Have you gone to bed yet?

Yesterday, I started a series of posts on present perfect tense.

Last night in class, we were talking about two basic reasons to use present perfect tense:

1. happened before, but it's important now. The action is FINISHED. (for example, news and experience)
2. an action which began in the past and has continued up to the present. The action is NOT FINISHED, or JUST FINISHED.

As an example of number one:

• I have eaten dinner, so I'm not hungry now.

And as an example of number two:

• I have lived in Japan for more than three years.

Right away, you should be able to see one of the tricky things about present perfect; depending on the context, the action may or may not be finished. Still, the thing these two both have in common is that there is a strong connection between the past and now.

One of the most common mistakes in students' present perfect sentences is stating a past time in the sentence. We can't do that in present perfect sentences:

• × I have been to Hong Kong eight and a half years ago. <- "eight and a half years ago" is a past time
• ○ I have been to Hong Kong. I went there eight and a half years ago.

Most of the lights in the buildings around Tokyo Station have been turned off, so it's much darker now. It must mean most people have gone home. The two towers on either side of Tokyo Station turned off many of their lights at 10 pm. I suppose I should follow them. See you in class soon. Good night!