Episode 18: I Have Not Failed

Present Perfect: form & meaning — Thomas Edison, 1879 (A2-B1)

Grammar Box

Meaning: Present Perfect connects past actions to the present moment. It shows experience, results, or actions that still matter now.

Form: have/has + past participle (I/you/we/they have / he/she/it has + verb3)

Example 1: I have lived here for five years. (started past, still true)

Example 2: She has written three books. (life achievement)

Common mistake: Wrong: I have visited Paris last year. Better: I visited Paris last year.

The Question

Luna looked confused. “I failed the test yesterday. I have failed the test. What’s the difference?” Her watch glowed brightly. Professor Wisdom smiled. “One talks about yesterday. One talks about your experience connecting past to now. Come. Let’s meet a man who changed how we think about failure.”

The Journey

The world shifted. Luna stood in Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory. 1879. But not the night of success. This was months before. Edison sat surrounded by burned materials and broken filaments. He looked tired but not defeated.

A reporter stood nearby. He was frustrated. “Mr. Edison,” he said, “you have tried thousands of times. You have failed again and again. When will you give up?”

Edison looked up. His eyes were calm. “I have not failed,” he said quietly. “I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”

The reporter didn’t understand. To him, Edison had wasted years. To him, each experiment was another failure. But Edison saw it differently.

Edison had worked on the light bulb for over a year. He had tested bamboo, cotton, platinum, and hundreds of other materials. He had burned through his investors’ patience. He had exhausted his team. People said he was obsessed. They said he was foolish.

But something important had happened. Each failed attempt taught him something new. Each mistake eliminated one wrong path. Each “failure” was actually progress. The journey itself was creating knowledge.

“I have learned what doesn’t work,” Edison explained. “Every experiment has taught me something. Every mistake has brought me closer. The work I have done matters, even if I haven’t succeeded yet.”

This was the key. Edison wasn’t thinking about individual moments. He was thinking about accumulated experience. He wasn’t counting failures. He was counting lessons learned.

Three months later, the light bulb worked. But by then, Edison had already succeeded. He had succeeded in staying curious. He had succeeded in learning. The glowing bulb was just proof of work already done.

Luna watched Edison’s face. She could see determination mixed with patience. She could smell the chemicals. She could hear papers rustling. She could feel the weight of those ten thousand attempts transformed into wisdom.

The Insight

“Listen carefully,” the Professor said. “‘I have not failed.’ ‘I have learned.’ ‘The work I have done matters.’ This is Present Perfect. It connects past actions to the present moment.”

He continued, “When we say ‘I failed yesterday,’ we talk about one finished moment. But when we say ‘I have failed many times,’ we talk about experience that still matters now. The past is still relevant. The past affects the present.”

“We form it with have/has + past participle. ‘I have worked.’ ‘She has learned.’ ‘They have tried.’ It shows completed actions with present importance. It shows life experience. It shows results that continue.”

Practice Zone

More Examples:

1. “I have lived here for ten years.” — Past action, present result.
2. “She has written three books.” — Life achievement still relevant.
3. “They have studied English since 2020.” — Started past, continues now.
4. “Have you ever been to Japan?” — Life experience question.
5. “We have finished our homework.” — Past action, present state.
6. “He has lost his keys.” — Past action, present problem.

Exercises:

1. Fill in the blank: I _____ (learn) many things this year.

2. Choose the correct:
   a) I have visited Paris last year.
   b) I have visited Paris before.

3. Make Present Perfect:
   – She / write / two emails today
   – They / not finish / the project yet

4. Complete: _ you ever ___ (try) Japanese food?

5. Your turn: Write a sentence about something you have done in your life that still matters now.

Answer Key:

1. have learned
2. b) I have visited Paris before (don’t use specific past time with Present Perfect)
3. She has written two emails today / They haven’t finished the project yet
4. Have you ever tried
5. Check: Did you use have/has + past participle? Does it show experience that still matters? Examples: “I have studied English for three years.” “She has lived in five different countries.” “We have made many mistakes, but we have learned.”

The Lesson

They returned to Luna’s room. Luna smiled. “I have learned so much today. The learning isn’t finished. It continues.” The Professor nodded. “Yes. And like Edison, what we have done shapes who we are. Our past experiences become our present wisdom. Failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s part of the journey.”