Helping General Elementary Students Understand And Use Present Perfect To Talk About Life Experiences

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1. IntroductionMany learners, whatever their level, find the present perfect difficult because of its different meanings and uses and in teaching them, it is advisable to teach them separately. According to Parrot The biggest difficulty for many learners is knowing when to use the present perfect as opposed to the past simple. (2000:235) especially when they are talking about life experiences.I have chosen to introduce and focus on this particular use with my Elementary students because that have been introduced to the past simple and they tend to over use it.

2. Language Analysis2.1. Meaning/use The present perfect has many uses and meanings and what unites them all is that they link the past to the present. In this essay, I will focus on the difference between the past simple and present perfects in talking about completed events in the past. For example:a. Ive been to Alexandria three times.

______________x___x____x_____________________x________ The presentb. I went to Alexandria last summer.

___________________x_________________________x________ Last summer the present

In sentence a, it is a completed action in the past and we do not know when it happened exactly (at some point of the speakers life).In sentence b, it is a completed action in the past and we know when it happened exactly (last summer).

2.2. FormWe form the present perfect with has or have plus the main verb in the past participle form, which may be regular or irregular.Question wordhave/has Subject have/hasPast participle

AffirmativeShehasbeento Alexandria 3 times.

NegativeIhaventbeento Alexandria before.

QuestionHaveyoubeento Alexandria?