Present Perfect Tense

If you want to understand and remember how to use Present Perfect Tense, just listen to the song  FRIENDS  by Marshmello and Anne-Marie. Here is the chorus:

Haven’t I made it obvious?                               Haven’t I made it clear?
(Do you) want me to spell it out for you?
F-R-I-E-N-D-S.
Haven’t I made it obvious? 
Haven’t I made it clear?
(Do you) want me to spell it out for you?
F-R-I-E-N-D-S.

In the song, Anne-Marie is telling a would-be boyfriend that they are only friends, nothing more. This is not the first time she has told him this. She sings, Haven’t I made it obvious?She uses Present Perfect Tense to indicate that she has told him many times that they are just friends, a situation that started in the past and has continued up to now. She reminds him, I’ve told you 1,2,3,4,5,6, thousand times.

She hopes that she is making herself very clear with this song and that he will stop making unwanted romantic advances now. She is putting him in a ‘Friend zone’. Because she is linking the past and present together, she uses Present Perfect. (For more information on Present Perfect, click here.)

Negative questions often show that the speaker knows the answer. The questions, (Haven’t I made it obvious? / Haven’t I made it clear?) indicate that Anne-Marie knows the answers, which are, ‘Yes, I have made it obvious!! Yes, I have made it clear!!’ She also sings, Haven’t we been here before? She knows the answer, ‘Yes, we have been in this situation before!’

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There are also several English expressions in the song which are worth noting:

♥ Spell it out –  to explain very carefully to someone who would not otherwise understand. However, Anne-Marie spells it out literally.

Let’s have a look at some of the lyrics and some English expressions:

Don’t mess it up, talking that shit.
Only gonna push me away; that’s it.
When you say you love me, that makes me crazy.
Here we go again.
Don’t go look at me with that look in your eye.
You really ain’t going away without a fight.
You can’t be reasoned with; I’m done being polite.
I’ve told you 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 thousand times.

Have you got no shame; you look insane,
Turning up at my door.

♥ push someone away – to show that you do not want any communication with the person. Anne-Marie is warning him that if he keeps on bothering her, he is going to end all communication and then they won’t even be friends.

♥ make someone crazy – to really annoy someone

♥ Here we go again. – The same thing is happening again.

♥  look in your eye – the way you look at me

♥ without a fight – without trying hard

♥ I’m done –  I am finished with / I’ve had enough of / I’ve stopped 

♥ Turning up – arriving, especially unexpectedly

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Present Simple Tense

Anne-Marie narrates her experience using Present Perfect Tense which helps us understand how she has arrived at her present situation. She uses Present Simple Tense to show facts and repeated actions. 

Repeated actions:                                                                     

♦ You say you love me.                                                                                         
♦ I say you’re crazy.                                                                                                                
♦ Don’t mess it up. (Our friendship)                                                                                  
♦ Here we go again.    

♦ Don’t go looking at me with that look in your eye.

Facts that are always true:

♦ You’re not my lover, more like a brother.

♦ We’re nothing more than friends.

♦ Have you (got) no shame?/ Do you have no shame?

This song uses some non-standard English often used by songwriters these days, especially in Britain and the USA. I think that they have a lot of fun playing with the grammar, but I doubt that they speak or write like this in everyday life.

Click here for the video with lyrics and here for the video featuring Anne-Marie and Marshmello.

You can read the lyrics, below, with my punctuation and grammar corrections. Present Perfect is in blue print and Present Simple is in purple print.

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