Grammar - Present Perfect

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The present perfect tense is:

                Has/have + past participle of verb

The rules of the Present Perfect:

1. Used to refer to a past action without stating the exact time of the action.
• I have visited Europe before.
• We’ve already seen this movie.
• The children have just gone to bed.
• My aunt has just arrived from Australia.
• My cousins have already arrived from Australia.

In some cases, it is also used to refer to an action in the past with a result now:

• I’ve lost my house keys. (=I can’t find my keys now)
• We’ve bought a new house. (=we have a new house now)
• ‘Rachael is on holiday.’    ‘Oh, where has she gone?’

2. Used with words like since and for to refer to an action that began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking. Since is used to refer to the start of a period of time and for is used to refer to the entire period of time.

·         Mike has been waiting at the bus stop since 8 o’clock. (He is still there)

·         Mike has been waiting at the bus stop for 10 minutes. (He is still there)

3. Used with adverbs of indefinite time such as already and just to show completed actions.

·         Your letter has already arrived. (the letter arrived earlier than expected)

·         My parents have just come home. (they came home a few minutes ago)

4. Used with never and yet to show that an action has not taken place up to the point of speaking.

·   They have never been to the US. (they did not go there at any time in the past)

Yet in negative sentences:

• The guests haven’t arrived yet.
• I haven’t told my parents about the fight at school yet.
• Shane hasn’t worn his new shoes yet.
• They haven’t moved into their new house yet.

Yet in questions:

• Have the guests arrived yet?
• Have you started packing for your trip yet?
• Has Keith met your new neighbour yet?
• Has your mother worn her new shoes yet?

Note:

Positive & Negative Sentences

·         I/we/you/they + have (‘ve)/have not (haven’t) + past participle

·         He/she/it + has (‘s)/has not (hasn’t) + past participle

    Questions

• Have + I/we/you/they + past participle
• Has + he/she/it + past participle

* For a list of words in the Present Perfect, please refer to my Past Simple post.