Present Perfect

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Form = have/has PAST PARTICIPLE

timeline for the present perfect

Max has eaten breakfast.
Mary has sold her house.

The present perfect is used to express that an activity began and ended before the time of speaking. When the activity happened is not specified.

timeline for the present perfect

Max has been a sports fan for many years.
Max has livedthere all of his life.
I have watched TV for five hours now*.

The present perfect is also be used to express that a condition that was true in the past is still true in the present or that an action (a durative action) began in the past and continues into the present. This is usually expressed a time expression of duration often with for or since.

Instantaneous actions (e.g. kick, shut) cannot be used in this sense of the present perfect.

*This form is grammatical, but the present perfect progressive is generally preferred to express the continuous nature of an action from the past into the present.

timeline for the present perfect

Max has seen that movie seven times.
Mary has called every hour for the past eight hours.

The present perfect can also be used to express the number of times an action has happened.

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