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I have never visited Zanzibar.
The above sentence demonstrates the present perfect tense. To speak in the present perfect, use have/has after the subject followed by the past participle of a verb. So what is so perfect about it? Certainly not its name! Anyone with a less-than-perfect foundation in grammar will certainly raise an eyebrow after learning that the present perfect tense is used to discuss situations that occurred at some point in the past. Yep, even though “present” is the first word in the name of this tense, it is used to converse about the past. See…. the word “perfect” stands for an abstract, grammatical limbo where sentences exist for the purpose of discussing the consequences of past actions. (Why use the term “perfect” aspect for speaking about the effects of a prior situation? Obviously if it needs to be discussed, the results of this past event weren’t too perfect!) I don’t have an answer to this…just remember that “perfect” refers in some way to a past situation.
The word “present” only serves to clarify that, in this particular tense, we are considering a past event from a perspective in the present. In the above sentence a past action (or lack thereof), not visiting Zanzibar, is being discussed in the present moment. So now you have an idea why the present perfect tense has the name it does.
Another imperfection about this “perfect” tense is the inability to pinpoint exactly when a past event occurred. “I have visited Zanzibar last week” just doesn’t sit well…
But for anyone trying to manage a multitude of languages in their mind, this tense is perfect because of its simple, logical structure. Check out this level of consistency:
I have eaten.
Ich habe gegessen.
J’ai mangé.
Yo he comido.
Another reason to know your grammar!
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Well now, this certainly got me thinking! And this is how my brain cells aligned, as to why ‘perfect’?
When I say “I have done x, y or z”, there is no argument, and no qualifier can alter the fact. “I have x”, or “I have not x” where x is the past participle of a verb, (not totally confident ‘past participle’ is the correct term, but I hope you know what I mean) I make the statement that, as of this present moment, it is true to say that x happened in the past. When I say “I x”, where x is the past tense of a verb, I am talking about the past event, not how it relates to the present moment.
Does that make sense? Coz I’m just making this up off the top of my head. It’s been a very long time since I had any sort of a discussion about grammar. And I’ve missed it!
I love it Flloyd! The very first sentence of your second paragraph perfectly articulates an idea that was floating around in my head as well. Thanks for the comment!