Present Perfect

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

Affirmative sentences
regular verbs
I/we/you/they have opened the window.
He/she/it has opened the window.

irregular verbs
I/we/you/they have gone to the supermarket.
He/she/it has gone to the supermarket.

Negative sentences
regular verbs
irregular verbs
I/we/you/they have not opened the window. I/we/you/they have not gone to the supermarket.
He/she/it has not opened the window.
He/she/it has not gone to the supermarket.
NOTE: We use has in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it).

Questions
regular verbs
irregular verbs
Have I/we/you/they opened the window? Have I/we/you/they gone to the supermarket?
Has he/she/it opened the window?
Has he/she/it gone to the supermarket?

Long forms and short forms in the Present Perfect

We often use short forms of the auxiliaries. The Present Perfect is formed with the auxiliary
have. So short forms are used frequently with the Present Perfect.
negative (have not)
affirmative
long form
short form
long form
short form
I, we, you, they: I, we, you, they:
I, we, you, they: I, we, you, they:
I haven't gone
I have gone
I've gone
I have not gone or
he, she, it:
he, she, it:
I've not gone
he has gone
he's gone
he, she, it:
he, she, it:
he hasn't gone
he has not gone or
he's not gone

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

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
Sometimes there 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

2) one -e at the end of the word Leave out the -e. Add -d.
love loved

3) verbs ending in y Change 'y' to 'i' after a consonant. Then add -ed.
worry - worried

Special verbs in the Present Perfect

1) have as a full verb

affirmative sentence negative sentence

question
I, we, you, they:
I have had a book.
I have not had a book. Have I had a book?
he, she, it:
He has had a book.
He has not had a book. Has he had a book?

affirmative sentence
I, we, you, they:
I have been to Britain.
he, she, it:
He has been to Britain.

2) be as a full verb
negative sentence

question

I have not been to Britain. Have I been to Britain?

He has not been to Britain. Has he been to Britain?

affirmative sentence
I, we, you, they:
I have done an exercise.
he, she, it:
He has done an exercise.

3) do as a full verb
negative sentence

question

I have not done an exercise. Have I done an exercise?

He has not done an exercise. Has he done an exercise?

Present Perfect - Use

1) Result of an action in the past is important in the present
I have cleaned my room.

2) Recently completed action

He has just played handball.

3) State beginning in the past and still continuing

We have lived in Canada since 1986.

4) Together with lately, recently, yet

I have been to London recently.

Put in the verbs in brackets into the gaps. Use Present Perfect.
Answer: I have washed my father's car.

1) Karen

me an e-mail. (to send)

2) Dave and Pat

3) I

the museum. (to visit)

at the pet shop. (to be)

4) They

already

5) Marcus

an accident. (to have)

6) We
7) I

their rucksacks. (to pack)

the shopping for our grandmother. (to do)

just

8) Emily

my bike. (to clean)

her room. (to paint)

9) Lisa and Colin

10) My friends

to a concert. (to go)

smoking. (to give up)

Put in the verbs in brackets into the gaps. Use Present Perfect. Mind the signal words (if given).
Example: I ______________ a new T-shirt. (just/to buy)
Answer: I have just bought a new T-shirt.

1) The students
2) The cat
3) Jack and Brian
4) He
5) Julia
6) My friends
7) I
8) The baby hedgehogs
9) The teacher

a flight to Vienna. (to book)

a mouse. (just/to catch)
this picture. (to draw)
his friends. (already/to invite)
a table with three columns. (to make)
the Geography test. (to pass)
the rabbits. (just/to feed)
the water. They are sleeping now. (to drink)
the keys, so he can't open the door. (to lose)

10) We

the worksheets. (already/to download)

Use the words in brackets and form questions in the Present Perfect Simple. Mind the word order.
Example: ______________ the car? (she/to clean/yet)
Answer: Has she cleaned the car yet?

1)

here

2)

the e-mail to Grandma

3) Why

five years? (John/to live/for)

? (the twins/to write/yet)

so much money on sweets? (Dan/to spend)

4)

the talk in History

5)

the house before their parents in the morning? (they/to leave/ever)

6) How often
7)
8) What

in the last Maths lesson? (you/to yawn)

the round table for us

? (waiter/to lay/yet)

? (Olivia/to do/lately)

9) Where in the USA

10) Why

? (Sophie/to prepare/yet)

? (you/to be)
the tyres

? (you/not/to check/yet)

Say what you have already done (+) and what you have not done yet (-).
Example: I ___________________________. (+/already/lay the table)
Answer: I have already laid the table.

1) I

. (+/already/to listen to music)

2) I

. (-/not/to go swimming/yet)

3) I

. (+/already/to take some photos)

4) I

. (+/already/to help Jane in the kitchen)

5) I

. (-/not/to play the guitar/yet)

6) I

. (+/already/to have fun with my friends)

7) I

. (-/not/to wash my shirts/yet)

8) I

. (-/not/to make my bed/yet)

9) I

. (+/already/to do the washing-up)

10) I

. (-/not/to speak to my Maths teacher/yet)

Put in the verbs in brackets into the gaps and form negative sentences in the Present Perfect.
Example: He ______________ to music. (not/to listen)
Answer: He has not listened to music.
or He hasn't listened to music.
or He's not listened to music.

1) Our class

the test yet. (not/to write)

2) Tim and Joe

3) It

a box. (not/to carry)

to snow. (not/to start)

4) The cat

onto the table. (not/to jump)

5) I

the castle. (not/to visit)

6) We

out of the room. (not/to go)

7) Fred

the money. (not/to steal)

8) They

Anne about it. (not/to tell)

9) Steven

through the park. (not/to walk)

10) The teacher

to the party. (not/to come)

Put in the words in brackets into the gaps. Use Present Perfect. Mind the signal word (if given).
Example: I _______________ a new T-shirt ___. (not/to buy/yet)
Answer: I have not bought a new T-shirt yet.
or I haven't bought a new T-shirt yet.
or I've not bought a new T-shirt yet.

1) She
2) They

hasn't tided
haven't used

her room

yet

a Tablet PC

. (not/to tidy up/yet)

so far

. (not/to use/so far)

hasn't polished

3) My father

haven't read

4) The children

hasn't made

6) His mother

haven't skated

8) My boss

10) Sarah

breakfast

hasn't phoned

yet

. (not/to read/yet)

the words, so they will probably fail the test. (not/to learn)

on a lake in winter

hasn't w ashed

9) He

the comics

haven't learnt

5) Jason and Tony

7) I

the car. It is still dirty. (not/to polish)

yet

. (not/to make/so far)

yet

. (not/to skate/yet)

the helpline. (not/to phone)

his favourite T-shirt himself. (not/to wash)

hasn't took

out

her dog

. (not/to take out/yet)

Put in the correct verb forms into the gaps. Use the Present Perfect.
Example: ___ she _____ the car? (to clean)
Answer: Has she cleaned the car?

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Have
Has
Has
Has
Has

6) What
7)
8)

Has
Have

9) Who
10)

Have

you

painted

the kitchen door? (to paint)

done

your brother
Julian ever

toched

your father ever

Lee
have

Bill

asked

you

has broken

a spider? (to touch)

ridden

on an elephant? (to ride)

his parents yet? (to ask)

w ritten

turned off

you ever

the shopping? (to do)

in your text? (to write)

the radio? (to turn off)

flow n

in a helicopter? (to fly)

the window? (to break)

you ever

cooked

for your friends? (to cook)

Put in the words in brackets into the gaps. Use Present Perfect. Mind the types of the sentences
and the signal words (if given).
Example: ________________ the car ___? (you/to clean/yet)
Answer: Have you cleaned the car yet?

haven't never w orked

1) I
2)

Has Robin ever missed

the school bus? (Robin/to miss/ever)

3) They
4)

in a restaurant before. (never/to work)

have know n

Have you dyied

5) She

8) We
9) Tom

your hair

has visited

6) My parents
7) He

each other

? (you/to dye/yet)

India twice. (to visit)

hasn't brushed

me a lot

his teeth

have already planted

10) Ken and Fred

a long time now. (to know/for)

yet

have helped

have grow n

for

yet

since

I lost my job. (to help/since)

. (not/to brush/yet)

the apple tree. (already/to plant)

a lot

haven't decided

since

I last saw him. (to grow up/since)

to go to the party

yet

. (not/to decide/yet)