Title: Present perfect (2): ever, never, already, yet Present
1Present perfect (2) ever, never, already, yet
2A Ever and never present perfect or simple
past to talk about general life experience
- Have you ever worked abroad? (i.e. In all your
life up to now?) - I have never been to América, (i.e. Not in all my
life up to now.) - The present perfect with ever is often followed
by the simple past. We use the simple past to
give more information about a completed action,
when referring to a specific time or context - Have you ever been to Hong Kong?
- Yes, I have. I worked there when I was with
Coopers and Lybrand
3B Already and yet
- They have already modernized the warehouse, but
they haven't decorated the reception area yet. - Already is used in positive sentences.
- It often indicates that something has taken
- place slightly earlier than expected.
- Notice its position in the sentence
- She has already shown me the figures.
- (not She has shown already ...)
4B Already and yet
- Have you talked to Peter yet?
- (not Have you talked yet to Peter?)
- Yet is used in questions and negatives.
- It shows that we expect an action will take
place if it has not happened up to now. - Notice the position of yet, and not yet
- I have not talked to him yet.
- (not I have not talked yet to him.)
5C Finished and unfinishedperiods of time
Common examples are over the last few weeks, up
to now, so far, to date, this month, this
morning, this year, today, etc
The present perfect is often used with
prepositions or prepositional phrasesindicating
periods of time that have not finished yet.
6C Finished and unfinishedperiods of time
This month we have received a lot of complaints
about late deliveries. (The month has not
finished, and there may be more complaints.)
7C Finished and unfinishedperiods of time
If we are speaking after one of these time
periods, we use the simple past because we are
referring to a period of time that has finished.
Did you see John this morning? (It is now 2.30
in the afternoon the morning has finished.)
Compare Have you seen John this morning? (It is
now 11.15 in the morning the morning has not
finished.)
8Present perfect (3) for and since
- The present perfect simple is often used with for
and since and stative verbs to talk about things
that began in the past and have continued up to
now. - I have known about the takeover bid for several
weeks. (and I know now) - She has owned shares in ICI since she started
work there (She owns them now.)