As we have seen, the present perfect is a present time verb. The time expressed by this verb is the present, unfinished time. Sometimes people think it means past time, as in “I have been to America.” “I have read that book 50 times at least.” “I have seen that movie already.” The reason why these sentences are in the present perfect, and the reason why these sentences mean present time, is because the speaker is still alive!!! (The time period is unfinished, even though the action is finished. Don’t confuse the action with the time period.) If the speaker was dead and was talking to God in heaven, he would say: “I went to America.” “I read that book 50 times at least.” “I saw that movie.” because the time period (his life) is over. Alternatively, if the speaker is alive and is using specific past time words, then he would need to change the tense: “I went to America last week.” “I read that book 50 times at least when I was a kid.” “I saw that movie on Saturday.” That’s why its WRONG to combine a specific past time reference with the present perfect: “I have been to America last week.” “I have read that book 50 times at least when I was a kid.” “I have seen that movie already on Saturday.”

To help you consolidate your understanding of this, do the next reading task.

Dear Mavis,   Regarding the report you sent me a few days ago, I have sent it on to Jean. I have also arranged a meeting with the team to go through the report in detail. I have also arranged the big meeting room for tomorrow afternoon and have repaired the projector –it was broken last week – so it should be working fine now.   By the way, did you see June this morning? She came in to the office to say hi. It was really nice to see her: she looked really big and she said the baby is kicking a lot. So exciting!   Anyway, let me know if you have any concerns about the meeting.   Jacky

Past (finished) time verbs	Present (unfinished) time verbs