Formation. The present perfect is formed analytically, by means of the auxiliary to have in the present indefinite and participle II of the notional verb.*
* For the rules of the formation of participle II see § 5-6.
In the negative the corresponding negative forms of to have are used, participle II follows them.
The paradigm of the verb in the present perfect
| Affirmative | Interrogative | Negative |
| I have spoken He (she, it) has spoken We have spoken You have spoken They have spoken | Have I spoken? Has he (she, it) spoken? Have we spoken? Have you spoken? Have they spoken? | I have not (haven’t) spoken He (she, it) has not (hasn’t) spoken We have not (haven’t) spoken You have not (haven’t) spoken They have not (haven’t) spoken |
Negative-interrogative
| a) | Have I not spoken? Has he (she, it) not spoken? Have we not spoken? Have you not spoken? Have they not spoken? | b) | Haven’t I spoken? Hasn’t he (she, it) spoken? Haven’t we spoken? Haven’t you spoken? Haven’t they spoken? |
§ 24. In all its uses the present perfect directly or indirectly refers actions to the moment of speaking. This connection with the moment of speaking predetermines its use; the present perfect is found in conversations and communications dealing with the state of things in the present and is never found in narratives referring to the past.
The present perfect is used:
1. When the speaker means that he is interested in the mere fact that the action took place, but not in the time when it took place, nor in the circumstances. The time of the action is either not indicated at all, or is indicated only vaguely, by means of adverbs of indefinite time (yet, already, just, lately, recently, of late, ever, never, always, etc.).
I don’t know what he’s going to do, I haven’t seen him.
Has Mother returned?
I haven’t read the letter yet.
Why are you so hard on him? What has he done?
Let’s go, it has already stopped raining.
I’ve never seen him in this play.
2. When the speaker means that, though the action is over, the period of time within which it was performed is not yet over at the moment of speaking (with the words today, this week, this year, etc.).
I’ve seen her today.
She’s returned from England this week.
I’ve had a splitting headache this morning.
If the period of time is over or the action refers to some particular moment of time within that period the past indefinite, not the present perfect is used.
I had a bad headache this morning (said in the afternoon, in the evening, etc.).
She was at my party this month (at the time when the party was given).
In such cases (items 1 and 2) the exclusive present perfect is rendered in Russian by the past tense.
3. The present perfect is also used to denote actions still in progress, (the inclusive present perfect) which began before the moment of speaking and go on up to that moment or into it. In this case either the starting point of the action is specified (by means of the adverb since, a prepositional phrase with since, or an adverbial clause with the conjunction since), or the period during which it continued (by various adverbs or phrases with for). It is thus used in the following cases:
a) with statal verbs which do not normally take continuous forms:
We met by chance last year, and I haven’t seen her since.
I’ve been here since 8.
I love you. I’ve loved you ever since we met.
I’ve known you all my life.
I haven’t seen you for ages.
b) with some actional (durative) verbs in which case the present perfect continuous is also possible. The
difference between the two forms lies in the following: in the case of the present perfect the logical stress
is laid rather on the fact than on the process, whereas in the case of the present perfect continuous it is
the process that is important.
I’ve worked here since 1960.
He has played football for five years already.
In such cases the inclusive present perfect is rendered in Russian by the present tense.
4. The present perfect is also used in subordinate adverbial clauses of time and condition introduced by the corresponding conjunctions to denote a future action taking place before a certain moment in the future.
I’ll stay with you until you’ve finished everything.
Wait till I’ve written the notice.
Sometimes adverbials of place and objects expressed by words describing situations may serve in an oblique way as past time markers, connecting the activities not only with places and situations, but also with the time when the actions took place, accordingly the past indefinite is used.
Did you meet him in London? (when you were in London)
Did you like his singing? (when he sang)
The same is true of special questions beginning with where:
Where did you see him?
Where did you buy this hat?
| Note 1: In spesial questions with when only the past indefinite is possible, though the answer can be either in the past indefinite or in the present perfect depending on the actual state of affairs: | |
| - When did he come? | - He came yesterday. - He has just come. |
| Note 2: The present perfect, not the past indefinite is used with the verb to be in the sense of to go, to visit even though the adverbials of place are used: Have you been to London? She says she’s been to Paris three times. The meaning of such statements is ‘was there at a certain time, but is there no longer’. | |
Although the time of the actions denoted by the present perfect is not specified, it is generally understood as more or less recent, not long past.
§ 25. The ways of translating the present perfect into Russian vary due to the peculiarities of its time orientation and the vagueness of its aspective meaning. It can therefore be translated into Russian either by the past tense (if it is exclusive present perfect) or by the present tense (if it is inclusive present perfect). The latter applies to statal verbs and some actional durative verbs.
| She has gone home. | Она уже ушла домой. (The past tense, perfective.) |
| The red ballon has burst. | Красный шарик лопнул. (The past tense, perfective, momentary.) |
| He has hit me twice. | Он ударил меня два раза. (The past tense, perfective, iterative.) |
| I’ve already seen him. | Я его уже видел. (The past tense, imperfective.) |
| She has seen the film three times. | Она смотрела этот фильм три раза. (The past tense, imperfective, iterative.) |
| They’ve lived here for seven years. | Они живут здесь семь лет. |
| I’ve known her since 1975. | Я знаю ее с 1975 года. (The present tense, inaperfective, durative.) |
The present perfect continuous
§ 26. Formation. The present perfect continuous is formed analytically by means of the auxiliary to be in the present perfect (have/has been) plus participle I of the notional verb.
In the interrogative the first auxiliary (have/has) comes before the subject, the second auxiliary (been) and participle I follow the subject.
In the negative the corresponding negative forms of the first auxiliary (have) are used, the second auxiliary (been) and participle I follow them.
The paradigm of the verb in the present perfect continuous
| Affirmative | Interrogative |
| I have been speaking He (she, it) has been speaking We have been speaking You have been speaking They have been speaking | Have I been speaking? Has he (she, it) been speaking? Have we been speaking? Have you been speaking? Have they been speaking? |
| Negative | Contracted negative |
| I have not been speaking He (she, it) has not been speaking We have not been speaking You have not been speaking They have not been speaking | I haven’t been speaking He (she, it) hasn’t been speaking We haven’t been speaking You haven’t been speaking They haven’t been speaking |
Negative-interrogative
| a) | Have I not been speaking? Has he (she, it) not been speaking? Have we not been speaking? Have you not been speaking? Have they not been speaking? | b) | Haven’t I been speaking? Hasn’t he (she, it) been speaking? Haven’t we been speaking? Haven’t you been speaking? Haven’t they been speaking? |
The present perfect continuous is used mainly in conversation.
§ 27. The present perfect continuous is used with actional verbs to denote:
1. Actions in progress which begin at a certain moment in the past and continue into the present. In this case either the starting point of the action or the period of time during which it has been in progress is usually specified.
I’ve been writing since morning, and so I’ll soon stop.
They’ve been living here since 1970. Now they are going to move to N.
It has been raining ever since midnight, and it is still drizzling.
She’s a fourth year student, so she’s been learning English for at least 3 years already.
All these forms denoting actions continuing into the present (the so-called present perfect continuous inclusive) are translated into Russian by the present tense, imperfective (in the sentences above: пишу, живут, дождь идет, учит).
2. Actions in progress which begin in the past and continue up to the moment of speaking or till just before it. It is the present perfect continuous exclusive.
Oh, here you are at last! I’ve been waiting for you all day!
It has been snowing since morning, but now it has stopped.
You look so sad. Have you been crying?
It has been raining for at least two hours, but now the wind has driven the clouds away.
3. Actions in progress that both begin and end at some indeterminate time before the moment of speaking, though connected with it through their importance for the present.
My brother has been using my bicycle and has got the tyre punctured.
I have been thinking over your offer, but still can’t tell you anything definite.
I hear she has been calling on you again?
The forms denoting actions that are over by the moment of speaking (the so-called present perfect continuous exclusive) are translated into Russian by means of the past tense, imperfective (in the sentences in items 2 and 3 they are: ждал, снег шел, плакала, дождь шел, катался, обдумывал, приходила).
4. Future actions in progress before a certain moment in the future (in subordinate adverbial clauses of time and condition).
He will get accustomed to the surroundings after he has been staying here for a week or two.
§ 28. As is seen from above, the present perfect continuous cannot be used to denote a succession of actions and therefore cannot be used to describe the development of events. If two actions denoted by the present perfect continuous happen to come together it only means that they are simultaneous and are usually performed by two different persons:
I have been living here for two months while they have been travelling all over Europe. Now they are coming back, and I’ll soon move back to my own place.
§ 29. All the past tenses (the past indefinite, the past continuous, the past perfect, the past perfect continuous) refer the actions they denote to the past. The difference between them lies in the way they represent the I categories of aspect and perfect.
Owing to their past time reference all of them are used both in the written language in narrative and description, and in conversation, especially the past indefinite.
The past indefinite
(The simple past)
§ 30. Formation. The affirmative forms of the past indefinite are synthetic, the interrogative, negative and negative-interrogative forms are analytic.
Affirmative (synthetic) forms are represented by the second of the basic verb forms.
Interrogative forms are built by means of the auxiliary to do in the past indefinite (did), which is placed before the subject, and the infinitive stem of the notional verb, which follows the subject.
Negative forms are built by means of the negative form of the auxiliary, which has two varieties: a) didn’t (used in the spoken language) and b) did not (used in the written language) and the infinitive of the notional verb that follows it.
The paradigm of the verb in the past indefinite
| Affirmative | Interrogative | |||
| I He (she, it) We You They | spoke (played) | Did | I he (she, it) we you they | speak (play?) |
| Negative | ||||
| I He (she, it) We You They | did not (didn’t) speak (play) | |||
Negative-interrogative