The present perfect simple is a verb tense in English used to express a past action that is connected to the present. For example: I have lived in Lisbon for 5 years (meaning I still live in Lisbon). It is formed using the auxiliary verb have and the past participle (verb form ending in -ed for regular verbs).
The present perfect in English has different uses, so, it might be translated in various ways depending on the context.
How the present perfect is indicated in other languages
The present perfect in English can be translated into different tenses in other languages depending on the context. It could be translated as the present tense, past tense, or future tense in other languages:
- Present tense, especially when using time expressions like for, since, or just.
- Past tense, when summarizing past actions.
- Future tense, with expressions like by the time, as soon as, after, until, once, and when.
| English sentence | Audio |
|---|---|
| They have lived in London since 1979. | |
| I’ve just cut my finger. It’s bleeding. | |
| He has travelled to India many times. | |
| Iris has lived her whole life here. | |
| As soon as I’ve saved 2500€, I’ll go on holiday. | |
| After they have finished their road trip, they will return to work. |
Is the present perfect a conjugation tense?
The present perfect is not a tense, but an aspect of the present. The aspect defines how you view an event. In the case of the present perfect, it links an action from the past to the present.
In English, there are only two tenses: present and past. These tenses can be combined with three aspects:
- continuous,
- perfect,
- perfect continuous.
How to form the present perfect in English
The present perfect is formed using the auxiliary have in the present (have, has) + the past participle (usually ending in -ed). For example: I’ve never watched this movie.
Notes:
- Irregular verbs have special past participle forms.
- In spoken English, the auxiliary have is often contracted to ‘ve or ‘s. For example: I’ve, he’s.
3 example sentences
| Type | Sentence (Full) | Sentence (contracted) | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular verb | He has called the hospital, the ambulance is coming. | He’s called the hospital, the ambulance is coming. | |
| Irregular verb | You have run away. | You’ve run away. | |
| Irregular verb | He has thrown the ball. | He’s thrown the ball. |
1. How to form an affirmative sentence
To form an affirmative sentence in the present perfect simple, use this structure: Subject + have/has (+ adverb) + past participle + sentence complement (rest of the sentence).
2. How to form a question
To form a question in the present perfect simple, you must invert the subject and the auxiliary have. You can use these two structures:
- Interrogative word (Wh-word) + auxiliary have/has + (adverb +) subject + past participle + sentence complement
- Auxiliary have/has + (adverb +) subject + past participle + sentence complement
3. How to form a negative sentence
To form a negative sentence in the present perfect simple, you must add not after the auxiliary have: subject + auxiliary have/has + not + past participle + sentence complement.
The auxiliary have can be contracted in the negative form:
- have not ➝ haven’t
- has not ➝ hasn’t
Examples of affirmative, interrogative, and negative sentences
| Type | Example sentence | Sentence (contracted) | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affirmative sentence | I have just bought a new car. | I’ve just bought a new car. | |
| Affirmative sentence | We have changed since we left our country. | We’ve changed since we left our country. | |
| Interrogative sentence | Who has bought this car? | Who’s bought this car? | |
| Interrogative sentence | Have you already watched this movie? | – | |
| Negative sentence | They have not seen each other in a while. | They haven’t seen each other in a while. | |
| Negative sentence | She has not eaten meat since she read this book. | She hasn’t eaten meat since she read this book. |
How to conjugate the auxiliary have in the present tense
In the present, the auxiliary have is conjugated as follows:
| Pronoun | Auxiliary have, present |
|---|---|
| I | have |
| You | have |
| He, she, it | has |
| We | have |
| You | have |
| They | have |
Notes:
- The form has is used for the third person singular.
- Unlike some languages, in English, the auxiliary verb have is used with all verbs to form the present perfect. The auxiliary verb be is never used to form a present perfect simple tense
.
How to form the past participle in English
For regular verbs, the past participle is formed by adding -ed to the base verb:
- enjoy + ed = enjoyed
- attach + ed = attached
- play + ed = played
What are the special past participles in English?
- Try = tried: verbs ending in -y after a consonant change the -y to -i and then add -ed.
- Travel = travelled: verbs ending in consonant-vowel-consonant double the last consonant before adding -ed
How to form the past participle of an irregular verb
The past participles of irregular English verbs do not follow any specific rules. They can therefore be very different from the verb base:
- forget = forgotten
- see = seen
- run = run
How to conjugate to have and to be in the present perfect
Conjugation table of the verbs to have and to be:
| Pronoun | Verb to have | Verb to be |
|---|---|---|
| I | have had | have been |
| You | have had | have been |
| He, she, it | has had | has been |
| We | have had | have been |
| You | have had | have been |
| They | have had | have been |
When to use the present perfect simple
In English, the present perfect is used in 6 situations:
- For a past action that continues in the present:
- I have lived here for 10 years. (I still live here now.)
- For a completed action that has consequences in the present:
- She has lost her keys. (She can’t enter her house now.)
- For an action where the result is important, but the exact time is not:
- He has finished the report. (The focus is on the fact that the report is done, not when it was finished.)
- For a repeated action during an unspecified period of time:
- We have visited that museum several times. (The exact dates aren’t important.)
- With certain adverbs like: just, already, never, ever, yet, etc.:
- I have just eaten. (It happened recently.)
- They haven’t finished yet. (It’s not complete.)
- With the phrase: This is the first time…:
- This is the first time I have traveled abroad.
What are the tense indicators of the present perfect simple?
In English, there are 12 adverbs commonly used with the present perfect simple:
| Word | Use | Audio |
| Already | Something that has happened earlier than expected. | |
| Always | A habit or action that has always been true. | |
| Ever | Used in questions to mean at any time | |
| For | Indicates the duration of time something has happened. | |
| Just | Refers to something that happened very recently. | |
| Lately | Refers to actions or events that happened recently. | |
| Many times | Indicates something that has occurred on multiple occasions. | |
| Never | Means something has not happened at any time. | |
| Recently | Describes something that happened not long ago. | |
| Since | Refers to the starting point of an action that continues to the present. | |
| So far | Refers to progress up to the current point in time. | |
| Yet | Used in questions or negatives to mean until now. |
12 examples of sentences in the present perfect in English
| Example sentence | Remark | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| They have lived in London since 1979. | Note the use of since and for. These are two very common adverbs used with the present perfect. Since is used to mark a starting point in the past (a date, an event). | |
| She’s known Sara for 4 years. | For is used to express a duration. | |
| I’ve just cut my finger. It’s bleeding. | The past action (cutting one’s finger) has an immediate effect on the present (bleeding). | |
| I have lost my wallet! I can’t pay the taxi. | The focus is on the present consequence (can’t pay). | |
| He has done his homework. | The result (homework) is important, not the time of the action. | |
| They’ve watched all the Harry Potter. | This indicates a current status. | |
| He has travelled to India many times. | This is a summary of the experiences up to now. | |
| Have you ever been to Japan? | The adverb ever emphasizes any time up to the present. | |
| She’s never swum in the sea. | The adverb never indicates that this is an experience she has not had at any point in her life up to the present. | |
| I’ve already bought the tickets for the concert. | The adverb already shows that the action has been completed before now. | |
| We have not met the director yet. | The use of the adverb yet shows that the action has not happened up to now, but there is an expectation that it will happen in the future. | |
| This is the first time she’s been so mad at her brother. | The present perfect tense is used here with the phrase the first time to describe a new experience that is relevant to the current situation. |
Note:
- He has done his homework.
Here, we translate it as a present perfect tense because the action has already occurred. However, the result is what matters: the homework is done now. The specific time the homework was done is not important.
If a past date or moment were mentioned, we would use the simple past:
| English sentence | Audio |
|---|---|
| He did his homework during the weekend. |
How to form the passive voice in the present perfect tense
There are two ways to form the passive voice, depending on whether or not you want to mention the person who did the action (the agent):
- object + has been + past participle + by + agent
- object + has been + past participle
Examples :
| Type | Example sentence | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| With agent | The house has recently been decorated by an interior designer. It looks a lot more modern. | |
| Without agent | The house has recently been decorated. It looks a lot more modern. |
In the first example, we want to specify that the work was done by an interior designer. This information is not necessary and can be deleted as in the second example.
Reminder: When is the passive voice used in English?
The emphasis is on the subject who does the action if you use the active voice. On the contrary, in passive voice, the emphasis is on the object that undergoes the action.
Examples :
| Type | Example sentence | Remark | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active voice | They have painted the house. It is pink now. | Focus on the people who painted the house (subject). | |
| Passive voice | The house has been painted. It is pink now. | Focus on the house (object)and what has been done to it. |
How to differentiate between the past simple and the present perfect
The past simple describes a completed action in the past with no connection to the present while the present perfect connects the past to the present and often shows that the action still has an effect on the present.
| Type | Example | Remark | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect simple | Iris has lived her whole life here. | This means Iris is still alive and continues to live in the same place. | |
| Simple past | Iris lived her whole life here. | This suggests that Iris is no longer alive, and her life is now in the past. |
With this example, it is easy to understand the meaning of the present perfect.
By comparing these sentences, you can see how the present perfect shows an ongoing situation, while the simple past refers to something that is fully completed in the past.
How to differentiate between the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous
The present perfect simple describes the result of an action, while the present perfect continuous describes the repetition, duration, or continuation of an action.
| Type | Example | Remark | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect simple | He has run 15 kilometers today. Now, he’s tired. | The focus is on the completed result. | |
| Present perfect continuous | He has been running for five hours. He will be exhausted. | The focus is on the ongoing action. |
Exercises
Click here to access our exercises on the present perfect in English.
