The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Present perfect

Form: present perfect

Present perfect for past events

Present perfect for recent events with a result in the present

Present perfect with an incomplete period

Present perfect with FOR and SINCE

Present perfect with JUST

Present perfect with YET and ALREADY

IT'S (BEEN) + DAYS / WEEKS / MONTHS / etc. + SINCE

Present perfect with quantities

Present perfect with superlative forms of adjectives

Present perfect with WHEN

Form: present perfect

HAVE/HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE

The present perfect is formed with have/has (the present tense forms of have) + the past participle form of the verb.

Affirmative

Subject

Auxiliary

Verb (past participle)

I

have

seen

this film before.

You

We

You

They

He/She/It

has

The following contracted forms are often used in spoken and in informal written language:

I have

»

I've

you have

»

you've

he/she/it has

»

he's/she's/it's

we have

»

we've

you have

»

you've

they have

»

they've

Negative

Subject

Auxiliary

not

Verb (past participle)

I

have

not

seen

this film yet.

You

We

You

They

He/She/It

has

The contracted forms haven't and hasn't are often used instead of have not and has not in spoken and in informal written language.

Interrogative

(Question word)

Auxiliary

Subject

Verb (past participle)

(How many times)

have

I

seen

this film?

you

we

you

they

has

he/she/it

Related topics:

The forms of the participle

Subject-auxiliary inversion in questions

Appendix: irregular verb forms

Present perfect for past events

The present perfect tense is used for past events when the exact time is not mentioned either because it is not known or it is not important. The emphasis is on the fact that the events happened before the time of speaking:

I'

ve been

to China.

I'

ve seen

that film before.

But if we say when something happened, we use the past simple:

I

went

to China in 2011.

I already

saw

that film last week.

We also use the past simple if we ask when something happened in the past:

"Have you ever been to China?"

"Yes, I have."

"When

did

you

go

there?"

"Have you seen that film before?"

"Yes, I have."

"When

did

you

see

it?"

Quotes:

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. - Albert Einstein

I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. - Galileo Galilei

What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want. - Mignon McLaughlin

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Thomas Edison

Related topics:

Past simple for completed actions in the past

Past perfect for actions completed before a point in the past

Future perfect for actions completed before a point in the future

Present perfect for recent events with a result in the present

The present perfect tense is used for recent events that have a result in or an effect on the present moment:

Someone

has opened

the window.

(the window is open, and it is cold inside)

Tom

has broken

his leg.

(his leg is broken, and he can't walk)

If there is no connection between the action and the present moment, the past simple is used:

Someone

opened

the window to let in some fresh air.

(the window is now closed, or we don't know whether it is closed or not)

On the day before the match, Tom

broke

his leg.

(his leg is not broken any more)

Present perfect with an incomplete period

The present perfect tense is used to express actions happening in an incomplete period of time. An incomplete period is one that includes the present moment, that is, the time of speaking. This period can be implied or expressed with a time expression (today, this week, this year, ever, never etc.):

I

haven't smoked today

.

I'

ve lived

here

all my life

.

Have

you

ever been

to China?

(in your life)

My uncle

has written

several plays.

(in his life, supposing he is still alive)

He

has never worked

as a waiter.

(in his life)

If the action happened in a completed period of time (one that does not include the time of speaking), the past simple tense is used. This period can be implied or expressed with a time expression (yesterday, last week, last year, between 1905 and 1910 etc.) or a clause:

I

didn't smoke

yesterday.

I

lived

in this house when I was a child.

(I am not a child any more)

Did

you

go

to China when you were working as a flight attendant?

Shakespeare

wrote

numerous plays.

(in his life, he is dead now)

He

worked

in this café between 1905 and 1910.

Note that some time expressions (e.g. this morning, recently and lately) may refer to either a completed or an incomplete period of time depending on the context and whether or not the time of speaking is included in the given period:

I

have seen

him this morning.

(it is still morning)

I

saw

him this morning.

(it is later during the day)

He

has put on

some weight recently.

(in the past few days/weeks/months etc.)

He

put on

some weight recently.

(some time ago)

Reference to an incomplete period of time, however, does not always involve the use of the present perfect tense:

Have

you

been

to Lake Balaton

this year

?

(any time this year)

Did

you

go

to Lake Balaton

this year

?

(at the time when you go there every year)

Although both actions are related to an incomplete period, the present perfect in the first sentence refers to an indefinite time; meanwhile, the past simple in the second sentence implies a definite time (supposing the recipient of the question always visits Lake Balaton at the same time every year).

Quotes:

I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. - Galileo Galilei

Present perfect with FOR and SINCE

The question words how long? and since when?, and the prepositions for and since are used with the present perfect tense to express that something started in the past and is still true. How long? and for refer to an incomplete period of time, while since when? and since refer to a point in time:

I

have lived

here

for two months

.

I

have lived

here

since January

.

"

How long have

you

known

José?" "For ten years."

"

Since when have

you

known

José?" "Since the early 1990s."

The point in time after since can also be expressed with a clause containing a verb in the past simple:

I have lived here

since I was born

.

I've known José

since we were young

.

Related topics:

IT'S (BEEN) + DAYS / WEEKS / MONTHS / etc. + SINCE

Present perfect continuous with FOR and SINCE

Past simple to express a point in the past

Past simple for actions happening over a period of time in the past

Past perfect with FOR

Future perfect with FOR

Present perfect with JUST

The present perfect tense is used for recently completed actions, usually with the word just:

I

have just started

a typing course.

If the exact time is mentioned, the past simple is used:

I

started

a typing course

a few weeks ago

.

Just now also requires the past simple tense and means "a moment ago":

I

spoke

to him

just now

. He says hi.

Present perfect with YET and ALREADY

The time expressions yet and already are often used with the present perfect tense. Yet is used in negative and interrogative sentences:

I

haven't finished yet

.

Have

you

talked

to him

yet

?

Already is usually used in affirmative sentences:

I'

ve already told

you more than I should.

IT'S (BEEN) + DAYS / WEEKS / MONTHS / etc. + SINCE

The structure it's (been) + days / weeks / months / etc. + since is used to emphasise the length of time that has passed since a past event:

It's been weeks since

his last blog post.

It's been a long time since

I met him.

How long has it been since

they moved away?

In the sentences above, it's been stands for it has been (present perfect); however, in everyday speech, it is more common to use the present simple instead of the present perfect:

It's weeks since

his last blog post.

It's a long time since

I met him.

How long is it since

they moved away?

Related topics:

Present perfect with FOR and SINCE

Past simple to express a point in the past

Present perfect with quantities

The present perfect tense is used to express quantities: how much we have done of something or how often we have done something in an incomplete period of time:

I'

ve written

two letters today.

How much alcohol

have

you

consumed

in the past 24 hours?

I'

ve been

to the cinema three times this month.

Present perfect with superlative forms of adjectives

The present perfect is used with superlative forms of adjectives to express emphasis:

This is

the first

time I

have been

to the Philippines.

This is

the worst

film I

have

ever

seen

.

Related topics:

Past perfect with superlative forms of adjectives

Present perfect with WHEN

When with present perfect refers to an indefinite time in an incomplete period of time and is used to indicate criticism:

When

have

you ever

done

the dishes?

(any time in your life or since we met)

Related topics:

Present perfect for past events