|
One common use for the present
perfect tense is in
showing
actions or situations
that began in the past and
continued
until now. There are,
however, other uses.
Another common one is in showing repeated
actions
that happened at an unspecified time
before now and
that are likely to be repeated after
now.
Examples:
I've seen
that movie a dozen times.
He's been absent twice.
They've made
a lot of new friends.
When the present perfect tense
is used to show repeated
actions, so far and in / during
/ over
the past / last _____
are very common;
so are some frequency
adverbs.
Examples:
I've seen that movie a dozen times so far.
I've seen
that movie a dozen times
in the past two years.
I've frequently seen that movie. /
I've seen
that movie frequently.
He's been
absent twice during
the past week.
He's often been absent. /
He's been
absent often.
She's made
a lot of new friends over
the
past
few days.
___________________________________________
Special
Notes:
| 1. |
|
When the present perfect tense
is used in
sentences such as those above, the
action or
situation does not
continue, but it is
also not
considered to be completely finished.
If
simple past tense is used in sentences
such as those above, however, the action or
situation is considered to be finished:
I saw
that movie a dozen times. (finished)
I've seen that movie a dozen times. (not finished)
He was
absent twice. (finished)
He's been
absent twice. (not finished)
She made
a lot of new friends. (finished)
She's made a lot of new friends. (not finished)
|
| |
|
|
| 2. |
|
Since can also be used with sentences such
as
those above:
I've seen
that movie a dozen times since it
was
released.
He's been absent
twice since the
class began.
She's made a lot of new friends
since her arrival.
|
|
