Verbs
The Present Perfect is a tense used to talk about completed actions which have occurred in the past which are connected to the present and still have effects on it.
When expressed in its Affirmative form, the verb confirms something about the subject.
The Affirmative form of the Present Perfect is as follows:
Subject + “have/has*” + past participle.
- Have/Has: In Affirmative form the third person singular changes from “have” to “has“;
- Short version of the form is: “have: ‘ve, has: ‘s“.
- Regular Past Participle verbs are formed by adding -d or -ed, to the base form of verbs. Irregular Past Participle verbs have to be learned by heart.
| SUBJECT | HAVE/HAS | PAST PARTICIPLE |
| I/You | have | worked |
| He/She/It | has | worked |
| We/You/They | have | worked |
With Present Perfect tense we often use time expressions like: Ever, Never, Before, Yet, Just, Already, Still, So far, Up until now.
Check the topic Past Participle to learn Irregular verbs.
- Past situations with results in the present
- I have lost my car keys!
- He has put on weight.
- We have finished our homework!
- Finished actions referring to life experiences
- I have talked to her four times.
- This is the best castle she has ever visited.
- They have never travelled without their computer.
We use the Present Perfect to talk about:
- Past situations with results in the present;
- Finished actions referring to life experiences.
We use the Present Perfect to talk about completed actions which have occurred in the past which are connected to the present and still have effects on it. When used in its Affirmative form, something about the subject is confirmed.
The Present Perfect in its Affirmative form has this structure:
Subject + “have” + past participle* (“has” for third person singular).
*The past participle indicates past or completed actions. It is formed by adding -d or -ed, to the base form of regular verbs.
For example:
—”It has rained the whole morning.” = We use the Present Perfect because this finished action happened in the past but still has effects on the present, for example in this case the effect could be that the streets are still wet.
> “It rained the whole morning.” = We use the Past Simple because we talk about a finished past action without the need to emphasize its effects on the present.
NOTE: The Past Participle is usually used to form the perfect tenses. Irregular verbs have different fixed forms which need to be studied by heart.
Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.