Lesson 48 - The Simple Present Perfect Positive - "I have done."

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The Present Perfect Simple - [HAS / HAVE] + [past participle]

We often use the Present Perfect Simple tense to talk about our life up to now, especially when we are interested in what happened, and not exactly when it happened. Think of it as unfinished time - you're not dead - your life isn't finished, so you use the present perfect tense to talk about it.

Forming the Present Perfect Tense

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Mr Bean - Where has he been?

	He has been to America.	Maybe he has been there once, or several times. You don't know and he's not going to tell you.
	He has been to Ireland
	He has been to Canada.

I'm your teacher. You know that I'm from England, and I'm living in Germany.

How long and since when?

	Since a point in time. For a length of time.	How long have I been in Germany?
		I have been in Germany since 1998.	It's 2006 and I have been in Germany for 8 years.

Where else have I been?

	Where have I been?	Maybe I have been there once, or several times. You don't know, but I can tell you. You add the number of times to the end of the sentence.	How many times have I been there?
	I have been to France.		I have been to France many times.
	I have been to Italy.		I have been to Italy twice.
	I have been to South Africa.		I have only been to South Africa once.

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We also use the Present Perfect Simple tense to talk about things that we have done, where you can see the result. Compare:-

They are doing ...		They have done ...
	She is shopping.		She has been shopping. The shopping is in her bags.
	Oh dear. He is unblocking the toilet.		Thank goodness. He has unblocked the toilet. It is flushing properly now.
	They are carrying a big, heavy sofa.		Oops! They have dropped it. One of them is squished.