Introduction

We use the present perfect to describe the past when it affects the present, for example

• talking about past experiences
• for something that began in the past and is still true
• describing changes.

Examples:

• I have been to that restaurant twice.
• Emily has worked in the city for many years.
• Your hair has grown since last year.

Form 1 - Present perfect positive

To form the present perfect positive, we use
"have" + past participle.

Subject	"have"	past participle
I You We They	have 've	been	to India.
He / She / It	has 's

Past participles

With regular verbs, we form the past participle by adding "–d", "–ed" or "–ied" at the end, for example:

regular verbs
infinitive	past participle
receive	received	"-d" for regular verbs ending with "e"
work	worked	"-ed" for regular verbs ending with a consonant
study	studied	"-ied" for regular verbs ending with a consonant and "y"

The past participles of irregular verbs are different and must be learnt, for example:

irregular verbs
infinitive	past participle
be	been
do	done
eat	eaten
find	found
go	gone
grow	grown
have	had
make	made
see	seen

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Practice

Complete the sentences with the present perfect positive form of the verb in brackets:

• I that movie three times. (see)
   
• David and Sarah every day for their exams. (study)
   
• Tom breakfast for us. (make)
   
• Our company in the last five years. (grow)
   

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Form 2 - Present perfect negative

To form the present perfect negative, we use
"have not" + past participle.

Subject	"have not"	past participle
I You We They	have not haven't 've not	eaten	breakfast yet.
He / She / It	has not hasn't 's not

Examples:

• I haven't been to Paris before.
• My order hasn't arrived yet.
• My parents haven't finished painting the house.

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Practice

Complete the sentences with the present perfect negative form of the verb in brackets:

• I a holiday this year. (have)
   
• Sarah to Italy before. (be)
   
• He his homework yet. (do)
   
• We Tom since last Friday. (see)
   

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Form 3 - Present perfect question

To form the present perfect question, we use
"have" + subject + past participle.

"have"	Subject	past participle
Have	I you we they	seen	my purse?
Has	he / she / it

Examples:

• Have you been to Italy before?
• Has it stopped raining?
• How long have you studied English?

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Practice

Complete the sentences with the present perfect question form of the verb in brackets:

• you Tom this week? (see)
   
• Sarah to the airport yet? (go)
   
• Clara dinner yet? (eat)
   
• Who she to the party? (invite)
   

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Further practice

Complete the sentences with the correct answer from a, b, c or d:

• They ____ my letter yet.


hasn't received haven't receive haven't received hasn't receive



• ____ David ____ his car keys?


Has / find Have / found Have / find Has / found



• You are late. Where ____ you ____?


has / be have / been had been have / be



• James ____ at the company for five years.


has worked have work have worked has work



• I ____ Clare for a long time.


hasn't see hasn't seen haven't see haven't seen 



• David ____ a beard.


have grown has grow has grown have grow

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Further language point

We also use the present perfect positive form with "always" and "never".

Using "never" makes the meaning negative:

Subject	"have"	time period	past participle
I You We They	have	always never	lived	in the city.
He She It	has

We also use the present perfect question form with "always" and "ever".

"have"	Subject	time period	past participle
Have	I you we they	always never	lived	in the city.
Has	he she it

Examples:

• Have you ever been to Mexico?
• Has she always lived in Paris?