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English Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect is have/has + past participle (I have worked, she has gone). Use it for experiences, for situations that started in the past and continue now, and for past actions that matter now.

  • CEFR A2
  • 10-question quiz
  • 2 exercises
  • Audio lesson
Present perfect: have/has + past participle
  1. work→has workedhe/she has worked
  2. play→have playedI/we have played
  3. drive→have drivenI have driven
  4. send→has sentshe has sent
  5. fly→have flownthey have flown
  6. write→has writtenhe has written

Listen to the lesson

This module introduces the present perfect tense, which consists of a helping verb and a past participle.

To form the present perfect, we use “to have” + a verb in the past participle. In some cases, the simple past form and the past participle form are the same. These are regular verbs.

Examples:
clean – cleaned (simple) – cleaned (participle)
play – played – played (participle)

CORE Languages English Present Perfect Tense

In some cases, the past participle form of a verb is different from the simple past form. These are irregular.

Examples:
drive – drove (simple) – driven (participle)
write – wrote (simple) – written (participle)
fly – flew (simple) – flown (participle)

CORE Languages English Present Perfect Tense

The same rules apply when formulating questions:

Examples:
Have you fallen?
Has she forgotten?
Have I mentioned it?
Have we thought about it?

Key vocabulary

WordMeaningExample
past participlethe verb form used after have/has (worked, gone, seen)I have sent the invoice to the client.
everat any time in your life; used in questionsHave you ever worked abroad?
nevernot at any timeI have never been to Japan.
alreadybefore now, sooner than expectedShe has already finished the presentation.
yetuntil now; used in questions and negativesHave you read the report yet?
sincefrom a point in time until nowJim has worked here since May.
forduring a period of time until nowWe have known each other for ten years.
to cat-sitto look after someone's cat while they are awayI have cat-sat for my neighbor twice this year.
reluctantlyin a way that shows you do not really want toHe reluctantly agreed to work on Saturday.

Practice: English Present Perfect Tense

Work through the exercises, then test yourself with the quiz. Learn from your mistakes and try again as often as you like.

Exercises

Complete the story

These sentences come from the cat-sitting audio. Write the present perfect of the verb in parentheses.

  1. I ______ (always / consider) myself a dog person.

    I have always...

    Show answer

    have always considered

  2. My friend ______ (ask) me to feed his cat only dry food.

    he/she form

    Show answer

    has asked

  3. This is what he ______ (feed) him for the past few years.

    feed -> fed

    Show answer

    has fed

  4. I ______ (give) him the occasional scoop of wet food.

    give -> given

    Show answer

    have given

  5. I ______ (never / want) a cat.

    never goes between have and the participle

    Show answer

    have never wanted

  6. My family ______ (always / have) pets.

    have -> had

    Show answer

    has always had

  7. He is the cutest cat I ______ (ever / see).

    see -> seen

    Show answer

    have ever seen

  8. ______ you ever ______ (fly) business class?

    question: Have + subject + participle

    Show answer

    Have ... flown

Write the past participle

Write the past participle of each verb.

  1. clean

    regular

    Show answer

    cleaned

  2. drive

    irregular

    Show answer

    driven

  3. send

    irregular

    Show answer

    sent

  4. go

    irregular

    Show answer

    gone

  5. see

    irregular

    Show answer

    seen

  6. forget

    irregular

    Show answer

    forgotten

  7. buy

    irregular

    Show answer

    bought

  8. think

    irregular

    Show answer

    thought

Quiz: 10 questions

1. Put the following sentence in the present perfect: She goes to France.
2. Make a present perfect sentence from these parts: for the company / work / since May / Jim.
3. You are traveling to Spain for vacation. What might a friend ask you?
4. What is the present perfect of 'to write'?
5. You sent a friend a letter, and you want to know whether your friend received it. What would you ask?
6. Make a question about this sentence: Bill has read 15 pages of the book.
7. You meet someone who seems familiar. What might you ask them?
8. Which of the following sentences is correct?
9. Brian ______ at the company for very long.
10. Which of the following questions is correct?

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