Express Yourself: talk about recent events/ news

PRESENT PERFECT FOR RECENT EVENTS AND NEWS

Use the present perfect to tell people about things that have happened in the recent past or if you have some new information.

Let's look at some situations to understand how this works.

Have a look at this quick video and then read the information below and start talking about the recent past!

Let's have a look at some other situations to help you understand how the present perfect is used to talk about recent events or news.

Situation 1:

You arrive home from work at 5 pm. Your mom calls you around 5.30 pm and asks what you are doing.

You can say:

Situation 2:

You haven't seen your friend in a month and you are meeting with her for coffee to talk.

*think about it

You can say "I was promoted" (past tense) but if you want to emphasize that it happened recently and that it is new information for your friend, then it is better to use the present perfect.

Situation 3:

I spoke with my brother 20 minutes ago and then I call my friend to tell her about my brother's good news!

You may be wondering, well what's recent? Two weeks, a week? A day? This really depends on the speaker; there is no rule. It could be a week, a month, or even a couple of months. The most important thing is that the situation is recent for you, the context of what has happened is important.

KEYWORDS

Like with the present perfect for life experiences, there are some keywords that are used regularly when using the present perfect to talk about recent events and new information.

Take a look at how you can use them.

You can use "just" to emphasize that something is very recent or new.

for example:

 I've just seen the news about the hurricane warning = I saw the news very recently, maybe in the last 10 minutes.

You can use 'already' if you want to emphasize that something happened earlier than expected.

for example:

My mother: Would you like to eat breakfast now?

Me: No, I've eaten already. (present perfect = no specific time + the action happened recently + earlier than expected)

My mother: But, it's only 7.30 am.

Me: Yes, I know. I ate around 7 am. (past simple; specific time)

"Recently" and "In the last few days" are also commonly used with the present perfect when talking about recent events/ news.

So remember, practice practice practice! It is fine to understand the "rules" with grammar, but with a tense like the present perfect, you will need to take every opportunity to practice using it so that you'll fully understand it and be comfortable with it. Context is everything :)

Soooooo.............. what have you just finished doing?