Facts about Present Perfect Simple :
Most french and latin students think that Present Perfect is the most difficult tense to understand and use. Its « construction » is similar to the french « Passé Composé »
but is used to express totally different facts in english. So very confusing for students. It is used to express three kinds of past facts (always linked to « present » time) :
1 / Action that started in the past and is still true today.
Ex : I have lived in France for 20 years / or since 2004.
2 / Action that has just finished.
Ex : I have just finished my homework.
3 / Past action that has a consequence / an Impact on present.
Ex : I have lost my key, so I can’t get into my house.
Tips & Tricks
- Explain rules and contexts several times if necessary.
- Get student to give many varied examples (of the 3 different contexts).
- Student must learn to avoid translating from french to english.
Ex : J’ai acheté du pain hier / I bought some bread yesterday (not « I have bought ») but when using Present Perfect : « I have just bought some bread ». - Give exercises (homework) to student which « contrast » Past simple and Present Perfect.
- When students make mistakes with Present Perfect, don’t give them the correction immediately, get them to think and try to self-correct (thinking about the different contexts). Re-explain contexts if necessary.
- Explain to students the difference between « since » and « for », always confusing for them.
« Since » indicates the starting point of an action, day, date, year, precise moment in time whereas « For » indicates a duration, a period, a number of months, years, etc. - Tip : most of the time with « For » you can count but with « Since » you can’t.
Ex : Since last Wednesday … / For 5 months …
