are often used in spoken English:

Without Contractions With Contractions
have not haven't
has not hasn't

c. Negative questions

In order to form a negative question, the auxiliary is placed before the subject, and the word not is placed
after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately
after the auxiliary. For example:
Without Contractions With Contractions
Have I not worked? Haven't I worked?
Have you not worked? Haven't you worked?
Has he not worked? Hasn't he worked?
Has she not worked? Hasn't she worked?
Has it not worked? Hasn't it worked?
Have we not worked? Haven't we worked?
Have they not worked? Haven't they worked?

d. Tag questions

Tag questions are also formed using the auxiliary. In the following examples, the negative tag questions
are underlined.

Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question

I have worked. I have worked, haven't I?
You have worked. You have worked, haven't you?
He has worked. He has worked, hasn't he?
She has worked. She has worked, hasn't she?
It has worked. It has worked, hasn't it?
We have worked. We have worked, haven't we?
They have worked. They have worked, haven't they?
See Exercise 7.

7. THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

a. Use

The Present Perfect Continuous tense is used to express continuous, ongoing actions which have already
been completed at the time of speaking or writing.

In the following example, the verb in the Present Perfect Continuous tense is underlined.
e.g. The bus has been waiting for one hour.

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The use of the Present Perfect Continuous tense in this example indicates that, at the time of speaking or
writing, the bus has completed one hour of continuous waiting.

b. Formation

The Present Perfect Continuous tense of any English verb is formed from the Present Perfect of to be,
followed by the present participle of the verb. For instance, the Present Perfect Continuous tense of the
verb to work is conjugated as follows:

I have been working

you have been working
he has been working
she has been working
it has been working
we have been working
they have been working

Thus, it can be seen that the Present Perfect Continuous tense has two auxiliaries. The first auxiliary is
have or has, and the second auxiliary is been. See Exercise 8.

c. Questions and negative statements

When a verb has more than one auxiliary, it is the first auxiliary which must change its form to agree with
the subject of the verb. It is also the first auxiliary which is used to form questions and negative
statements.

Questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject of the verb. For example:

Affirmative Statement Question

I have been working. Have I been working?
You have been working. Have you been working?
He has been working. Has he been working?
She has been working. Has she been working?
It has been working. Has it been working?
We have been working. Have we been working?
They have been working. Have they been working?

Negative statements are formed by placing the word not after the first auxiliary. For example:
Affirmative Statement Negative Statement
I have been working. I have not been working.
You have been working. You have not been working.
He has been working. He has not been working.
She has been working. She has not been working.
It has been working. It has not been working.
We have been working. We have not been working.
They have been working. They have not been working.

Negative questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject, and the word not after the
subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the
first auxiliary. For example:
Without Contractions With Contractions
Have I not been working? Haven't I been working?
Have you not been working? Haven't you been working?

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 Has he not been working? Hasn't he been working?
Has she not been working? Hasn't she been working?
Has it not been working? Hasn't it been working?
Have we not been working? Haven't we been working?
Have they not been working? Haven't they been working?

Tag questions are formed using the first auxiliary. In the following examples, the negative tag questions
are underlined. For example:
Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question
I have been working. I have been working, haven't I?
You have been working. You have been working, haven't you?
He has been working. He has been working, hasn't he?
She has been working. She has been working, hasn't she?
It has been working. It has been working, hasn't it?
We have been working. We have been working, haven't we?
They have been working. They have been working, haven't they?
See Exercise 9.

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