A Present Perfect Christmas

We haven't looked at any grammar in a while so I thought we could combine a little Present Perfect with yet, already and still with the topic of Christmas.

The Christmas period can be a very hectic one because we have to get a lot of things ready before the big day on the 25th of December. Look at this check-list. What have you already done? What haven't you done yet? What do you still need to do?

• Buy a turkey
• Buy presents
• Send Christmas cards
• Wrap presents
• Make a Christmas cake
• Decorate the tree

1. I haven't bought a turkey yet, but I'm going to get one next weekend.
   
2. I have already bought the presents, they cost me a fortune!
   
3. I have already sent Christmas cards. I took them to the post office last week.
   
4. I haven't wrapped the presents yet, I'm still looking for some gold wrapping paper.
   
5. I haven't made a Christmas cake yet, because I still haven't bought the dried fruit.
   
6. I have already decorated the tree. It looks beautiful!
   

Notice the position of the adverbs in the sentences. Yet always comes at the end in negative or interrogative sentences. Already always comes between the auxiliary verb 'have' and the past participle. Still comes after the subject of the sentence and before the auxiliary verb. It can be used to mean the same as yet (sentence 5) or to emphasise that an action remains in progress (sentence 4).

Now practise.