PAST PARTICIPLE

The past participle will be important in future lessons covering the perfect tenses. To form the past participle, simply drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add -ado (for -ar verbs) or -ido (for -er, -ir verbs).

hablar - ar + ado = hablado

comer - er + ido = comido

vivir - ir + ido = vivido

The following common verbs have irregular past participles:

abrir (to open) - abierto (open)

cubrir (to cover) - cubierto (covered)

decir (to say) - dicho (said)

escribir (to write) - escrito (written)

freír (to fry) - frito (fried)

hacer (to do) - hecho (done)

morir (to die) - muerto (dead)

poner (to put) - puesto (put)

resolver (to resolve) - resuelto (resolved)

romper (to break) - roto (broken)

ver (to see) - visto (seen)

volver (to return) - vuelto (returned)

Note that compound verbs based on the irregular verbs inherit the same irregularities. Here are a few examples:

componer - compuesto
describir - descrito
devolver - devuelto

Most past participles can be used as adjectives. Like other adjectives, they agree in gender and number with the nouns that they modify.

La puerta está cerrada.
The door is closed.

Las puertas están cerradas.
The doors are closed.

El restaurante está abierto.
The restaurant is open.

Los restaurantes están abiertos.
The restaurants are open.

The past participle can be combined with the verb "ser" to express the passive voice. Use this construction when an action is being described, and introduce the doer of the action with the word "por."

La casa fue construida por los carpinteros.
The house was built by the carpenters.

La tienda es abierta todos los días por el dueño.
The store is opened every day by the owner.

Note that for -er and -ir verbs, if the stem ends in a vowel, a written accent will be required.

creer - creído
oír - oído

Note: this rule does not apply, and no written accent is required for verbs ending in -uir. (construir, seguir, influir, distinguir, etc.)

Let's add two more flashcards for the past participles, since they will later be used for the perfect tenses

PRESENT PERFECT

STRUCTURE.

[has/have + past participle]

Examples:

• You have seen that movie many times.
• Have you seen that movie many times?
• You have not seen that movie many times. 

• Unspecified Time Before Now

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

Examples:

• I have seen that movie twenty times.
• I think I have met him once before.
• There have been many earthquakes in California.
• People have traveled to the Moon.
• People have not traveled to Mars.
• Have you read the book yet?
• Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
• A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
  B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.

How Do You Actually Use the Present Perfect?

The concept of "unspecified time" can be very confusing to English learners. It is best to associate Present Perfect with the following topics:

• Experience

You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the experience of..." You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.

Examples:

• I have been to France.
  This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have been there once, or several times.
• I have been to France three times.
  You can add the number of times at the end of the sentence.
• I have never been to France.
  This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.
• I think I have seen that movie before.
• He has never traveled by train.
• Joan has studied two foreign languages.
• A: Have you ever met him?
  B: No, I have not met him.

•  Change Over Time

We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.

Examples:

• You have grown since the last time I saw you.
• The government has become more interested in arts education.
• Japanese has become one of the most popular courses at the university since the Asian studies program was established.
• My English has really improved since I moved to Australia.

• Accomplishments

We often use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. You cannot mention a specific time.

Examples:

• Man has walked on the Moon.
• Our son has learned how to read.
• Doctors have cured many deadly diseases.
• Scientists have split the atom.

• An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting

We often use the Present Perfect to say that an action which we expected has not happened. Using the Present Perfect suggests that we are still waiting for the action to happen.

Examples:

• James has not finished his homework yet.
• Susan hasn't mastered Japanese, but she can communicate.
• Bill has still not arrived.
• The rain hasn't stopped.

• Multiple Actions at Different Times

We also use the Present Perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. Present Perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible.

Examples:

• The army has attacked that city five times.
• I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
• We have had many major problems while working on this project.
• She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.

Time Expressions with Present Perfect

When we use the Present Perfect it means that something has happened at some point in our lives before now. Remember, the exact time the action happened is not important.
Sometimes, we want to limit the time we are looking in for an experience. We can do this with expressions such as: in the last week, in the last year, this week, this month, so far, up to now, etc.

Examples:

• Have you been to Mexico in the last year?
• I have seen that movie six times in the last month.
• They have had three tests in the last week.
• She graduated from university less than three years ago. She has worked for three different companies so far.
• My car has broken down three times this week.

NOTICE

"Last year" and "in the last year" are very different in meaning. "Last year" means the year before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. "In the last year" means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present Perfect.

Examples:

• I went to Mexico last year.
  I went to Mexico in the calendar year before this one.
• I have been to Mexico in the last year.
  I have been to Mexico at least once at some point between 365 days ago and now.

Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed verbs, we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.

Examples:

• I have had a cold for two weeks.
• She has been in England for six months.
• Mary has loved chocolate since she was a little girl.

Although the above use of Present Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.

EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS 

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs5.htm http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs7.htm

DOT COM

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DOS - Disk Operating System. The original system used for PCs. You type in commands instead of pointing and clicking. Driver - A small program that tells a PC how a peripheral works. Electronic mail (email, e-mail) - Messages sent from one computer to another. You can see email on the screen or print it out. Floppy disk - A cheap, removable disk used for storing or transferring information. It is floppy (soft) because it is plastic. See hard disk. Floppy drive - The device used to run a floppy disk (usually drive 'A'.) Folder (directory) - A sub-division of a computer's hard disk into which you put files. Font - A particular sort of lettering (on the screen or on paper). Arial is a font. Times New Roman is another. Format - All hard disks and floppy disks have to be electronically prepared for use by a process called formatting. Hard disks are pre-formatted by the computer manufacturer. If you buy a floppy disk that is not pre-formatted, you format it yourself, using a program that comes with your PC. Graphics card - The equipment inside a computer that creates the image on the screen. Hard disk - The main disk inside a computer used for storing programs and information. It is hard because it is metal. See floppy disk. Icon - A small image or picture on a computer screen that is a symbol for folders, disks, peripherals, programs etc. Internet - International network of computers that you connect to by telephone line. Two popular services of the Internet are the World Wide Web and electronic mail. Kb, Mb, Gb - Kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes. Used to measure computer memory and storage. Memory - Memory is for the temporary storing of information while a computer is being used. See RAM, ROM and Cache. MHz - Megahertz. This describes the speed of computer equipment. The higher the MHz the better the performance. Modem - Equipment connected to a computer for sending/receiving digital information by telephone line. You need a modem to connect to the Internet, to send electronic mail and to fax. Operating System - The basic software that manages a computer. OCR - Optical Character Recognition. OCR lets a PC read a fax or scanned image and convert it to actual lettering. Parallel port - A socket at the back of a computer for connecting external equipment or peripherals, especially printers. PC card - A device that is the same size as a thick credit card, for plugging into a slot on notebook computers. You can buy memory, modems and hard disks as PC cards. Peripheral - Any equipment that is connected externally to a computer. For example, printers, scanners and modems are peripherals. Pixel - The image that you see on the screen is made of thousands of tiny dots, points or pixels. 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