Have you ever studied the present perfect tense? We’re excited to promote our NEW lesson on the Present Perfect! We included grammar tips and charts to make this tense easy to teach and learn. We also included both functions of the present perfect along with exercises that compare it to the simple past. The Travel theme makes this lesson fun and relevant! (more…)

The differences between the present perfect and the present perfect progressive can be subtle, and many students aren’t sure when to use each one. Luckily, both are correct in most cases, but students still want to understand why there are two tenses with such similar uses.

The worksheet below has charts and examples so students can compare these two tenses side by side. For the other use of the present perfect and to compare it with the simple past, see Teaching the Present Perfect. (more…)

The present perfect is a very common verb tense in English, but it can be confusing for students to learn because it has two main uses that are quite different from one another. Adding to the challenge is the present perfect’s similarity to the simple past and the present perfect progressive. In my experience, most textbooks teach the two main uses separately, and some students never realize that this verb tense can do two different things.

Also, most textbooks don’t include an exercise that combines the present perfect and the simple past. It’s easy enough to produce have + past participle over and over in a written or spoken exercise—the real challenge lies in recognizing the difference between the present perfect and the simple past and being able to produce the correct tense.

Below is a grammar explanation that highlights the two main uses of the present perfect. The simple past and present perfect progressive are also discussed, and a worksheet comparing the present perfect and simple past is available on page 3 of the handout. We hope this handout helps your students understand and use this common tense! (more…)