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How To Teach The Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is difficult for students to learn. It connects past events to the present moment. The document recommends teaching the present perfect by: 1) Explaining its three main uses: experiences, past continuing to present, and recent past influencing present. 2) Providing examples from your own life to illustrate these uses. 3) Explaining verb forms, timelines, and question structures for practice. 4) Having students do roleplays, readings, and exercises contrasting it with the past simple. Common student challenges include mixing it with the past simple and proper use of time expressions like "yet" and "since." Providing multiple opportunities to practice its different uses is

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111 views

How To Teach The Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is difficult for students to learn. It connects past events to the present moment. The document recommends teaching the present perfect by: 1) Explaining its three main uses: experiences, past continuing to present, and recent past influencing present. 2) Providing examples from your own life to illustrate these uses. 3) Explaining verb forms, timelines, and question structures for practice. 4) Having students do roleplays, readings, and exercises contrasting it with the past simple. Common student challenges include mixing it with the past simple and proper use of time expressions like "yet" and "since." Providing multiple opportunities to practice its different uses is

Uploaded by

Flavia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Teach the Present Perfect

Kenneth Beare
Updated June 11, 2018

The present perfect is one of the most difficult tenses to learn for students.
Teaching the present perfect effectively involves making sure students
understand that the present perfect in English is always connected in some
way to the present moment in time. Many languages including French,
German, Spanish and Italian use the present perfect for past events. The
present perfect in English covers what happens from a past moment to the
present moment in time. Establishing this connection in students' minds early
will help students avoid mistakes. It helps to divide usage into three major
areas:

1) From the past until now: I've lived in New York for twenty years.

2) Life experience: I've visited every state in the country.

3) Recent past events that influence the present moment: I've just had lunch.

Start by Speaking about Your Experiences


Introduce the present perfect by providing three short situations One about life
experiences, one speaking about some things that started in the past and
continue into the present. Finally, also illustrate the present perfect for events
that influence the present moment in time. Speak about yourself, your family
or your friends.

 Life Experience: "I've visited many countries in Europe. I've been to


Germany and France a few times. My wife has also been in Europe quite
a lot. However, our daughter has never visited."
 Past to Present: "My friend Tom has a number of hobbies. He's played
chess for more than fifteen years. He's surfed since he was a little boy,
and he's practiced the art of the Japanese tea ceremony since
September."
 Recent Events that Influence the Present: "Where's Pete? I think
he's gone to lunch, but he's been away for about ten minutes. I know he's
been to the bank this afternoon so he's probably decided he needs a nice
meal." Ask students about the differences in these forms. Once the
differences have been understood, return to your short scenarios and ask
students related questions using the present perfect.
 Life Experience: "I've visited many countries in Europe. Which
countries have you visited? Have you ever been to XYZ?"
 Past to Present: "My friend Tom has a number of hobbies. He's played
chess for more than fifteen years. Which hobbies do you have? How long
have you done them?"
 Recent Events that Influence the Present: "What have we just
studied? Have you understood the form?"

Explaining the Present Perfect


Using the verbs you've introduced, quickly ask students the infinitive form for
each verb. (i.e. "Which verb is gone? - go, Which verb is bought? - buy, etc.").
After having studied the past simple, students should recognize that many past
verbs in '-ed' whereas others have irregular forms. Introduce the past participle
form use in the present perfect. It's a good idea to provide an irregular verb
sheet for future reference.

Use three timelines showing the differences between usages: life experience,
past to present, and recent events.

At this point in the curriculum, students should easily be able to switch


between positive, negative and question forms. However, it's important to
point out that questions in the present perfect are most often formed with
"How long" for past to present usage, and "Have you ever..?" for life
experiences. Finally, for present perfect that affects the present moment, it's
important that students understand the differences between the time
expressions 'just', 'yet' and 'already' as well as 'for' and 'since' for past to
present.

Comprehension Activities
Each of these uses of the present perfect can be practiced through present
perfect role plays and reading comprehension activities. It's also a good idea to
compare and contrast time expressions used for the present perfect and past
simple. Present perfect worksheets and quizzes focusing on differences asking
students to choose between the present perfect or the past simple will also
help. To practice switching between the present perfect and the simple past
practice short conversations with "Have you ever...?" followed by a question
asking for specifics with 'when', or 'where'.

Have you ever been to France? - Yes, I have.


When did you go there?
Have you bought a car? - Yes, I have
When did you buy one?

Challenges with the Present Perfect


Common challenges with the present perfect include:
 Use of present perfect for events that happened in the past
 Switching between present perfect and past simple fluidly
 Use of 'yet' and 'already' in questions, negative and positive forms
 Use of 'since' with dates and 'for' with periods of time

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