ABSTRACT
The present perfect tense is formed by combining has or have with the past participle of a verb, creating combinations such as “has finished.” The perfect verb tenses are important tools for good writing because they allow writers to describe completed actions in clear and specific detail. Astrid Lindgren used the past perfect tense in the following example, which describes a series of events at Pippi’s birthday party: “When Mr. Nilsson had emptied his cup he turned it upside down and put it on his head”. Recall Ms. Fernandez’s students’ present perfect examples; the various sentences they created using have listened show the wide range of situations in which one might use the verb tense. Ms. Fernandez takes the students through three PowerPoint slides, each one with an example of one of the perfect verb tenses on it. Ms. Fernandez takes a box of markers and a large easel pad from behind her desk and walks around the room.
