Sample TEFL Lesson: Present Perfect
1 General Information
Teacher: Kevin Garwood
Date and Time:
Class Level: Upper Intermediate
2 Topic (Theme)
Introduce the present perfect verb tense.
3 Focus



General form of tense
Common Exceptions – irregular verbs
Uses
4 Teaching Aids
Practical English Usage, 3rd Edition, Michael Swan- a superb book on English grammar rules.
Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary – contains phonetic spellings of words and has a convenient phonetics
table on the inside of the back cover.
English Grammar in Use (Intermediate), 3rd Edition, Raymond Murphy – contains a lot of good grammar
exercises.
5 Issues for Students
Problem: Students may not be familiar with forms of irregular verbs.
Solution: Give them a handout from
6 Issues for Teachers
Problem: Not able to finish all of the material in depth
Solution: Assign them photocopies of work from teaching aids, go over material at the start of the next
class.
7 Plan
Duration – 60 minutes.
Abbreviations: Phase can be represented by “E” for engage, “S” for study, “A” for activate. Timing is an
estimate in minutes for the duration of the activity. Interactions describe main direction of
communication for activity. In the interaction column, “S” is for student, “T” is for teacher.
Procedure
Lead In:
Explain that the present perfect is the tense we use to relate the
past to the present
Board Work:
Purpose: to show that a finished action or event is connected with
the present in some way
Present Perfect – break down the phrase
“Perfect” – uses the auxiliary verb “to have”
“Present” – tells you to use the present tense of “to have” verb.
Ex: She has lived in London for 3 years.
The present tense of “to have” – has – is used in the sentence. This
verb tense uses something called a past participle.
Participle: forms of auxiliary verbs be and have to make progressive
and perfect verb forms. For now, just think of them as the “-ed”
and “-ing” verb forms that are sometimes used with words like “is”,
“be”, “has”:
 He is talking.
 Karen has walked five kilometres.
Form:
Affirmative:
Subject
+ HAVE/HAS
Pronoun
Ex.1:
She
has
Ex 2:
They
have
+ Main Verb
Past Participle
finished
her test.
moved
to Arizona.
Negative:
Subject + HAVE/HAS + NOT + Main Verb
Pronoun
Past Participle
Ex.1:
She
has
not finished
her test.
Phase Timing
E
5
Interaction
TS
E/S
TS
10
Ex. 2:
They
have
not
moved
Question:
HAVE/HAS + Subject + Main Verb
Pronoun Past Participle
Ex. 1:
Has
she
finished
Ex. 2:
Have
they
moved
to Arizona.
her test?
to Arizona?
S/A
5
ST
Exercise:
She/walk
He/break (see irregular verb sheet)
I/burn (see irregular verb sheet)
They/play
We/hear (see irregular verb sheet)
Charles/see (see irregular verb sheet)
She/move
He/purchase
I/watch
Jenny/kick
Hector/throw (see irregular verb sheet)
Jim/pass
We/party
They/dig
A
10
ST
Board Work
E/S
5
TS
Irregular Verb
“In most cases, the past participle for a verb is formed by ensuring
the base verb form ends in “-ed”. There are exceptions and many
of these are shown on the handout [pass out photocopy of P282,
P283, P284 of Practical English Usage Book].”
“Where you see the word ‘Past participle’, just remember it’s the
form of the verb that follows ‘has’ or ‘had’.”
Star some of the words in the list. Tell students to memorise them.
Read them out and get them to pronounce them afterwards.
Uses:
Use present perfect when you want to think of the past and present
together.
Expressing Achievement
I have won the lottery
Announcing News
“Gonzalez has been traded to Real Madrid.”
Words of time duration such as ‘ever’, ‘before’, ‘recently’, ‘lately’,
‘already’, ‘never’
“She has never driven a car before”
Repetition up until now
“I have seen three people fall on those steps.”
Continuation up to now
“He has raised cattle for years”
Exercise:
Have students come up with their own examples of the categories
of uses listed above.
Do some Gap Fill Exercises
Outstanding questions, Preview of Next Class, Class Attendance
10
10
5