+121.+ Past, present and future, being the three divisions of time, one
would naturally expect that when we had found how to express these three
forms, we would be through, but if you stop to think, you will find that
there are other verb phrases of which we have need.
When we wish to speak of action as completed at the present time, we do
not say:
I study my lessons every day, _but_, I have studied my lessons every
day.
_Not_, You work for him every day, _but_, You have worked for him
every day.
_Not_, He sees her frequently, _but_, He has seen her frequently.
Can you not readily see the difference in the meaning expressed in _I
work every day_, and _I have worked every day_? In the first sentence
you express a general truth, _I work every day_, a truth which has been
true in the past, is true in the present, and the implication is that it
will continue to be true in the future. But when you say, _I have worked
every day_, you are saying nothing as to the future, but you are
describing an action which is completed at the present time. This is
called the _present complete_ or _present perfect_ time.
+122.+ Perfect means complete, and present perfect describes an action
perfected or completed at the present time. So it is possible for us to
express a necessary shade of meaning by the present perfect time form.
+123.+ +The present perfect time form describes an action completed at
the present time, and is formed by using the present time form of
_have_ and the _past_ participle of the verb.+
+Present Perfect Time+
_Singular_ _Plural_
1st. I have seen. We have seen.
2d. You have seen. You have seen.
3d. He has seen. They have seen.
+124.+ Review in the last lesson how to form the past participle.
Remember that it is one of the principal parts of the verb. In regular
verbs the past participle is the same form as the past time form. In
irregular verbs the past participle is quite often different from the
past time form, as for example: _go_, _went_, _gone_; _do_, _did_,
_done_, etc.
Watch closely your irregular verbs and see that you always use the past
_participle_ with _have_ or _had_; never use the past _time_ form with
_have_ or _had_.