How to use Present Perfect

Five Minute Guide to Present Perfect

Forming sentences with Present Perfect

• Affirmative: have / has + verb 3 (past participle)
• Negative: haven’t / hasn’t + verb 3 (past participle)

Using Present Perfect

1. We use Present perfect to show that a finished action/event has a connection with the present or has a result in the present.
   • I can’t go out because I’ve lost my keys.
   • She’s had an accident and she’s in the hospital now.
   • I’ve had lunch so I’m not hungry.
2. We use Present perfect to give news or talk about recent events.
   • She’s had a baby girl.
   • There’s been a big fire at the factory.
   • The value of the dollar has risen in recent weeks.
3. We use just to express a very recent action.
   • She’s just had a baby.
   • I’ve just had lunch.
4. We use Present perfect to talk about a period of time not finished at the time of speaking.
   • I‘ve had three cups of coffee today. (today is not finished)
   • I had three cups of coffee yesterday. (yesterday is finished)
   • Have you seen the news this week? (this week is not finished)
   • Did you see the news yesterday? (yesterday is finished)
   • I’ve been on holiday twice this year. (this year is not finished)
   • I went on holiday twice last year. (last year is finished)
5. We use Present perfect with for or since to talk about how long a present situation has lasted.
   • I’ve lived in Spain for 10 years. (for + period of time)
   • She hasn’t spoken to him since April last year. (since + specific date/time)
6. We use Present perfect to talk about experiences, or about an indefinite time in the past. We may not know when the action happened or it may not be important.
   • Have you ever eaten frogs’ legs? (at any time in your life until now)
   • I’ve never had a computer. (at any time in my life until now)
   • She has read all the Harry Potter books. (at some time in the past – it’s not important when)
   • I’ve seen Shrek. (at some time in the past – it’s not important when)
7. We often talk about repeated actions/events from the past until now.
   • We’ve visited China many times.
   • I’ve been to France twice.
   • The phone has rung five times since lunchtime.
8. We use already to say something happened sooner than expected.
   • I’ve already seen Mission Impossible.
9. We use yet to say that we expect something to happen.
   • I haven’t seen Mission Impossible yet.
   • Have you spoken to Dave yet?

Other rules and use of Present Perfect

1. Been and gone
   • They’ve gone to Greece for a holiday. (they are in Greece now)
   • They’ve been to Greece. (they went to Greece and they’ve come back)

Pronunciation

See the phonemic chart for IPA symbols used below.

1. Been is usually reduced to its weak form.
   • I’ve been to New York: /bɪn/

Present Perfect in detail

How do we form Present Perfect? – Regular verbs

We form the present perfect with the auxiliary verb “have” (the base form and third person singular form) and the past participle form of the main verb. We make the past participle of regular verbs in the same way that we made the past tense form, by adding “ed” to the base form (or just “d” if the verb ends in “e“):

• played
• laughed
• lived
• hoped

Here are some examples of present perfect statements with regular verbs:

• You have worked here for 5 years.
• The elephants have finished all their food.
• The plane has landed.

How do we form Present Perfect? – Irregular verbs

Some past participle forms are irregular. Some of htese are the same as the past tense form, while others are different. Here are some examples. You can see a full list of irregular verbs here.

Base form	Past tense form	Past participle form
be	was/were	been
become	became	become
catch	caught	caught
do	did	done
leave	left	left
sing	sang	sung
tear	tore	torn

• I have caught a cold.
• I’m sorry, they have already left.
• She has been to New York many times.

Present Perfect – Questions

Our normal question forming rules apply here, inverting the auxiliary verb and subject for yes/no and object questions, and keeping the same word order for subject questions:

• Have you caught a cold? (yes/no question)
• Have they already left? (yes/no question)
• Why have they already left? (object question)
• How many times has she been to New York? (object question)
• Who has caught a cold? (subject question)
• Who has already left? (subject question)

Present Perfect – Negatives

We make negative sentences with the auxiliary verb (have/has) and “not“:

• I have not caught a cold.
• They have not left.
• She has not been to New York.

We can contract these negatives in two ways:

• I haven’t / I’ve not caught a cold.
• They haven’t / They’ve not left.
• She hasn’t been / She’s not been to New York.

So what does the present perfect tell us about the present that the other forms of the present tense couldn’t? Well, we use present perfect to show some kind of link between the present and the past. What kinds of links are we talking about? Let’s have a look closely at the meaning of the present perfect and find out.

When do we use Present Perfect?

Events that happened at an unspecified time in the past

Sometimes we want to say that something happened in the past, but it’s not important when it happened (or maybe we don’t know when). Have a look at these examples:

• John: Have you been to New York?
  Jane: Yes, I’ve been to New York.
• I’ve read this report, I don’t need to read it again.

In the first conversation, it doesn’t matter to John when Jane went to New York (if at all); he just wants to know whether or not she has been. In the second example, it’s not important when I read the report, the important thing is that I read it.

So what’s the link here between the present and the past? Well, because we don’t specify when these actions happened, they could have happened at any time up to the present. So when I say “I’ve been to New York“, I’m effectively saying “At some point between when I was born up to the present day I went to New York.”

For this reason, the present perfect is often used to talk about life experiences up to the present. “I’ve been to New York” is an example of this. Here are some more:

• Have you ever met anyone famous?
  Yes, I’ve met Prince William!
• What strange things have you eaten?
  I’ve eaten crocodile and kangaroo.

Once again, it’s not important when I met Prince William or when I ate crocodile (it could have been at any time between when I was born and the present day) – the important thing is that I had these experiences. What we can do though is specify how many times we’ve had the experience:

• I’ve eaten crocodile three times!
• I’ve only been to New York once.

Now, because we don’t specify the time of these actions, we can’t use an expression which gives an exact time, like “last week” or “three years ago“. If we want to use one of these we have to use past simple:

• I’ve met Prince William.
• I met Prince William last week.

Can you see the difference? In the first sentence we’re talking about an experience, and in the second sentence we’re describing an event that happened at a specific time in the past. So, in a conversation about experiences, we often start by using present perfect and then give some specifics about when we had the experience using past simple:

• John: Have you ever met anyone famous?
  Jane: Yes, I’ve met Prince William.
  John: Oh, when was that?
  Jane: I met him when I was working in London.

Ever, never, already and yet

In the “Prince William” example above you’ll notice that we added the word “ever” to the question. “Ever” is a way of saying “at any time in the past up to now” and we often use it when asking about experiences. If we want to say that the experience hasn’t happened we can use “never“:

• Have you ever been to New York?
  No, I’ve never been to New York.

There are two other words we commonly use when talking about experiences, or about other things which happen at an unspecified time in the past – “yet” and “already“. Have a look at this conversation:

• Bob: Have you written the report yet?
  Bill: No, I haven’t written it yet.
  Bob: Never mind. Let’s have some lunch and then you can get started.
  Bill: Oh, no thanks, I’ve already eaten.

Bob and Bill use “yet” to show that they expect something to happen. In Bob’s question, he expects Bill to write the report. Likewise, Bill’s reply shows that he expects to write it. If he had just replied “No, I haven’t written it“, we wouldn’t know whether he ever intends to write it or not! In the second part of the conversation, Bill uses “already” to tell Bob that something (eating lunch) happened earlier than expected.

Events which started in the past and continue now

With this next use of the present perfect, the link between past and present is very clear. Have a look at this conversation:

• John: How long have you lived in Thailand?
  Jane: I’ve lived in Thailand for 5 years.

Jane is telling John that the action of living in Thailand started in the past (5 years ago in this case) and is still continuing now – the action is not finished. If Jane instead used past simple and said:

• I lived in Thailand for 5 years.

…then we would understand that she no longer lives there. She now lives somewhere else.

Here’s another example, this time with a “state of being” rather than an action:

• John: How long have you believed in ghosts?
  Jane: I’ve believed in ghosts since my trip to a Scottish castle in 1998.

You’ll notice that in both of John’s questions he uses “how long…?“. That’s because he is asking about the duration of the action or state of being – he wants to know how long it has lasted. To tell him the duration Jane uses “for” and “since“. What she says after “for” or “since” though is different. With “for” she gives a period of time (5 years, 2 days, a long time) and with “since” she gives a specific point in time (1998, yesterday, half past five).

Unfinished periods of time

We’ve seen how we can use present perfect to talk about unfinished actions – actions which started in the past and continue now. We can also use it to talk about unfinished periods of time. Let’s have a look at what we mean by this.

• You’ve made five sales this month, do you think you’ll be able to get up to ten?

What can we say about “this month” in this sentence? Well, we’ve used present perfect to show that this month is not finished. There is still a possibility of making more sales before the month is over. Let’s compare this with the same sentence in past simple:

• You made five sales this month.

This time the month is at an end and there is no possibility of more sales. Now, in reality the month might not literally be over – maybe it’s Friday, the last working day of the month, and the month actually ends on Sunday, but the point is that it would not be possible to continue this sentence with “…do you think you’ll be able to get up to ten?“.

Here’s another example:

• I’ve had five cups of coffee today, I really should stop.
• I had five cups of coffee today, and now I can’t sleep.

In the first sentence “today” is not finished – there is still the possibility of more cups of coffee. In the second sentence though (in past simple) it’s the end of the day and the speaker is in bed trying to sleep.

Events which happened in the past and are still important in the present

There’s another kind of link we can make between the past and present, and that’s when an action in the past is still important, or has some kind of consequence, in the present. Have a look at these two examples:

• There’s been a big fire at the factory.
• They’ve had a baby girl!

These sentences are giving news of recent events, and because the events are recent they still have importance now. Now have a look at these examples:

• I’ve lost my keys.
• I’ve forgotten what I was saying.

These actions also happened in the past but have a consequencein the present. This consequence might be stated, or it might just be understood or implied:

• I’ve lost my keys. (Implied: …and so now I can’t get into my car)
• I’ve forgotten what I was saying. (Implied: …and so now I can’t finish my story)

If we use past simple in all of these sentences we lose the link with the present – we are merely stating facts about finished events in the past:

• I lost my keys.
• They had a baby girl.

If we want to show that something happened in the very recent past (and so still has some relevance to now) we can use “just“:

• They’ve just had a baby!
• I’ve just had lunch.

So, as you can see, present perfect gives us quite a lot of different ways to make some kind of link between the present and the past. If we use any of the other tense forms we don’t get this link.

Related grammar points

Present Perfect Continuous
Tense and aspect