The Present Perfect is used to express actions that happened at an indefinite time or that began in the past and continue in the present. This tense is also used when an activity has an effect on the present moment.
Note: later in this article, Preset Perfect will be abbreviated as PP.
| I have been struck by a lightning! |
- Actions which happened at an indefinite (unknown) time before now
- Actions in the past which have an effect on the present moment
- Actions which began in the past and continue in the present
| I've eaten 10 apples today! |
Time expressions
Since and for
Since and for are very common time expressions used with the PP. We use for with a period of time, for example:
- I have lived here for 20 years.
When talking about a starting point, we use since with a point in time.
- I have lived here since 1960.
More about time expressions
Remember that in the Present Perfect you cannot use time expressions such as:
- two months ago
- one year ago
- last week
- yesterday
- when I was five years old
If you're wondering why it's incorrect to use them, it's because they specify accurately when something happened (see: Use 1). You can, however, use time expressions such as:
- already
- yet
- before
- never
- recently
- at last
- ever
- just
- lately
Oil prices have gone up recently.
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The structure of PP is not very easy because it requires some pratice to get used to it. To correctly form Present Perfect sentences, you should know these:
[1]
The conjugation of the verb "to have" is the same as in the Present Simple
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person | I have | We have |
| 2nd person | You have | You have |
| 3rd person | He/she/it has | They have |
As seen in the table, only the third person singular (he/she/it has) is irregular:
- She has never seen my brother
- Neither of my brothers has ever driven a truck
[2]
To correctly form a sentence in the PP, we also need the past participle. In short it is the verb from that is used with the perfect tense
Same as the past form, the past participle can be either regular or irregular.
The regular verbs are typically formed by adding -ed. Read an article about regular verbs
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| talk | talked |
| explain | explained |
| use | used |
| deliver | delivered |
| include | included |
| achieve | achieved |
| Verb | Past Participle | |
|---|---|---|
| be | been | |
| become | become | |
| see | seen | |
| go | gone | |
| eat | eaten | |
| grow | grown |
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Past participle |
| I/a dog etc. | has/have | slept/gone etc. |
| Examples | Use | |
 | We have already had breakfast | (Use 1) |
| I have bought new shades | (Use 2) |
| I have already been to Paris | (Use 1) |
| John has been a plumber for 2 years | (Use 3) |
| Someone has taken my bag | (Use 1,2) |
| He has been our most serious partner for so long that I can assure you he's a very decent man | (Use 3) |
| Auxiliary verb | + | Subject | + | Past participle |
| has/have | I/a dog etc. | slept/gone etc. |
| Examples | Use | |
| Have you ever seen this program? | (Use 1) |
| Where has she lived for the past 21 years? | (Use 3) |
| Have you found the telephone number? | (Use 1,2) |
| Have you ever been to France? | (Use 1) |
| Someone has taken my bag | (Use 1,2) |
In sentences with adverbials such as ever, already and yet, Americans may use the past simple rather than the Present Perfect. So an American would say:
- Did you go to the post office yet?
And a British man:
- Have you gone to the post office yet?
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb + not | + | Past participle |
| I/a dog etc. | hasn't/haven't | slept/gone etc. |
| Examples | Use | |
| They haven't contacted you, have they? | (Use 1) |
| He hasn't taken any drug for two years | (Use 3) |
| Jane has never been so angry | (Use 3) |
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