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The present perfect tense has a connection with the past and the present.
Use the present perfect tense to describe a continuing situation and to describe an
action that has just happened.
- I have worked as a caretaker since June.
This sentence tells us that the subject has worked as a caretaker in the past and is
still working as a caretaker in the present.- Dmitri has just received an award from the Dean of Students.
This sentence tells us that Dmitri has very recently received the award. The word
just emphasizes that the action happened very recently.Study the following basic formula for the past perfect tense:
Subject + had or have + past participle
I had listened- The bus had left by the time Theo arrived at the station.
Notice that both actions occurred entirely in the past, but one action occurred
before the other. At some time in the past, Theo arrived (simple past tense) at the
station, but at some time before that, the bus had left (past perfect).