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Present perfect tense in English

Present perfect tense is one of the basic tenses that frequently appears in English exams as well as in everyday life. However, many students make a lot of mistakes when learning this grammar knowledge. Understanding the difficulties and anxiety of Preppies, in the article below PREP would like to share with you the complete knowledge about Present perfect tense. Take a look!

I. Definition of Present perfect tense
II. Formula for Present perfect tense
III. Usages of Present perfect tense
IV. Identifying markers of Present perfect tense
V. Notes on Present perfect tense
1. 1. Distinguishing Present perfect tense and Simple past tense
2. 2. Distinguishing Have gone to and Have been to
VI. Present perfect exercises
1. 1. Exercise
2. 2. Answer

I. Definition of Present perfect tense

Present perfect tense is used to express an action or event that has been completed up to the present time, without specifying when exactly it occurred. The action or event has started in the past, continues up to the present, and may also continue into the future.

Here are some Present perfect tense examples:

He has done his homework since 5PM.
He hasn't (has not) done his homework since 5PM.
Has he done his homework yet?
What has he done with his homework?

II. Formula for Present perfect tense

Here is the formula for Present perfect tense in the affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms:

Affirmative form

Negative form

Interrogative form

Structure

S + have/ has + V3

S + haven’t/ hasn’t + V3

Have/ Has + S + V3?

Example

I have been to London three times.

Anna has not finished her homework yet.

Have you read the message yet?

Yes, I have.
No, I haven't.

III. Usages of Present perfect tense

There are 4 basic usages of Present perfect tense:

To express an action that started in the past and continues up to the present. For example:
- She has lived in New York for ten years.
- Alice has worked at the company since 2010.
To express the result of an action that occurred in the past (however, it's not clear exactly when it happened). For example:
- I have lost my keys.
- John has finished his homework.
To use with comparative adjectives like "the first/last/second...". For example:
- This is the best movie I have ever seen.
- Thomas has become the last person to arrive at the meeting.
To express an action that has happened multiple times from the past to the present. For example:
- He has visited Paris several times.
- He has played the piano at every family gathering since he was a child.

IV. Identifying markers of Present perfect tense

When the following words appear in a sentence, it indicates the use of Present perfect tense:

Just
Already
Before
Yet
Ever
Never
Recently
So far
For + period of time (for a long time, for 2 years)
Since + point in time (since 2000, since 1995)

The position of these adverbials in the sentence belongs to Present perfect tense:

Already, never, ever, just: after "have/has" and before the past participle verb. Already: can also be placed at the end of the sentence.	I have just come back home. Anna’s family has already heard the news. Peter has finished painting the kitchen already.
Yet: at the end of the sentence, often used in negative and interrogative sentences.	She hasn’t told me about you yet.
So far, recently, lately, up to present, up to this moment, in/for/during/over + the past/last + time period: can be placed at the beginning or end of the sentence.	I have seen this film recently.

V. Notes on Present perfect tense

Present perfect tense and the simple past tense are often easily confused if you don't pay attention to the distinguishing signs below.

1. Distinguishing Present perfect tense and Simple past tense

	Present perfect tense	Simple past tense
1	There is a connection between the past and the present	It only talks about the past (unrelated to the present)
2	It DOES NOT mention a specific time period in the past	It DOES mention a specific time period in the past
3	It uses expressions that indicate a time period that has not ended in the past, continuing into the present	It uses expressions that indicate a time period that has ended in the past

2. Distinguishing Have gone to and Have been to

Have been to

Have gone to

Went somewhere and have returned

➡ Emphasizes the experience (used with adverbs of frequency and quantifiers).

Went somewhere and have not returned yet (or may return later).

I have been to Paris twice.

She has gone to the store and will be back soon.

Distinguishing Have gone to and Have been to

VI. Present perfect exercises

To better understand Present perfect tense, let's PREP to complete the following exercise!

1. Exercise

Exercise 1: Change the verbs in the following sentences to Present perfect tense

Jack _____ (drive) Rose to work today.
They _____ (work) all day and night.
We _____ (see) the new bridge.
He ____ (have) breakfast this morning.
Ann and Don ____ (wash) the car.
Kathy ____ (want) to go to Queensland for a long time.
Mel ____ (give) up smoking.
I ____ (forget) that man’s name.
They ____ (lose) their keys.
Jack ____ (be) to England.

Exercise 2: Rewrite the following sentences using Present perfect tense with the provided words

We/play/tennis/2 years.
Mai/go/the library/3 hours.
My sister/move/a new house/near/her boyfriend’s flat.
His teacher/not/explain/this lesson/yet.
This/best/film/I/ever/watch.
Bob/just/leave/office/2 hours.
They/write/a report/since/last Monday?
I/never/have/been/there.
He/online/hasn’t/ played/online/months/games/for.
I have/2015/lived/in/city/since/this.

2. Answer

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

has driven
have worked
have seen
has had
have washed
has wanted
has given
have forgotten
have lost
has been

We have played tennis for 2 years.
Mai has gone to the library for 3 hours.
My sister has moved to a new house near her boyfriend’s flat.
His teacher hasn’t explained this lesson yet.
This is the best film I have ever watched.
Bob has just left the office for 2 hours.
Have they written a report since last Monday?
I have never been there.
He hasn’t played online games for months.
I have lived in this city since 2015.

The article above has provided the most basic knowledge about Present perfect tense. Hopefully, these useful insights will help you overcome the grammar concerns in English.

Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.