ATENEO DE MANILA HIGH SCHOOL | TULONG-DUNONG TUTORING
ENGLISH 6
LESSON GUIDE NO. 13
The Present Perfect Tense
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the TD Kids should be able to
1. Explain the importance of books and printing
2. Form the present perfect tense of the verb
3. Distinguish when to use the present perfect tense
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS LESSON / MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITY FOR NEW LESSON
This part will be prepared by the TD tutors.
LESSON PROPER
A. Reading: Movable Type – It Changed the World (attached)
1. Read the essay aloud while the students read it silently.
2. Call volunteers to read one paragraph of the essay at a time.
B. Spelling/Vocabulary:
Look at each of the definitions below. Next, look at the number inside the parenthesis and find
the paragraph in the essay with the same number. Then find the word in that paragraph that
fits the given meaning. Write the word.
1. something that is thought of and made for the first time (1)
2. around; more or less (1)
3. a lack of knowledge (2)
4. right away without any delay (4)
5. the science of the surface of the earth (4)
6. trips; journeys (4)
7. water in the form of gas or vapor (5)
8. science applied for practical or industrial use (6)
C. Reading Comprehension:
1. Ask the students to explain the words “movable type.” First ask them to explain move-able.
Then ask them to look for the definition of “type” that is found in the essay. (Perhaps the
tutor can make some kind of physical model/representation of movable type so that the
students can understand better.)
2. Ask the students to explain why the writer of the essay thought that “movable type” was
the invention that caused the greatest change. Help the students make a chain of effects:
a. What was the effect of the invention of movable type? (printing of books)
b. What was the effect of printing of books? (sharing of information)
c. What was the effect of sharing of information? (More people invented things at a faster
rate.)
Help the students by making a visual representation/advance organizer of the chain of
effects.
D. Ask the students to study the verbs in the following sentences from the essay:
1. Inventions have affected our lives greatly.
2. Since Gutenberg’s time, even the process of printing has changed.
3. The world of reading has given us the modern world we live in.
Tell the students that all of these verbs are in the present perfect tense. Use the examples to
draw out the rules in forming the present perfect tense. Then discuss Part A of the Points to
Emphasize.
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E. Ask the students to study the following sentences and identify the tense of the verb.
1. Inventions affect our lives.
2. His invention affected the lives of his community.
3. Gutenberg’s invention has affected the lives of generations.
The first sentence is in the present tense, the second is in the past tense, and the third is in the
present perfect tense. Ask the students to review the uses of the present and past tense (from
the previous lesson). This is important so they can understand how the present and past tense
differ from the present perfect tense.
F. Tell them that the present perfect tense has a little of the past and a little of the present. In the
model sentence in E3 (“has affected”), the effect began in the past but is still felt in the present.
Use this as a bridge to discussing Part B of the Points to Emphasize.
POINTS TO EMPHASIZE
A. Forming the Present Perfect Tense
1. The present perfect tense is formed by using have or has + the past participle form of the
base verb. Has is used with singular subjects, while have is used with I, You, We, They and
plural subjects.
e.g. It has changed or They have changed
2. The past participle form of regular verbs is generally formed by adding “d” or “ed” to the
base form (similar to the simple past form).
e.g. change - changed; affect – affected
3. The past participle of the verb “to be” is been.
4. The past participle of irregular verbs is formed in various ways. The students need to
become familiar with the past participle of common irregular verbs. At this point, it may be
useful to also review the past form of common irregular verbs:
a. With some irregular verbs the past and past participle forms are the same:
Base form
Past
Past Participle
bring
brought
brought
buy
bought
bought
The past and past participle forms are also the same for the following verbs: catch, find,
teach, think, have, sleep, stand, win
b. With other irregular verbs, the past and past participle forms are different:
(The students will just have to memorize the past participle.)
Base form
choose
come
do
eat
fall
get
give
go
grow
know
run
see
Past
chose
came
did
ate
fell
got
gave
went
grew
knew
ran
saw
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Past Participle
chosen
come
done
eaten
fallen
gotten
given
gone
grown
known
run
seen
ATENEO DE MANILA HIGH SCHOOL | TULONG-DUNONG TUTORING
Base form
sing
speak
take
write
Past
Past Participle
sung
spoken
taken
written
sang
spoke
took
wrote
B. Uses of the Present Perfect Tense:
1. to show an action or condition that started in the past and continues up to the present.
Since Gutenberg’s time, the process of printing has changed.
*Note: The present perfect tense is used with time signals that begin with “since” (since last
week) or “for” (for the past three years)
2. to show an action or condition that was recently completed. (used with the expression
“just.”)
She has just finished reading the new book.
3. to show action that is completed in the past at a time unknown or not specified
He has invented many useful things.
*Note: Explain to the students that the present perfect tense should NEVER be used with a
simple past time expression (e.g yesterday, last night, last year)
Do NOT say: He has invented a new product last year.
4. to show action that is completed in a period of time that has not yet ended
He has invented many things this year. (The act of inventing is completed, but the year has
not yet ended.)
*Note: This fourth situation is a bit complicated. The tutor may choose not to discuss it.
Perhaps the tutors who have advanced students can see if their students can grasp this
concept.
EXERCISES
A. Oral drill. Say the base form of the verb and then give the past and the past participle. Do this
for all of the irregular verbs in the list above.
B. Transform the following into the present perfect tense:
e.g. I go – I have gone
She has – She has had
1. I study
6. The children sing
2. She stops
7. The student writes
3. He gives
8. The boy eats
4. You know
9. The girl grows
5. They take
10. The visitors come
11. He goes
12. We have
13. To be provided by the tutor
14. To be provided by the tutor
15. To be provided by the tutor
C. Identify which tense should be used with the following time expressions. Choose among the
present, past and present perfect tenses.
1. everyday
6. for the past three months
11. daily
2. yesterday
7. regularly
12. last week
3. since 1960
8. last Sunday
13. To be provided by the tutor
4. last night
9. every Sunday
14. To be provided by the tutor
5. for five years now
10. since five in the morning
15. To be provided by the tutor
D. Distinguish which tense should be used—present, past or present perfect— and then write the
correct form of the verb found in the parenthesis.
1. People (invent) ___________________ new things everyday.
2. The team (create) ___________________ a new product last week.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Since she graduated from college, she (write) ____________________ many books.
Books (be) _____________________ great teachers since the time printing was invented.
Yesterday, I (buy) ____________________ a new book.
I (read) ____________________ six books this year.
I (be) ____________________ curious about that book for some time now
Information usually (lead) _________________ to new inventions.
In the Dark Ages, people (live) __________________ in ignorance.
Since the fifteenth century, many changes (take) __________________ place.
ENRICHMENT
Ask the students to write a short paragraph about the things (books, newspapers, articles, stories,
etc.) they have read (since they learned how to read) and how reading has changed their lives. Ask
the students to use the present perfect tense.
The tutors can prepare the students for this task by asking them the following and letting them
answer in the present perfect tense:
 Since you first learned how to read, what books have you read?
 How has (title of book or article or story) affected you?
EVALUATION
(Quiz)
A. Transform the following into the present perfect tense:
1. She lives
2. I know
3. You are
4. He chooses
5. We see
B. Distinguish which tense should be used—present, past or present perfect— and then write the
correct form of the verb found in the parenthesis.
1. We (learn) ___________________ something new everyday.
2. Since the opening of the library, the number of readers (grow) __________________.
3. I (know) __________________ him since he was a child.
4. The printing press (print) ___________________ ten thousand copies of her book last month.
5. Since last year, our school’s science club (come) ___________________ with several inventions.
ASSIGNMENT
This part will be prepared by the TD tutors.
SOURCES
Ampil, A. V., Quinn, M. J., and Reilly, M. C. (1971). Sentences. Pasay City: Colorex Printing House.
Forlini, G. (2002). Prentice Hall: Grammar and Composition. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc.
Paterno, M. E., and Hermosa, N.N. (2006). Our World of Reading: Wind by the Sea. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing,
Inc.
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Movable Type – It Changed the World1
(1) What one single invention changed the world more than any other? The
automobile? The electric light bulb? Television? It is true that those inventions have all
greatly affected our lives. However, the one invention that caused greater change
than any of them was the invention of movable type. That’s right. In approximately
the year 1450, Johann Gutenberg forever changed the way books were printed, and
at the same time, he changed the whole world.
(2) Before then, books had to be copied by hand, word for word. Copying a
single book took months or years. As a result, books were very rare, and so were
people who would read them. That time in history was called the Dark Ages because
people lived largely in ignorance.
(3) What Gutenberg did was invent a way to make individual letters on little
blocks of metal. He could arrange those blocks, called type, into words and lines,
cover them with ink, and print a page. After he printed many copies of the page, he
could take the type apart, clean it, and make new words and lines for pages.
Gutenberg’s first printed book was the Bible. Copies of this beautiful book still exist in
rare book collections.
(4) Gutenberg’s invention had an immediate effect upon the world. Other
people soon began printing books, and many more people learned to read. As soon
as new ideas about science, geography, government, and history were discovered,
people everywhere could read about them. People could read about explorations in
the New World, for example, and use that knowledge to plan their own voyages. The
world began to change and grow – and it has never stopped.
(5) Since Gutenberg’s time, even the process of printing has changed. First,
huge metal printing presses driven by steam took the place of his small hand press.
Today, computers are used to set type that was once set by hand. Hundreds of
thousands of copies of a newspaper can be printed in only a few hours.
(6) What if movable type had never been invented? Not only would we have to
live without books, newspapers, and magazines, we would have no light bulbs,
automobiles, or television. For without print as a way to get and share information,
modern technology could not have been developed. With movable type, Johann
Gutenberg gave us the world of reading, which in turn has given us the modern world
we live in.
Ma. Elena Paterno and Nemah N. Hermosa, consultant. Our World of Reading: Wind by the
Sea. (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2006) pp, 160-61.
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