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Present Perfect for Updates — "We've Completed..."
10 min
B1
Free
The rule
In meetings, you constantly report on progress: what's done, what's still happening, what hasn't started. French speakers default to passé composé for all of these — but English splits them into two tenses.
"We've completed the audit."
Nous avons terminé l'audit.
→ Present perfect — the task is done and it matters NOW (the results are ready for discussion)
Nous avons terminé l'audit.
→ Present perfect — the task is done and it matters NOW (the results are ready for discussion)
"We completed the audit last Friday."
Nous avons terminé l'audit vendredi dernier.
→ Past simple — you're giving a specific time. The focus is WHEN, not the current relevance
Nous avons terminé l'audit vendredi dernier.
→ Past simple — you're giving a specific time. The focus is WHEN, not the current relevance
"We haven't received the client's feedback yet."
Nous n'avons pas encore reçu le retour du client.
→ Present perfect + "yet" — something expected that hasn't happened. Very common in status updates
Nous n'avons pas encore reçu le retour du client.
→ Present perfect + "yet" — something expected that hasn't happened. Very common in status updates
The meeting shortcut
In status updates, present perfect is your default: "We've finished X," "We've started Y," "We haven't heard back from Z yet." Switch to past simple only when someone asks when: "When did you finish?" → "We finished on Monday."
Common mistake
French speakers often say "We have finished the audit last Friday" — mixing present perfect with a past time marker. Pick one: "We've finished the audit" (no time) or "We finished the audit last Friday" (with time). Never both.