Adventurous Girl
Intermediate
A song to practice present perfect
Download the PDF version
A. Grammar background
1. Form of the present perfect
The present perfect is formed with the verb have and the past participle (V-en).
- I have eaten already.
- Mary has bought some new clothes.
For some verbs, the past participle has the same form as the simple past:
- She has played guitar for many years. (Present perfect)
- She played guitar when she was a child. (Simple past)
For some verbs, the past participle is formed by adding –en to the bare form of the verb:
- You have given me an idea. (give + (e)n)
- The children have already eaten the candy. (eat + en)
For some verbs, there is an irregular past participle form.
- She has ridden her bike much. (ride)
- Have you swum in the new pool yet? (swim)
Remember, the auxiliary verb has or have can be contracted. Sometimes it may be hard to hear.
- I’ve eaten already.
- Mary’s bought some new clothes.
2. Meaning of the present perfect
We use present perfect with past events that happened at a nonspecific time. Do not use a specific time with present perfect.
- She has seen that movie a few times.
- NOT: She has seen that movie last year.
We also use present perfect for events that started in the past and continue until the present.
She has played guitar for many years.
3. Use of the present perfect
You can use present perfect to talk about things that you have experienced in your life, or to ask others about their experiences. For example:
- Have you ever tried sushi?
- Yes, I have tried sushi.
In this song, a girl sings about her experiences traveling around the world.
First, listen to the song once. Do you hear some verbs in the present perfect? Write down any verbs that you hear. How many did you hear?
Now listen again and fill in the blanks below with present perfect forms. Some of them are already done for you. You may need to listen one more time to fill in all the blanks.
Note:
Usually you must have the verb have and the past participle (V-en) to form the present perfect. There is a special case where this is different.
In this song there is a coordinate verb phrase. That means you can have one auxiliary verb (in this case have) with two participles. It has the same meaning as the present perfect verb.
- I am running and jumping.
AUX V-ing V-ing - I have danced and sung all day
AUX V-en V-en
Adventurous Girl
Oh, ___________________________ in fancy planes, ridden ‘round on high speed trains
Oh, ____________________________classic cars, eaten steak and caviar,
Oh, I’ve scaled the highest cliffs, sailed the sea in rugged ships,
Oh, _____________________________the highest mountains, drunk my fill from natural fountains
Yes I am an adventurous girl; ___________________________ the whole world and I like it
Better not slow me down, ‘cause I have been around, and I’m not going to hide it
Oh, _______________________________upon the Great Wall, seen the domes of the Taj Mahal
Oh, I’ve crossed the polar ice caps, trekked across the arid Outback,
Oh, ________________________________the cliffs of Dover, walked through fields of Irish clover
Oh, _________________________________across the Nile, gazed at Mona Lisa’s smile
Yes I am an adventurous girl; __________________________________the whole world and I like it
Better not slow me down, ‘cause I have been around, and I’m not going to hide it
Oh, ___________________________________in trendy clubs, danced until the sun came up
Oh, ___________________________________ fun with my friends, and I’d do it again
When I was very young I was scared, I held my tongue, ‘cause I thought I’d get laughed at
But I turned things around, spoke my mind, held my ground, and I never have looked back
Yes I am an adventurous girl; ____________________________the whole world and I like it
Better not slow me down, ‘cause I have been around, and I’m not going to hide it
C. After you Listen
1. Practicing forms
Find all the forms of present perfect in the song. Can you make a list of the bare form, the simple past, and the past participle (V-en) form for each verb? Can you guess the meaning of all the words? Example below.
Bare form
fly
Simple past
flew
Past participle (V-en)
flown
2. Practicing meaning
a. Look at the following sentences from the song:
When I was very young, I was scared, I held my tongue, ’cause I thought I’d get laughed at
But I turned things around, spoke my mind, held my ground
Why do you think these verbs are in simple past instead of present perfect?
b. Now look at the complete sentence
But I turned things around, spoke my mind, held my ground, and I never have looked back
Why do you think the last verb is in present perfect?
3. Using present perfect
a. What have you done?
Make a list of some special experiences in your life. For example, you could write:
- I have eaten peanut butter.
- I have been to Thailand.
- I have watched the sun rise.
b. With a friend
Now find a couple friends and ask them if they have done these things. For example, you could ask:
- Have you ever eaten peanut butter?
- Have you ever been to Thailand?
- Have you ever watched the sun rise?
Ask your friends to tell you some special experiences in their life!
Lyrics to "Adventurous Girl"
(Don’t look until you’ve completed the activities!)
Present Perfect is underlined
Oh, I’ve flown in fancy plans, ridden ’round on high speed trains
Oh, I’ve driven classic cars, eaten steak and caviar,
Oh, I’ve scaled the highest cliffs, sailed the sea in rugged ships,
Oh, I’ve climbed the highest mountains, drunk my fill from natural fountains
Yes I am an adventurous girl; I have seen the whole world and I like it
Better not slow me down, ’cause I have been around, and I’m not going to hide it
Oh, I’ve stood upon the Great Wall, seen the domes of the Taj Mahal
Oh, I’ve crossed the polar ice caps, trekked across the arid Outback,
Oh, I’ve seen the cliffs of Dover, walked through the fields of Irish clover
Oh, I’ve swum across the Nile, gazed at Mona Lisa’s smile
Yes I am an adventurous girl; I have seen the whole world and I like it
Better not slow me down, ’cause I have been around, and I’m not going to hide it
Oh, I’ve been in trendy clubs, danced until the sun came up
Oh, I’ve had fun with my friends, and I’d do it all again
When I was very young, I was scared, I held my tongue, cause I thought I’d get laughed at
But I turned things around, spoke my mind, held my ground, and I never have looked back
Yes I am an adventurous girl; I have seen the whole world and I like it
Better not slow me down, ’cause I have been around, and I’m not going to hide it
Answers to "Adventurous Girl" exercises
1. Practicing forms
Bare form
fly
ride
drive
eat
scale
sail
climb
drink
see
be
stand
cross
trek
walk
swim
gaze
dance
have
look
Simple past
flew
rode
drove
ate
scaled
sailed
climbed
drank
saw
was
stood
crossed
trekked
walked
swam
gazed
danced
had
looked
Past participle (V-en)
flown
ridden
driven
eaten
scaled
sailed
climbed
drunk
seen
been
stood
crossed
trekked
walked
swum
gazed
danced
had
looked
2. Practicing meaning
a. Look at the following sentences from the song:
When I was very young, I was scared, I held my tongue, ’cause I thought I’d get laughed at
But I turned things around, spoke my mind, held my ground
Why do you think these verbs are in simple past instead of present perfect?
We use present perfect for indefinite times in the past. However, in this sentence, the first clause is “When I was very young,” which specifies a particular time in the past. We don’t use present perfect with specific mentions of time. Additionally, this time period is seen as complete and finished, not continuing up until the present.
b. Now look at the complete sentence
But I turned things around, spoke my mind, held my ground, and I never have looked back
Why do you think the last verb is in present perfect?
In this case, we are referring to an event (not looking back) that continues right up to the present. It is not a completed action but started in the past and continues until now.
