Present perfect: the basics


The present perfect is very useful when we want to speak about the environment, because we use it to talk about past events that have a connection with the present, or about situations that started in the past but which are still true in the present.

That’s also why we often use the present perfect to comment on a graph or a survey, to show how data from the past has evolved over time and can explain a present situation.


FORM


Examples :

  • Recycling rates have stagnated in recent years

  • Funding cuts have led to more waste being burned

  • It’s become a lot harder

  • The global mood has turned against plastic

  • It hasn’t stopped companies from producing biodegradable products


HAVE/HAS + Past participle (-ed or 3rd column for irregular verbs)


We use the present perfect :


To speak about something that started in the past and continues in the present:

  • The global mood has turned against plastic
  • Dirty air has been with us for centuries

when we are talking about our experience up to the present:

  • Since 2000 the plastic industry has manufactured as much plastic as all the preceding years combined

for something that happened in the past but is important in the present (We don’t say when or we use time expressions including now)

  • Our imprint on the natural world has become impossible to ignore.
  • The damage in health has become clear

SIGNAL WORDS

  • just

  • yet

  • never

  • already

  • ever

  • so far

  • up to now

  • recently

  • since

  • For, etc


FOCUS ON FOR AND SINCE


Since: a moment, a point in time in the past

  • The abundance of native species in most major land habitats has fallen by a fifth since 1900.
  • The signs of our despoliation of the natural world have been evident at least since the extinction of the dodo in 1681.

For: a period of time in the past

  • Dirty air has been with us for centuries 
  • The threats posed by some of the substances we have used for pest control have gone unremarked for years. 

Remember that how long also requires the present perfect:


  • How long have you worked on this project?-> I’ve worked on it for 2 years.

            -> I’ve worked on it since I got elected in 2020


Modifié le: lundi 26 septembre 2022, 19:39