Present Perfect

What it means

The present perfect connects the past with now. Something happened before now and the exact time is not important, or it started in the past and is still true now.

How to make it

• I / you / we / they + have + past participle → I have finished.
• He / she / it + has + past participle → She has gone.
• Short forms: I've, you've, she's, they've
• Regular verbs: the past participle is the -ed form → work → worked
• Irregular verbs: learn the third form → go → gone, eat → eaten, see → seen, be → been
• Negative → haven't / hasn't + past participle: I haven't finished.
• Question → Have / Has + subject + past participle: Have you finished?

When to use it

• Life experiences, with no time given: Have you ever eaten durian? I've been to Japan.
• Something that started in the past and continues now: She has worked here since 2019.
• A recent action with a result now: I've just finished my report. (It is ready now.)
• for + a length of time: for two years, for five years
• since + a starting point: since 2019, since Monday

Compare

• Present perfect – no finished time, linked to now: I have seen that film.
• Past simple – a finished time is given: I saw that film last week.
• Finished-time words always need the past simple: yesterday, last week, last year, in 2020, two days ago

Common mistakes

• ❌ I have seen him yesterday. → ✅ I saw him yesterday. (yesterday is a finished time)
• ❌ I live here since 2020. → ✅ I have lived here since 2020. (it started in the past and still continues)
• ❌ She has worked here for 2019. → ✅ She has worked here since 2019. (2019 is a starting point)