27Present Perfect Usage #2: Indicates a change that has occurred.
- I have bought a car. Present Perfect Verb!
- She has grown into a beautiful lady.
- Has the sweater gone on sale?
Let’s pick apart the following example:
She has grown into a beautiful lady.
As written, this sentence indicates that somewhere between the past and the present she has grown from a child
into a beautiful lady, signaling a change in occurrence.
Present Perfect Usage #3: Indicates an action that started in the past and continues on into the present.
- Ever since she started dating Billy, she has acted like a prima donna.
- With their feet still in the water, they exclaimed, “we have been playing in the pond.”
- “How long have you been friends with Tasha?”
Let’s analyze the following sentence:
Ever since she started dating Billy, she has acted like a prima donna.
Notice the tip off of the chronological phrase Ever since. As written, the sentence indicates that she started
acting like a prima donna as soon as she started dating Billy (sometime in the past) and she is still to this day
acting like a prima donna.
since, ever since, ago, still, and over (as in: over the past two weeks)
are clue words that present perfect is needed!
#5: Past Perfect
How to Find: “had” plus the past participle – had run, had begun, had eaten, had sung...(notice those “u”
forms – don’t let them trick you and get away with “had began”).
Example: I had sung
You had sung
He had sung
She had sung
They had sung
We had sung
“Had” used alone is simple past - He had a dog - versus present perfect
He had adopted a dog, before he got sick.