Present Perfect - Use

Present Perfect - Use

1) Result of an action in the past is important in the present

I have cleaned my room.

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2) Recently completed action

He has just played handball.

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3) Action beginning in the past and still continuing

We have lived in Canada since 1986.

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4) together with lately, recently, yet

I have been to London recently.

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Signal words

just, yet, never, already, ever, so far, up to now, recently, since, for

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Form

have/has + past participle

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Examples

Affirmative sentences:

I have played football.

I've played football. You have played football.

You've played football.

Negative sentences:

I have not played football.

I've not played football.

I haven't played football. You have not played football.

You've not played football.

You haven't played football.

Questions:

Have I played football? Have you played football?

Present Perfect - Signal words

These words tell you what tense you have to use. For the Present Perfect the following words are used frequently:

just

yet

never

already

ever

so far

up to now

recently

since

for

Form of the Present Perfect

We form the Present Perfect with have and the past participle

(regular verbs: infinitive + -ed; irregular verbs: 3rd column of the table of the irregular verbs)

have/has + past participle

has: 3rd person singular (he, she, it)

have: all other forms

past participle:

- regular verbs: infinitive + -ed

- irregular verbs: 3rd column of the table of the irregular verbs

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Affirmative sentences

regular verbs irregular verbs

I/we/you/they have played football. I/we/you/they have gone to the supermarket.

He/she/it has played football. He/she/it has gone to the supermarket.

NOTE: We use has in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it).

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Negative sentences

regular verbs irregular verbs

I/we/you/they have not played football. I/we/you/they have not gone to the supermarket.

He/she/it has not played football. He/she/it has not gone to the supermarket.

NOTE: We use has in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it).

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Questions

regular verbs irregular verbs

Have I/we/you/they playedfootball? Have I/we/you/they gone to the supermarket?

Has he/she/it played football? Has he/she/it gone to the supermarket?

NOTE: We use has in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it).

Present Perfect - Spelling

You have to know all forms of the irregular verbs very well. For the Present Perfect you need the form of the verb which can be found in the 3rd column of the table of the irregular verbs.

go - went - gone

Add -ed with regular verbs.

regular verbs

infinitive + -ed

Sometimes the are exceptions in spelling when adding -ed.

1) consonant after a short, stressed vowel at the end of the word

Double the consonant.

stop – stopped

swap - swapped

We do not double the consonant if it is not stressed:

benefit - benefited (Here we stress the first 'e', not the 'i'.)

In Britsh English

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