Bahasa Inggeris notes, unit 2

Grammar: present perfect, past simple and the tense review

Textbook Pulse 2 Student's Book (Form 1 and 2), Units 6-9 for Tingkatan 2 — skills-based units for the UASA, pages Pulse 2, pp. 76, 79, 83 (Unit 7); pp. 86, 89, 93 (Unit 8); p. 111 (irregular verbs)

What this chapter covers

I can form the present perfect (have / has + past participle) in positive, negative and question forms, and give short answers (2.1, 2.3)
I can write the past participle of regular verbs and of the common irregular verbs on the textbook list (2.2)
I can use ever, never, just, already and yet with the present perfect, and tell been from gone (2.3)
I can choose for or since, and ask and answer How long ...? questions (2.4)
I can choose between the present perfect and the past simple, and I know that a finished past time (yesterday, last year, in 2022) needs the past simple (2.5)
I can use time expressions to choose the right tense in a text and correct underlined tense errors, as in UASA Paper 1 Part 2 (2.6)

You already know the present and past tenses. In Form 2 the key new tense is the present perfect, which joins the past to now. It is easy to confuse with the past simple, and the UASA tests this often. In the UASA Paper 1 Part 2, the underlined errors are often this pair ("She has visited Penang last year" should be visited; "I have live here since 2020" should be lived). This unit covers the present perfect, for and since, the choice between present perfect and past simple, and a review of all the tenses.

Past participle: the third form of the verb (the last column of the irregular verbs list on p.111). It is used after have / has: have seen, has gone, have finished.

Tense	Form	Use it for	Example
Present simple	walk / walks	habits, routines, facts	Hana walks to school.
Present continuous	am / is / are + -ing	happening now	Hana is walking now.
Past simple	walked; went	finished action at a past time	Hana walked to school yesterday.
Past continuous	was / were + -ing	action in progress in the past	Hana was walking when it rained.
Present perfect	have / has + past participle	past action linked to now, no exact time	Hana has walked 5 km today.

2.1Present perfect: positive and negative

Textbook grammar box: use of the present perfect, with affirmative examples I've read, He's had, They've lived and negative examples I haven't visited, He hasn't used, You haven't travelled — The textbook's grammar box for the present perfect.

Textbook figure: Pulse 2 Student's Book, p.76.

Use the present perfect to talk about things in the past when we do not say exactly when they happened, or when the past action matters now.

Subject	Positive	Negative
I, you, we, they	I have ('ve) read about England.	I have not (haven't) visited a big city.
he, she, it	He has ('s) had lessons at home.	He has not (hasn't) used a computer.

The short form 's can mean is or has. Look at the word after it: "He's tired" = he is; "He's eaten" = he has (a past participle follows).

Common mistakes
"My parents ~~has~~ allowed me." → My parents have allowed me. (parents = they)
"He ~~haven't~~ called me." → He hasn't called me.
"She ~~has saw~~ it." → She has seen it. (use the past participle, not the past simple)
"I am a member since 2022." → I have been a member since 2022. (a period up to now)

Choose the correct word: (a) Some members of the Amish family (has / have) come to meet Charlotte. (b) Andrew (hasn't / isn't) called his parents. (c) She (has / have) just (arrived / arrive).

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(a) have (some members = they) (b) hasn't (negative present perfect) (c) has ... arrived (she + has + past participle)

2.2Past participles: regular and irregular

For regular verbs, the past participle is the same as the past simple: add -ed. Spelling follows the same rules as the past simple.

Rule	Examples
most verbs: add -ed	walk → walked, jump → jumped, visit → visited
ends in -e: add -d	live → lived, arrive → arrived
consonant + y: y becomes -ied	study → studied, carry → carried
short verb, one vowel + one consonant: double it	stop → stopped, plan → planned
British spelling: double l after one vowel	travel → travelled, cancel → cancelled

Irregular verbs must be learned. The textbook list (p.111) is in alphabetical order, but verbs are easier to learn in groups. The Study guide (p.83) separates verbs whose past participle is the same as the past simple from verbs where it is different.

Group	Pattern	Verbs (infinitive, past simple, past participle)
All three the same	all three forms match	put, put, put · read /ri:d/, read /red/, read /red/ (spelling the same, sound changes)
Past simple = past participle	past simple and past participle match	bring, brought, brought · buy, bought, bought · build, built, built · find, found, found · get, got, got · have, had, had · hear, heard, heard · leave, left, left · lose, lost, lost · make, made, made · meet, met, met · pay, paid, paid · say, said, said · sell, sold, sold · sit, sat, sat · teach, taught, taught · tell, told, told · think, thought, thought · win, won, won
All three different	all three forms differ	be, was / were, been · begin, began, begun · break, broke, broken · choose, chose, chosen · do, did, done · drink, drank, drunk · drive, drove, driven · eat, ate, eaten · fall, fell, fallen · fly, flew, flown · forget, forgot, forgotten · give, gave, given · go, went, gone · know, knew, known · ride, rode, ridden · see, saw, seen · sing, sang, sung · speak, spoke, spoken · take, took, taken · wear, wore, worn · write, wrote, written
Infinitive = past participle	The infinitive and the participle match; the past simple is different	come, came, come · run, ran, run

Verb forms: Pulse 2 Student's Book, p.111 (Irregular verbs) and the Study guide spelling rules, p.83 (add -ed; irregular verbs). The doubling, -y and double l patterns are the same as for the past simple in Form 1.

Learn the "all different" group first. These are the verbs where the past simple and the past participle are most often swapped: went / gone, saw / seen, ate / eaten, wrote / written, took / taken.

Common mistakes
"I have ~~wrote~~ a letter." → I have written a letter.
"She has ~~drank~~ all the water." → She has drunk all the water.
"She has ~~ran~~ five kilometres." → She has run five kilometres. (run, ran, run: the participle is the same as the infinitive)

Write the past participle: (a) go (b) make (c) laugh (d) do (e) think

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(a) gone (b) made (c) laughed (regular) (d) done (e) thought

2.3Questions, short answers, and ever, never, just, already, yet

For a question, put Have / Has before the subject. The short answer repeats have / has; it does not repeat the main verb.

Subject	Question	Short answers
I, you, we, they	Have you been to the USA?	Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
he, she, it	Has Route 66 become famous?	Yes, it has. / No, it hasn't.

Common mistake: "Have you finished?" "Yes, I ~~did~~." → "Yes, I have." The answer must use the same helping verb as the question.

Time words

Word	Meaning	Where it goes	Example
ever	at any time in your life	questions, before the participle	Have you ever driven a car?
never	not at any time	before the participle (no "not")	I have never driven a car.
just	a very short time ago	between have / has and the participle	They have just left.
already	sooner than expected	between have / has and the participle	She has already finished.
yet	up to now (negatives and questions)	end of the sentence	He hasn't called yet.

Other present perfect clues: so far, recently, before (= at any time before now), this week / this year (not finished yet).

Been or gone?

Textbook box: Andrew has gone to Britain, he is still there. Andrew has been to Britain, he went there in the past but he is not there now. — Gone: he is still there. Been: he went and came back.

Textbook figure: Pulse 2 Student's Book, p.76 (LOOK! box).

Examples

Fiona isn't here. She has gone for a walk. (she is out now)
I haven't been to Paris, but I'd love to go! (I have never visited)
Scott hasn't been to school yet. (he is still here; he has not gone to school)

Complete with gone or been. (a) "Where is Dad?" "He has ______ to the bank. He'll be back soon." (b) Have you ever ______ to Sabah? (c) We have ______ in a hot-air balloon. It was great!

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(a) gone (he is still at the bank) (b) been (an experience; you came back) (c) been (an experience; "It was great" shows it is finished)

2.4For, since and How long ...?

Textbook grammar box: for is the length of time, since is the starting point. I've been in the team for three years, since 2012, since I was 13. — For = how long. Since = when it started.

Textbook figure: Pulse 2 Student's Book, p.86.

Use for and since with the present perfect to talk about a period of time up to the present. The action began in the past and is still true now.

	for	since
Tells you	the length of time	the starting point
Followed by	a period: two hours, five minutes, a few days, many years, a long time	a point: yesterday, last week, 10th June, 1995, my birthday, she was a student
Example	I've been in the team for three years.	I've been in the team since 2012. / since I was 13.

Quick test: ask a question. How long? (three years, two hours) needs for. Starting from when? (2012, last week, I was 13) needs since.

How long ...?

Ask How long + have / has + subject + past participle. Answer with for or since.

Example

How long has Jo been a swimming teacher?
She's been a swimming teacher for ten years. / since she was 18.

Common mistakes
"I am at this school since 2023." → I have been at this school since 2023.
"She has lived here ~~since~~ five years." → She has lived here for five years.
"How long ~~do you live~~ in Ipoh?" → How long have you lived in Ipoh?

Complete with for or since. (a) Table tennis has been an Olympic sport ______ 1988. (b) England hasn't won the World Cup ______ a long time. (c) Our school has had a library ______ last year.

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(a) since (a year, the starting point) (b) for (a length of time) (c) since (last year is a starting point)

2.5Present perfect or past simple?

Present perfect	Past simple
an action in the past, but we do not say when it happened	a completed action at a finished past time
an action that began in the past and continues now	a state or repeated action in the past
a recent action (often with just)	—

Rules summarised from Pulse 2 Student's Book, pp.89 and 93.

Compare

The Irish have kept their traditions. (no time given; still true)
In the past, everyone believed in fairies. (finished past)
Look! I've found a four-leaf clover! (recent, no time)
Jo gave me this charm yesterday. (finished time: past simple)
We have been in Ireland since Saturday. (still there)
Yesterday morning we went to Blarney Castle. (finished time)

The textbook's warning: we do not use the present perfect with past time expressions such as yesterday and last year. They need the past simple.

If the sentence has ...	Use
yesterday, last night / week / year, in 2023, two days ago, when I was ten, a date	past simple
ever, never, just, already, yet, so far, recently, for / since (a period up to now)	present perfect
no time word, and the result matters now ("Somebody has broken the mirror!")	present perfect

Common mistakes
"I ~~have seen~~ him yesterday." → I saw him yesterday.
"Have you ~~saw~~ the film?" → Have you seen the film?
"Did you ~~have~~ finished?" → Have you finished? (did + base form is the past simple)
"When ~~have you arrived~~?" → When did you arrive? ("When" asks about a finished time.)

Choose the correct form. (a) Dan's cat (had / has had) four kittens last night. (b) Oh no! Somebody (broke / has broken) the mirror! (c) We (have been / were) in Ireland since Saturday.

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(a) had (last night = finished time) (b) has broken (result now; no time) (c) have been (since = up to now)

2.6Tense review and correcting errors (UASA Paper 1 Part 2)

Time words are your best clue. Find them first.

Time expressions	Tense
always, usually, often, sometimes, every day, on Fridays	present simple
now, at the moment, Look!, Listen!	present continuous
yesterday, last week, ... ago, in 2023, when I was nine	past simple
while, when (+ short action), at 8 p.m. yesterday	past continuous
ever, never, just, already, yet, so far, for, since	present perfect

In a story or a postcard, many tenses are mixed on purpose. A postcard may say "We have been in Ireland since Saturday" (still there), "Yesterday we went to the castle" (finished) and "It has rained four times since we arrived" (up to now). Check each verb with its own time word.

Method for an underlined error

Read the whole text and decide its main time.
Find the subject: one (he, she, it) or more than one (they)?
Look for a time word in the same sentence: a finished time, or for / since / ever / yet?
Choose the tense, then the form: -s, -ed, irregular past, have / has + past participle.
Write one word, spelled correctly, and read the sentence again.

Worked example: "A school trip"

Last month, our class (0) go to the National Museum. We (1) has been interested in history since Form 1, so we were very happy. We (2) have left the school at 8 a.m. My friend Ravi (3) see a real dinosaur skeleton for the first time. He has never (4) saw one before.
0 went (example)

No.	Thinking	Answer
(1)	subject we; "since Form 1" means up to now: present perfect with have	have
(2)	"at 8 a.m." on a finished trip: past simple	left
(3)	the story is about last month: past simple of see	saw
(4)	has never + past participle	seen

Write the corrected word only. Do not rewrite the sentence and do not copy the wrong word.

Correct the underlined words. "My uncle has (a) live in Kuching since 2015. Last year he (b) open a small cafe. He (c) have never been to Sabah, so next month he will visit it."

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(a) lived (has + past participle; since 2015 = up to now) (b) opened (last year = finished time: past simple) (c) has (he + has + been)

Summary

Present perfect = have / has + past participle. Negative: haven't / hasn't. Question: Have / Has + subject. Short answer: Yes, I have. / No, he hasn't.
Regular past participle = past simple (-ed). Irregular verbs: learn them in groups (past simple = past participle, or all three different). Do not use the past simple after have / has.
ever (questions), never (no "not"), just, already (before the participle), yet (end of negatives and questions).
has gone = still there. has been = went and came back.
for + length (three years). since + starting point (2012, last week, I was 13). How long ...? + have / has.
Finished past time (yesterday, last year, in 2022, ... ago, when) = past simple. Never present perfect.
In Part 2: main time, subject, time word, tense and form, write one word.