we regularly publish fresh content

Present Perfect

When you can use Present Perfect

  • You use Present Perfect for finished actions which have a present result. In Present Perfect the result of an action is more important than the time when the action happened.
    If you have a specific time when the action was done (e.g. yesterday, the day before yesterday, last week/‌month/‌year, an hour ago, two days ago, on Tuesday, in May, in 1995, etc, or questions with when), use Past Simple instead of Present Perfect.
    • We have bought a house. /present result — we have a house/
    • She has painted the wall. /present result — the walls are painted/
    • I have washed all the dishes. /present result — all the dishes are washed/
    • Matthew has crashed his computer. /present result — Matthew’s computer is broken/
  • You use Present Perfect for actions or states which started in the past and continue up to present.
    • Emma has been a teacher for over a year now. /Emma is still a teacher — action is not finished/
    • They have worked in this company for 2 years. /They still work in this company — action is not finished/
    • My family has lived here for many years. /My family still lives here — action is not finished/
  • You use Present Perfect to say about your personal experience.
    • They have never eaten redfish.
    • I have visited 31 countries so far.
    • She has lost 7 kilos.
  • You use Present Perfect with superlatives.
    • It’s the most breathtaking view I have ever seen. /the most breathtaking — superlative/
    • It’s the most disgusting dish he has ever eaten. /the most disgusting — superlative/
    • It’s the most expensive dress she has ever bought. /the most expensive — superlative/
  • You use Present Perfect to say or ask how many/much you have done so far.
    • How many blog posts have you written this month?
    • John has read 12 books this year.
    • How much coffee has she drunk this morning?
  • You use Present Perfect to say or ask how often you have done something up to now.
    • We have spoken to each other twice this month. /how often — twice this month/
    • I have been to the gym three times this week. /how often — three times this week/
    • This year he has changed his job twice. /how often — twice this year/

Time markers in Present Perfect

  • just
  • yet
  • already
  • ever
  • never
  • since
  • for
  • so far
  • recently
  • today
  • this week/month
  • year
  • up to now
  • up to present
  • lately

How to build Present Perfect

+
I/‌we/‌you/‌they + have + V3/ed
  • They have cleaned our room.
He/‌she/‌it + has + V3/ed
  • She has met him today.
−
I/‌we/‌you/‌they + haven’t + V3/ed
  • They haven’t cleaned our room.
He/‌she/‌it + hasn’t + V3/ed
  • She hasn’t met him today.
?
Have + I/‌we/‌you/‌they + V3/ed
  • Have they cleaned our room?
Has + he/‌she/‌it + V3/ed
  • Has she met him today?
Wh-?
Wh + have + I/‌we/‌you/‌they + V3/ed
  • What have they cleaned today?
Wh + has + he/‌she/‌it + V3/ed
  • Who has she met today?
Practice!

Past Participle of the verbs (V3/ed)

When you build Present Perfect, you should use Past Participle (V3/ed) of the verb.
Past Participle of the verb
Regular
Irregular
Add ending -ed:
Use its third form
You need to study third form of the verbs as irregular verbs have special forms in Past Participle:
  • like — liked
  • play — played
  • study — studied
  • permit — permitted
  • speak — spoke
  • swim — swam
  • hurt — hurt
  • know — known
(here you can learn Past Participle of some irregular verbs)

Past Participle of Regular Verbs (ed)

verbs ending with a consonant + Y ➔ Y + ied
  • hurry — hurried
  • copy — copied
  • verify — verified
  • study — studied
verbs ending with a vowel (a, o, e, u, i) + y ➔ + ed
  • annoy — annoyed
  • employ — employed
  • betray — betrayed
  • play — played
one-syllable verbs with a vowel + one consonant in the end ➔ double the last consonant + ed
  • plan — planned
  • stop — stopped
  • rub — rubbed
  • jog — jogged
work — worked (don’t double “k”, because there are two consonants after the vowel)
one-syllable verb with a vowel + X  in the end ➔ DO NOT double X. Just add -ed
  • mix — mixed
  • box — boxed
  • fax — faxed
  • fix — fixed
if the two-syllable verb with a vowel + consonant in the end has stress on the second syllable ➔ double the last consonant + ed
  • admit — admitted
  • prefer — preferred
  • commit — committed
  • refer — referred
These verbs have:
  • two syllables ad-mit, pre-fer, com-mit, re-fer
  • the stress is on the last syllable ad-mit, pre-fer, com-mit, re-fer
if the two-syllable verb with a vowel + consonant in the end has stress on the first syllable ➔ DO NOT double the last consonant. Just add -ed
  • offer — offered
  • enter — entered
  • suffer — suffered
  • target — targeted
  • happen — happened
  • visit — visited
These verbs have:
  • two syllables of-fer, tar-get, en-ter, hap-pen, vi-sit, suf-fer
  • BUT the stress is on the first syllable of-fer, tar-get, en-ter, hap-pen, vi-sit, suf-fer
verbs ending with e ➔ add only -d
  • date — dated
  • agree — agreed
  • divide — divided
  • notice — noticed
  • investigate — investigated
  • admire — admired
verbs ending with c ➔ add k + ed
  • panic — panicked
  • traffic — trafficked
  • mimic — mimicked
  • picnic — picnicked
  • magic — magicked
verbs ending with L
  • (American English): Do not double L. Just add -ed
    • cancel — canceled
    • travel — traveled
    • equal — equaled
  • (British English): Double L + ed
    • cancel — cancelled
    • travel — travelled
    • equal — equalled
all other verbs (not mentioned above) ➔ just add -ed
  • wash — washed
  • open — opened
  • help — helped
  • return — returned
  • pull — pulled
  • punch — punched

Past Participle of some Irregular Verbs

Verb Past Simple Past Participle
be was/were been
become became become
begin began begun
break broke broken
bring brought brought
buy bought bought
choose chose chosen
come came come
cost cost cost
do did done
drink drank drunk
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
feel felt felt
find found found
fly flew flown
forget forgot forgotten
get got got
give gave given
go went gone
have had had
hear heard heard
keep kept kept
know knew known
leave left left
lose lost lost
make made made
meet met met
pay paid paid
put put put
read read read
run run run
say said said
see saw seen
sell sold sold
send sent sent
sing sang sung
sit sat sat
sleep slept slept
speak spoke spoken
spend spent spent
stand stood stood
swim swam swum
take took taken
teach taught taught
tell told told
think thought thought
understand understood understood
wear wore worn
write wrote written

already, just, yet in Present Perfect

ALREADY
Meaning
before the present time; earlier
Type of sentence
affirmative (+) and question (?)
Position in a sentence
  • (+) between have/has and the main verb
  • (?) between the subject and the main verb
  • (+) We have already told him the truth.
  • (+) She has already heard about that.
  • (+) I have already seen this movie.
  • (+) He has already had breakfast.
  • (?) Have you already called your mother?
  • (?) Have they already visited John?
  • (?) Has he already cleaned his room?
  • (?) Has she already returned from the USA?
JUST
Meaning
very recently; a short time ago
Type of sentence
affirmative (+)
Position in a sentence
(+) between have/has and the main verb
  • (+) He has just finished his report.
  • (+) I have just met David in the park.
  • (+) She has just drunk a cup of coffee.
  • (+) It has just started to rain.
YET
Meaning
something has not been done or finished until the present time
Type of sentence
negative (−) and question (?)
Position in a sentence
  • (−) at the end of the sentence
  • (?) at the end of the sentence
  • (−) She hasn’t sent the email yet.
  • (−) We haven’t discussed the problem yet.
  • (−) I haven’t asked her yet.
  • (−) He hasn’t read the book yet.
  • (?) Have you written an essay yet?
  • (?) Has he spoken to Emma yet?
  • (?) Have they started their project yet?
  • (?) Has she arrived yet?
Practice!

since and for in Present Perfect

Use since and for to say how long.
Kevin is on a business trip in Canada. He is in Canada now. He arrived in Canada on Tuesday. Today is Saturday.
How long had Kevin been in Canada?
  • He has been in Canada ➔ since Tuesday.
  • He has been in Canada ➔ for 5 days.
since for
Use since + the start of the period (since Tuesday)
Use for + a period of time (for 5 days)
Using since (English Grammar - Present Perfect)
Using for (English Grammar - Present Perfect)
  • since Monday/‌Tuesday/‌Wednesday etc.
  • since April
  • since 2018
  • since 7 o’clock
  • since Christmas
  • since I was nine years old
  • for 5 days
  • for ten minutes
  • for two hours
  • for a week/‌month/‌year
  • for a long time
  • for ages
  • We haven’t been here since Monday. (= from Monday to now)
  • I haven’t seen her since April. (= from April to now)
  • He has lived in Lisbon since he was nine years old. (from the age he was nine to now)
  • We have been here for two hours. (= for the period of two hours).
  • They have known the truth for a long time. (= for a long period of time).
  • He hasn’t seen her for years. (= for a long period)
Practice!