Present Perfect

The present perfect links the past with the present. We use it when something happened before now, but we are interested in the situation now, not in the exact time: 'I've lost my keys' (so I can't get into my flat).

Form it with have/has + past participle. Use 'has' with he, she, it and singular nouns; use 'have' with I, you, we, they and plural nouns. In speech we usually contract: I've, you've, he's, she's, it's, we've, they've.

Regular past participles end in -ed (worked, finished, stopped). Irregular ones must be learnt: be → been, go → gone, see → seen, write → written, buy → bought, become → become. Note that 'become' does not change: 'The city has become very expensive.'

Negatives add 'not' after have/has: 'I haven't finished.' 'She hasn't replied.' Questions put have/has before the subject: 'Have you finished?' Short answers repeat the auxiliary: 'Yes, I have.' / 'No, she hasn't.'

Watch the contraction 's: in 'She's written a book' it means 'has' (a past participle follows); in 'She's tired' it means 'is'.

Use the present perfect to talk about experiences in your life up to now, when the exact time is not important or not known: 'I've climbed Mount Snowdon.' The question is whether something has happened, not when.

'Ever' means 'at any time in your life' and is used mainly in questions: 'Have you ever eaten octopus?' 'Never' means 'at no time'. It is already negative, so the verb stays positive: 'I've never been to Asia' (not 'I haven't never'). 'Before' at the end means 'before now': 'I've never seen this film before.'

To say how many times, add once, twice, three times, several times: 'She has visited Japan twice.'

When the conversation continues with details of when, where or how, switch to the past simple: 'Have you ever been to Scotland? — Yes, I went there last year. It rained every day!'

A very common pattern is superlative + 'I've ever': 'This is the best pizza I've ever had.' 'It's the first time I've ever flown.'

Use the present perfect for a situation that started in the past and is still true now: 'I've lived in Leeds for six years' (I moved here six years ago and I still live here). Many languages use a present tense for this, but English does not: 'I live here for six years' is wrong.

'For' + a period of time answers the question 'How long?': for ten minutes, for three weeks, for ages, for a long time. 'Since' + a starting point answers 'Since when?': since 9 o'clock, since Monday, since 2019, since I was a child. After 'since' you can use a past simple clause: 'I've known her since we were at school.'

Ask about duration with 'How long' + present perfect: 'How long have you worked here?' (not 'How long do you work here?').

This use is very common with state verbs such as be, have (= possess), know and like: 'We've had this car since 2018.' With activity verbs such as live, work, wait and study, English also often uses the present perfect continuous: 'I've been waiting for twenty minutes.' With live and work, both forms are fine: 'I've lived / I've been living here for six years.'

Use the present perfect to give news or talk about recent actions that have a result now: 'I've just made some tea' (it's ready). 'The taxi has arrived' (it's outside).

'Just' means a very short time ago. It goes between have/has and the past participle: 'She's just left.'

'Already' means sooner than expected, or that something doesn't need to be done again. It usually goes between have/has and the participle: 'I've already paid.'

'Yet' means 'up to now'. It is used in negatives and questions and goes at the end: 'I haven't finished yet.' 'Has the parcel arrived yet?'

'Still' + a negative is a stronger way of saying 'not yet' and often shows surprise or impatience. It goes before haven't/hasn't: 'He still hasn't called me.'

In British English these adverbs normally take the present perfect. American English often uses the past simple ('I just saw him', 'Did you eat yet?'), but in British English say 'I've just seen him' and 'Have you eaten yet?'

Both tenses talk about the past, but they look at it differently. The past simple describes a finished action at a finished time: 'I lost my phone on Saturday.' The present perfect connects the past to now, and the time is not stated or is not finished: 'I've lost my phone' (I don't have it now).

Use the past simple with finished-time expressions: yesterday, last week, in 2010, two days ago, when I was a child. Expressions that include now usually go with the present perfect: ever, never, so far, up to now, recently, since…, and today, this week or this year when that period isn't over. (Never and recently can also take the past simple: 'I never met my grandfather.' 'We recently moved.')

A typical conversation starts in the present perfect (the news or experience) and continues in the past simple (the details): 'I've bought a new bike. — Really? Where did you buy it? — I got it online last week.'

Questions with 'When' or 'What time' ask for a finished time, so they take the past simple: 'When did you arrive?' (not 'When have you arrived?').

If the period of time is finished, use the past simple: 'Shakespeare wrote many plays' (he is dead), but 'My sister has written two novels' (she may write more).

The verb 'go' has two possible participles in the present perfect, with different meanings.

'Been' means the person went somewhere and has come back: 'Lucy has been to the bank' (she went, and now she's back). 'Gone' means the person went and is still there or on the way: 'Lucy has gone to the bank' (she's not here now).

For life experience, always use 'been': 'Have you ever been to Japan?' (not 'gone to Japan').

Use 'been to' + a place: 'I've been to London.' Don't use 'to' before home, here, there or abroad: 'Have you ever been abroad?' 'They've gone home.'

Remember that 'been' is also the past participle of 'be': 'I've been tired all week.'