Present perfect tense

I/You/We/You/They have Past Participle

He/She/It has Past Participle

Have I/you/we/you/they Past Participle?

Has he/she/it Past Participle?

I/You/We/You/They have not Past Participle

He/She/It has not Past Participle

You have seen that movie many times.

Have you seen that movie many times?

You have not seen that movie many times.

Use

1. Unspecified point in the past

I have been to Spain three times. (At some unspecified time in the past, I went to Spain).

Compare with the Past Simple:

I went to Spain three times in 2005. (specified time in the past - the year 2005)

2. An action that occurred in the past, but has a result in the present (now)

We can't find our luggage. Have you seen it?

(The luggage was lost in the past, do you know where it is now?)

3. Talking about general experiences (ever, never)

It usually refers to an event happening at some moment in your life.

Has she ever tried Chilean wine before? (in her life)

I've never eaten monkey brains before. (in my life)

4. Events that recently occurred (just)

Do you want to go to a restaurant with me?

No, thanks. I've just eaten lunch. (I recently ate lunch.)

5. Events that have occurred up to now (yet)

Are Carlos and Rodrigo here? No, they haven't arrived yet. (they're still not here now)

6. Events that occurred before you expected (already)

I've already graduated from University. (I expected to graduate at a later date.)

7. Events that began in the past and haven't changed (for, since)

Mike has worked at Woodward for 3 years.

(Mike started working at Woodward 3 years ago and he still works there now.)

Julie has worked at Woodward since September of last year.

(Julie began working at Woodward in September of last year, and that hasn't changed - she still works here now.)

Present Perfect or Past Simple?

The Present Perfect tells us about the past and the present. - United have won the Cp, so it’s theirs now.

The Past Simple tells us about the past, a time which is finished. – Last year is in the past.

We use the Past Simple (not the Present Perfect) to talk about times in the past such as yesterday, last week, in 1994, a hundred years ago.

We watched United last week. NOT We have watched United last week.

Long ago dinosaurs lived here. NOT Long ago dinosaurs have lived here.

For and since

To say how long a current situation has lasted

We use since with a point in time in the past (8 o’clock, 1975, August, last week, I was born, he arrived).

I’ve lived here since 2004.

Things have been better since I changed schools.

We use for with a period of time that continues until now (82 years, a month, a few minutes, half an hour, ages, hundreds of years).

I’ve lived here for four years.

My dad has had the same car for fifteen years.

You can also use for with the Past Simple. Compare theses sentences.

Present Perfect: I’ve lived in Hamburg for three years / since 1998. (I still live in Hamburg).

Past Simple: I lived in Hamburg for three years /from 1995 to 1998. (Now I live somewhere else).

We also use the negative form of the Present Perfect with for and since to say the last time something happened.

The last time I spoke to David was two days ago. = I haven’t spoken to David for two days.

Exercise 1. Write positive sentences in Present Perfect Simple.

The following people have just completed an action.

1. Bob / visit / his grandma

2. Jimmy / play / on the computer

3. Sue and Walter / wash / their car

4. Andrew / repair / his bike

5. Phil / help / Anne with Maths

6. Brad and Louise / watch / a film

7. Tamara / talk to / her best friend

8. Bridgette / draw / a picture

9. Carol / read / a computer magazine

10. Tom and Alice / be / to a restaurant

Exercise 2. Write negative sentences in the Present Perfect Simple.

The weather was wonderful today. So the children were in the park all afternoon and have not done their household chores:

1. Sarah / not / wash the dishes

2. Anita / not / clean the kitchen

3. Maureen and Gavin / not / water the plants

4. Joey / not / make his bed

5. David / not / buy milk

6. Lisa / not / be to the baker's

7. Aran and Jack / not / do their homework

8. Jane and Ben / not / tidy up their rooms

9. Alex / not / feed the hamster

10. Hazel / not / empty the bin

Exercise 3. Write questions in the Present Perfect Simple.

1. you / answer / the question

2. Jenny / lock / the door

3. Walter / call / us

4. you / see / the picture

5. your parents / get / the letter

6. it / rain / a lot

7. how often / we / sing / the song

8. Maureen / watch / the film

9. how many books / Bob / read

10. ever / you / be / to London

Exercise 4. Write the Past Participle of these verbs. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1. see ____ e. find___ i. write ___ m. fall ___

2. buy ___ f. come ___ j. break___ n. rise ___

3. sell ___ g. put ___ k. set ___ o. meet___

4. do ___ h. take___ l. read ___ p. think ___

Exercise 5. Use the prompts to write a sentence.

1. The teacher/arrive. - The teacher has arrived.

2. The students/leave. –

3. The exams/finish. –

4. Danny/break/leg. –

5. I/sent/you/e-mail. –

6. She/see/this film/before. –

7. Dave and Joe/win/a scholarship. –

8. There/be/accident. –

Exercise 6. Put the words in order to make a question. Then write a short answer.

1. You have school finished?

Have you finished school? – Yes, I have./No, I have not.

2. Rained has today it? ______. ______.

3. Done this you exercise have before? _____. _____.

4. Got better has for life people? _____. _____.

5. Have world’s risen temperatures the? _____. _____.

6. Gone petrol the price up has of? _____. _____.

7. At you have seen the play theatre? _____. _____.

8. Season football has the begun? _____. _____.

Exercise 7. Complete the sentence with a verb from the box in the Present Perfect and any other necessary information.

do stop rise get lose arrive change leave

1. Half an hour ago it was raining and now it isn’t. – It has stopped raining.

2. John is at school. His homework is at home. – ___ at home.

3. Ten minutes ago you ordered a pizza by phone. The doorbell is now ringing. – Great. My pizza ___.

4. Last year the school had 540 pupils. This year there are 600. – The number of pupils ___ by 60.

5. You can’t find your revision notes. - ___ notes.

6. You’re doing an experiment. You did the same experiment last week and the week before. – This is the third time ___.

7. Philip Jones goes to your university. Last year he went to a different university. - ___ universities.

8. Last year your school was easy. Now it’s not. – The school work ___ more difficult this year.

Exercise 8. Complete the sentences with for and since.

1. Kathy has been off university ___ last Thursday.

2. Tom has had his own PC ___ a few months now.

3. We haven’t had a holiday ___ Easter.

4. The university has had that old microscope ___ years.

5. They have been friends ___ they were at primary school.

6. I haven’t seen you ___ a while. How are things going?

Exercise 9. Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first.

1. The last time I cooked a meal was on Saturday.

I haven’t cooked a meal since Saturday.

2. The last time I washed up was a week ago. ______ for a week.

3. The last time my dad did any gardening was six months ago.

___ for 6 months.

4. The last time we helped with the shopping was at Christmas. - ___ since Christmas.

5. The last time I did some DIY was when I painted the sitting room.

_____ I painted the sitting room.

Exercise 10. Add a sentence. Use the Present Perfect.

E.g. I’m tired. (I/walk/miles). I’ve walked miles.

1. Emma’s computer is working now. (she/repair/it) _____

2. It’s cooler in here now. (I/open/the window) ____

3. The visitors are here at last. (they/arrive) ____

4. Mark’s car isn’t blocking us in now. (he/move/it) ____

5. We haven’t got any new videos. (we/watch/all these) ____

Exercise 11. Ask for the information in the bold part of the sentence.

1. I have been in the garden. -

2. My sister has cooked dinner.

3. Sue has read the book twice. -

4. My computer has crashed. -

5. Jeane has been on holiday for eight days.

6. Fred has done his homework.

7. Gavin has stopped at the corner.

8. Sarah has bought five books. -

9. Jason has talked to his teacher.

10. Catherine has cleaned the house because she is having a party tonight.

Exercise 12. Put the verbs into the correct form (Present Perfect Simple).

1. I (not / work) ___ today.

2. We (buy) ___ a new lamp.

3. We (not / plan) ___ our holiday yet.

4. Where (be / you) ___?

5. He (write) ___ five letters.

6. She (not / see) ___ him for a long time.

7. (be / you) at school?

8. School (not / start) ___ yet.

9. (speak / he) to his boss?

10. No, he (have / not) ___ the time yet.

Exercise 13. Put the verbs into the correct tense (Past Simple or Present Perfect Simple).

A: (you / play / already) ___ the new computer game?

B: No, not yet. I only (buy) __ it yesterday and I (have / not) __ the time yet.

A: (you / go) ___ to the cinema last night?

B: Yes. I (be) ___ there with Sue and Louis. (you / be) ___ to the cinema recently?

A: I last (go) ___ to the cinema two weeks ago.

B: So you (see / not) ___ the new action film yet.

A: No, unfortunately not. (you / enjoy) ___ it?

B: Oh, I really (love) ___ it. But Sue (like / not) ___ it - too much action!

A: But why (you / take) ___ her with you? She (tell) me last week that she (hate) ___ action films.

B: I think she has an eye on Louis. She (try) ___ to flirt with him all the time. So he (can / concentrate / not) ___ on the film.

Exercise 14. Put the verbs into the correct tense (Past Simple or Present Perfect Simple).

1. William (tidy / already) ___ up his room.

2. Caroline (miss) ___ the schoolbus yesterday.

3. I (finish / just) ___ my homework.

4. I cannot go out tonight. My grandparents (come) ___ to see us.

5. In 2004, the Olympic Summer Games (take) ___ place in Athens.

6. We (watch / not) ___ TV last night.

7. Joanna (read / not) ___ the book yet.

8. Collin (not / go) ___ on holiday last year.

9. I (have / not) ___ any problems so far.

10. They (learn / not) ___ the new words yet.

11. (they / be / ever) to New York?

12. (you / see) Catherine a minute ago?

13. What time (you / get) ___ up today?

Exercise 15. Write replies using the Present Perfect and just.

Use these Past Participle: check, eat, make, remember, ring, tidy

We must find out the address. – It’s all right, I’ve just remembered it.

1. The children’s room looks neat. –Yes, they’ve ___.

2. Is Daniel making some coffee? – It’s ready. ___.

3. What happened to that chocolate? – Sorry, ___.

4. Has Rachel got all the answers right? – Yes, ___.

5. Have you told your sister? – Yes, I’ve ___.

Exercise 16. Andrew is a very hard-working student. It’s midnight and he is still working at his computer. Write sentences with the Present Perfect and for and since.

be/at his computer/six hours – He has been at his computer for six hours.

1. not/have/any fun/a long time - ____.

2. have/a cold/a week - ___.

3. not/see/his friends/ages - ___.

4. not/do/any sport/last year - ___.

5. be/busy with his studies/months - ___.

Exercise 17. Complete the sentences.

e.g. You ought to wash the car. You haven’t washed it for ages. I’d better have a shower. I haven’t had one since Thursday.

1. I think I’ll ring my girlfriend. I haven’t ___ the weekend.

2. We’re going to see some old friends. We haven’t ___ five years.

3. Let’s watch a video, shall we? We haven’t ___ quite a while.

4. We could have a barbecue. We haven’t ___ last summer.

5. Shall we play tennis? We haven’t ___ our holiday.