Verbs in the Chinese language do not change. As a result, many people believe that there are no definite tenses in the language. The direct translation of a present perfect phrase like “I am doing it now” in Chinese would be “I do it now.” The words used together with the verb indicate what time the action happened.
In addition, one cannot modify the Chinese verbs. Instead, phrases like “I have eaten,” will loosely translate to “I eat.” Though the verbs are accurate, a Chinese learner will initially have difficulties getting the sense of time.
Unlike the present past where one can use the “le” particle to indicate that the action has been completed, the present perfect action can only get the right meaning by the proper use of the verb. Under such a case, the contextual meaning of conservation is clear. The use of auxiliary verbs like “I have” denotes time in the present perfect tense. Instead of “I have eaten,” one would have to say, “I have eat”