How’s your present? Is it perfect? really? I don't think anyone's present is perfect.
but if you wanna make your present perfect that join me in this lesson about present
perfect in English conversation. that's what you are learning with me today, my name is
Michelle. let's go.
So I'll do a quick reminder for you. when do we use the present perfect tense? so we
use the present perfect tense to talk about an event that started in the past but is still
now relevant, that's when he use present perfect and what about the form of present perfect?
so I'll write two sentences for you here. I’ve been to Sydney. but if you want to
talk about someone else, for example, she, then you'd say she's been to Sydney. Okay
first things first, I've stands for I + have. so this is a contraction for I + have which
means, I've, which is pronounced as I've. and she's is a contraction for she + has and
it's pronounced as she's. please don't confuse it with she is. it's she has. be careful about
that. so you use had/have or has. had is used when you need to talk about something in the
past plus third form. alright so let's start with some very interesting phrases here.
I've known her for ages. so for this I think, I'm gonna give you a situation. I have this
friend, this joinee at work and once we were having a conversation and you know we were
sharing about each other's lives, about our lives and I told her, my best friend is Rebecca.
she said, I also have a friend named Rebecca. I said, okay and I told her my best friend
is an artist and she said coincidentally my friend is also an artist and I was like, I
hope you are not talking about Rebecca Jones and she was like, yeah. I am talking about
Rebecca Jones. I was like are you talking about Rebecca Jones from Toronto? she said,
yeah, the same girl and I said, small world and this girl asked me, so how do you know
her? and I replied, I've known her for ages. she is my best friend since grade 4. so basically,
known her for ages means a very long time. ages, a very long time. so you can use this,
I've known her for ages to talk about someone that you have known for a very long time.
may be many years or some months in certain cases.
let's look at the next one, I've had a tough day. so tough means difficult. so if you're
day is coming to an end, I mean you can see the day closing, then you can say, I had a
tough day, which is past simple. however, if you're meeting your friends for lunch and
you want to tell about how your day was so far and you think it was tough. so you could
say, I've had a tough day, which means from the past when the day started until now. so
this talks about the connection between the past and the present. well if you haven't
had a tough day and you had a great day so far, you could say, I've had a great day,
I've had a fun day. so anything, you can replace it, you can use any of the variations, from
when the day started until now.
alright, so the third one, this is the first time I've been here. remember whenever you
use this phrase, this is the first time, it's always followed by present perfect and you
can use it for something that you've not done before or a place where you've never been
before or something that you've never seen before or anything that you've not heard before.
so may be your friend is making you listen to a new song and you're hearing it for the
first time and he's like have you heard it before? you'd say, this is the first time
I heard it or this is the first time I've heard it. I have, have is very important.
and the same way if you're visiting a place for the first time, you could say, this is
the first time I've been here or this is the first time I've seen this movie, any of the
variations.
let's look at the next one, I haven't done it yet. so this is also used to talk about
an event in the past. so let's say, you're mother asked you to take the garbage out of
your room or to take the rubbish out of the dustbin and you haven't done it and your mom
says, have you taken the rubbish out? and you haven't done it, so you could say, I haven't
done it yet, mom I'll do it right away. that's when you can do it, you can use it and probably
may be your mom will forgive you, just may be. so a recent event in the past. Yet means
that you're still to do the event, the activity.
okay, let's look at the next one, I've had a great evening, okay so this is a really
good phrase to use when you're on a date and with your significant other or someone that
you are may be meeting for the first time on a blind date and if you had a really nice
time and you want them to feel good, you could say, I've had a great evening. but you can
call your best friend later and you could tell her, Simona I've had the worst date of
my life today. of course you can use the same phrase to express different feelings. so you
could say, I've had the worst date of my life. so instead of evening, you could also say,
I’ve had a great time or I've had a wonderful time, I've had a lovely time. any of these
variations or I've had a terrible time.
let's look at the next one, I've had enough. how does this look like? is this very satisfying?
No, this is like, this is the last point, the peak point, there is something that you
cannot accept anymore. so if you're girlfriend or boyfriend is still talking to their ex
and you don't like it, you could tell, Kate I've had enough, if you continue to talk to
Jack, we are through with it. interesting phrase and very useful phrase. when you are
done with something and you can't accept it anymore.
have you heard that iPhone has launched its new x6 plus with 3D touch? no you haven't
heard? Okay so what am I doing here, I'm trying to tell you about news or something that I've
heard recently and I think maybe you've not heard. so whenever I wanna tell you a news
may be from the television or anything that happened or in another case, maybe I wanna
tell you something that happened in my friend's life, I could say, have you heard.. whatever?
have you heard Anna and Paul had a baby? so that's when you can use it, to share about
news.
with this, we complete this lesson to talk about the present perfect tense. please use
this tense in your everyday conversation to sound more natural coz this is a very commonly
used tense and it can help you talk not only about the past but even the present and this
is how you make your present, very, very perfect.
I hope to see you again in another lesson, till then you take care, bye.