The present perfect tense is a bland way of writing if used excessively. As you will see it is not a forceful tense, which does not give the reader the feeling that something is done with power. It is useful in writing if not overused.
The present perfect tense is used when the time period has not finished yet. If you say, “I have read three books this week,” it is an ongoing action and you are not finished reading. A more forceful way way to say the same thing would be, “I read read three books this week.” In addition there are less non-essential words used in the sentence. The present perfect sense is passive as opposed to showing strong action.
Another example showing the passive and lack of power in the present perfect tense is the following: “I have failed the test once again. It would be a better sentence and finer writing to say, “I failed the test.” If you would like to show a recent event, the present perfect tense would be more acceptable. Bob has just arrived from France. Saying, “Bob arrived from France,” does not convey the time frame of when he actually arrived.
You can say,”You have lived here since 2000 or “You have lived her for 10 years.” This can be said “You live here since 2000 and you lived here for 10 years,” giving the same meaning and leaving no information out of the sentence.
The present perfect tense is formed by the word Have and the Past Participle. Here is another example. “We have known the family for 20 years.” It can also be said like this: “We knew the family for 20 years.” When reading the words will flow off the page easier by saying, “We knew the family for 20 years. ”
Depending upon the style of writing requested or needed, would determine how much of the present perfect tense would be contained in the writing. Writing an advertisement or trying to get someone to try a product would necessitate using the present perfect tense as little as possible.