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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Tense, Aspect and Verb Forms

Present perfect

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

/ˌpreznt ˈpɜːfɪkt/nounCore term

In linguistics & grammar, present perfect means: A verb form made with have or has plus a past participle, used to link a past action or state to the present, as in 'I have lost my keys'.

In Turkish: present perfect zaman, yakın geçmiş zaman

How it is used

Teachers call it a tense; linguists describe it as present tense with perfect aspect. Typical uses are life experience (Have you ever...?), recent news, and situations that continue up to now (with for and since).

Example sentences

  1. We use the present perfect with 'since': 'I have lived here since 2019.'

  2. The present perfect is hard for Turkish learners because Turkish has no single equivalent form.

Common collocations

  • present perfect tense
  • present perfect simple
  • present perfect continuous
  • use the present perfect
  • tenseA grammatical category, shown by the form of the verb, that places an event in time relative to the moment of speaking, such as present or past.
  • aspectA grammatical category that shows how an action unfolds in time, for example whether it is ongoing, completed or repeated, rather than when it happens.
  • participleA verb form without tense used in verb phrases and as an adjective: the present participle ends in -ing (working), the past participle often in -ed or -en (worked, broken).
  • auxiliary verbA verb used with a main verb to form tenses, questions, negatives and the passive, mainly be, have and do, plus modal verbs such as can and will.
  • progressive aspectThe verb form made with be plus the -ing form, used to show that an action is in progress, temporary or unfinished at a certain time, as in 'She is working'.

More terms: Tense, Aspect and Verb Forms

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