How to form the present perfect
To make the positive present perfect tense, use:
- 'have' / 'has' + the past participle
- Make the past participle by adding 'ed' to regular verbs (for example, 'play' becomes 'played')
- There are a few verbs that change their spelling when you add 'ed' (for example, 'study' becomes 'studied')
- We also have some completely irregular verbs
Positive
|
Positive Short Form
|
I have played
|
I've played
|
you have worked
|
you've worked
|
he has written
|
he's written
|
she has walked
|
she's walked
|
it has rained
|
it's rained
|
we have travelled
|
we've travelled
|
they have studied
|
they've studied
|
The negative is really simple too. Just put 'not' after 'have' or 'has':
Negative
|
Negative Short Form
|
I have not eaten
breakfast today
|
I haven't eaten
|
you have not been to Asia
|
you haven't been
|
he has not seen the new
film
|
he hasn't seen
|
she has not played
tennis
|
she hasn't played
|
it has not snowed this
winter
|
it hasn't snowed
|
we have not slept all
night
|
we haven't slept
|
they have not tried the
food
|
they haven't tried
|
To make a question, put 'have' or 'has' in front of the subject:
'Yes / No' Questions
|
have I missed the bus?
|
have you visited London?
|
has he worked as a
waiter before?
|
has she met John?
|
has it been cold this
week?
|
have we arrived too
early?
|
have they studied
English grammar before?
|
'Wh' Questions
|
where have I left my
umbrella?
|
what have you done
today?
|
why has he gone already?
|
where has she been in
the UK?
|
why has it rained so
much this summer?
|
what have we done?
|
where have they learned
English before?
|
Using the Present Perfect
When should we use the present perfect tense?
We use this tense for unfinished and finished actions:
Unfinished Actions
|
We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished
actions that started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use
it to say 'how long' an action or state has continued with 'since' and 'for'.
Often, we use stative verbs in this situation:
|
'Since' and 'For'
|
We use 'since' with a fixed time in the past
(2004, April 23rd, last year, two hours ago). The fixed time can be another
action, indicated with the past simple (since I was at school, since I
arrived):
|
Finished Actions
|
1: life experience
(we don't say when the experience happened, just sometime in the past)
|
2: a finished action with a result in the present
(focus on result)
I’ve lost
my keys (so I can’t get into my house)
She's hurt
her leg (so she can't play tennis today)
They've
missed the bus (so they will be late)
I've cooked
dinner (so you should come and eat)
|
3: with an unfinished time word (this
month, this week, today, in the last year)
|
(NOT) I’ve seen him yesterday.
'Been' and 'Gone'
|
In this tense, we use both 'been' and 'gone' as the past
participle of 'go', but in slightly different circumstances.
|
Been
|
We use 'been' (often when we talk about
'life experience') to mean that the person being talked about has visited the
place, and come back. Notice the preposition 'to':
I've been
to Paris (in my life, but now I'm in London, where I live)
She has been
to school today (but now she's back at home)
They have never been
to California.
|
Gone
|
We use 'gone' (often when we are talking
about an action with a result in the present) to mean that the person is at
the place now:
'Where's John?'
'He's gone to the shops' (he's at the shops now)
Julie has gone
to Mexico (now she's in Mexico)
They've gone
to Japan for three weeks
(now they're in Japan)
|
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