English grammar, stay tuned.

So welcome guys, I'm here in London on the Millennium bridge

which was built in the year 2000. Now how does this bridge help you learn English grammar?

I'm going to explain that right now. Today we're looking at the present perfect and we're

going to look at the basics. The things you need to know to use the present perfect correctly

because it causes a lot of people problems. So the main thing we need to know about the

present perfect is that it links the past to the present. That's how we use it. That's

where the Millennium bridge comes in. On the north side of the river Thames we have St

Paul's Cathedral, built in the 1600s. A long time in the past, right? So St Paul's Cathedral

is the past. Now I'm going to walk along theMillennium bridge and see what's on the other side.

I'm now on the south side of the river Thames and right by Tate Modern.

As the name

suggests Tate Modern is a modern art gallery, opened in the year 2000. So to me it represents

what's happening in London right now. St Paul's cathedral that's the past, this is the present.

And what links the two? The Millennium bridge. So you can see why the Millennium bridge is

the present perfect. If the present perfect tense links the past to the present so does

the Millennium bridge. The past St Paul's Cathedral to the present Tate Modern. I got

that tip from a very wise teacher who I used to work with called Jo Greenyer. Genius stuff.

Now let's put the present perfect into some example sentences to show you that balance

between the past and the present and how it links he two together. So how do we form the

present perfect? Let's have a look. The structure of the present perfect is have or has plus

the past participle. That's the third verb. So for example eat, ate, eaten, eaten is the

one we want. Or sing , sang, sung, sung is the verb that we want so it's the past participle.

In the negative we use have or has and then not and then the past participle. Often we

contract the negative so it's haven't or hasn't. You can also use never so 'I have never been

to Italy, Or 'She has never gone to Sweden' for example. So the negative can be formed

in two different ways. Question forms we put the auxiliary at the beginning so it's have

then the subject and then the past participle. So 'Have you ever been to China?' That's how

we form the question. The answer to the question would be yes, I have or No, I haven't. One

of the most common uses of the present perfect is to talk about our life experiences and

to link the past with the present . So for example 'I've lived in Spain, Argentina and

Hong Kong.' I'm using the present perfect there I have lived, ok? I have lived and those

situations all happened in the past, they are part of my life experience and possibly

I might go on to live in other countries. So they are past experiences that are still

true now, it's still true now that I have had these experiences. The time period we

are looking at here, my whole life. My entire life. One thing that's important to know about

the present perfect is we usually don't say the time. We don't mention when something

happened. The experience could have happened at any time. So in that sentence 'I've lived

in Spain, Argentina and Hong Kong.' I don't tell you when. The idea that it's in my life

at some point but that's important to know. Now I'm going to do another lesson on this

because I think this s really important for you guys to know and understand. Because it

covers so many useful topics of conversation. Talking about our life experiences, finding

out more information about those that's really natural. You do it so often in your day to

day life.And of course there are lots of other ways that we can use the present perfect and

I will be doing more videos related to it so if you would like to see another present

perfect video about how we use it in different ways then hit the like button, hit the subscribe

button, hit the notification bell and tell me in the comments below. 'Tom I want another

present perfect lesson' and I will make one for you. Guys I hope you enjoyed that lesson,

I hope found useful linking the Millennium bridge to the present perfect. Having that

visual reminder of what the present perfect is for. When Jo told me about that idea, I

loved it straight away and I have told all my students about it ever since just to help

them to kind of visualise the concept of the present perfect. Alright guys thank you so

much for hanging out with me. Remember I've got new videos every Tuesday and every Friday

helping you take your English to the next level. But until next time, this is Tom, the

Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.