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< Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Tense: The Present Perfect Tense (#4)

Dennis Oliver
The Present Perfect Tense #4:
Another Use for the Present Perfect

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.
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