Level: beginner
The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of a verb.
We use the present perfect:
- for something that started in the past and continues in the present:
They've been married for nearly fifty years.
She has lived in Liverpool all her life.
- when we are talking about our experience up to the present:
I've seen that film before.
I've played the guitar ever since I was a teenager.
He has written three books and he is working on another one.
We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience up to the present:
My last birthday was the worst day I have ever had.
and we use never for the negative form:
Have you ever met George?
Yes, but I've never met his wife.
- Present perfect 1
- Present perfect 2
- for something that happened in the past but is important in the present:
I can't get in the house. I've lost my keys.
Teresa isn't at home. I think she has gone shopping.
- Present perfect 3
- Present perfect 4
have been and have gone
We use have/has been when someone has gone to a place and returned:
A: Where have you been?
B: I've just been out to the supermarket.
A: Have you ever been to San Francisco?
B: No, but I've been to Los Angeles.
But when someone has not returned, we use have/has gone:
A: Where's Maria? I haven't seen her for weeks.
B: She's gone to Paris for a week. She'll be back tomorrow.
- have been and have gone
Present perfect with time adverbials
We often use the present perfect with adverbials which refer to the recent past:
| recently | just | only just |
Scientists have recently discovered a new breed of monkey.
We have just got back from our holidays.
or adverbials which include the present:
| so far until now up to now ever (in questions) yet (in questions and negatives) |
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Where have you been up to now?
A: Have you finished your homework yet?
B: No, so far I've only done my history.
After a clause with the present perfect we often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:
I've worked here since I left school.
I've been watching that programme every week since it started.
- Present perfect with time adverbials 1
- Present perfect with time adverbials 2
| Be careful! | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| We do not use the present perfect with adverbials which refer to a finished past time: | |||||
| |||||
| but we can use the present perfect with adverbials which refer to a time which is not yet finished: | |||||
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- Present perfect and past simple 1
- Present perfect and past simple 2
Level: intermediate
Present perfect continuous
The present perfect continuous is formed with have/has been and the -ing form of the verb.
We normally use the present perfect continuous to emphasise that something is still continuing in the present:
She has been living in Liverpool all her life.
It's been raining for hours.
I'm tired out. I've been working all day.
They have been staying with us since last week.
We do not normally use the present perfect continuous with stative verbs. We use the present perfect simple instead:
I've always
been likingliked John.
- Present perfect continuous 1
- Present perfect continuous 2
Present perfect for future
We normally use the present simple to talk about the future in clauses with before, after, until, etc.:
I'll keep looking until I find my book.
We'll begin when everyone arrives.
but we can also use the present perfect:
I'll keep looking until I have found my book.
We'll begin when everyone has arrived.
Hi Team,
What I don’t fully understand about the 'present relevance' aspect of the Present Perfect, as opposed to the Simple Past, is that there are countless examples of Simple Past sentences that could easily be interpreted as having present relevance.
For instance:
Present Perfect with obivos present relevance: I can't go to your party because I've broken my leg.
However, the exact same meaning is conveyed with a Simple Past sentence: I can't go to your party because I broke my leg yesterday.
How to better explain this to my students? I obviously understand that the SP sentence references a recent past action which is "close to now", but PP is also often explained as a recent past action with present relevance.
Thank you.
Adam
Hello Adam,
There are multiple ways of expressing pretty much every concept in a language, of course, so this is not an issue purely related to the present perfect. I think the key here is focus or emphasis.
When we use a present perfect we are explicitly linking a past event or action with a present consequence. In other words, if I say 'I've broken my leg' you immediately understand that I am telling you about my current situation in some way. This may be because the situation is still physically true (my leg is broken now) or it may be something more distant, such as having the experience in my life (I can tell you about it, teach you, help you, empathise with you etc.).
When we use a past simple we are describing a completed action. It may still be true and it may still be relevant but this is not inherent in the verb form so it requires interpretation from the listener or some lexical connection (such as 'because') to make it apparent. Sometimes the context is sufficiently clear that there is only one interpretation, but sometimes it is not.
In terms of teaching, I think a good approach would be to show learners examples when only one form is possible and contrast them with examples in which they have a choice of form, and then to show them that choosing the past simple often requires some lexical addition ('because', 'as a result', 'therefore' etc) to make the connection explicit. But I would also emphasise that all languages have multiple ways to express the same concept and it is one of the ways in which languages allow us to be creative and fully expressive. It would be a sad, poor language which did not do this - as Orwell showed with his concept of Newspeak in 1984.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello teachers,
I have a question about the Present Perfect. I read in various references that Present Simple is used when speaking about a past action which happened at an unspecific time even the action is not important or related to the present
Is that right ?
Thanks for your efforts
Hello Ahmad_Sy_96,
This is sometimes called present perfect for experience as it is often used to describe a person's life experiences:
However, I would say that the information given in these sentences is related to the present. When I tell you about my life experience I am telling you about what made me the person I am, and also what knowledge I have. For example, if I tell you I have visited many countries it means that I have knowledge of them and can tell you about them.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you, Mrs. Peter, for your enriching response.
I just want to ensure that I fully understand the possibility of using different tenses in cases like the examples you mentioned. When the relation to life experience isn't clearly identified, if we use the past simple instead of the present perfect, will it be wrong?
One additional inquiry: if we're describing an action that happened at an unspecified time in the past and it doesn't have any relationship with life experience or any effect on the present, could we use the present perfect?
Hello again Ahmad_Sy_96,
I'm not a Mrs but a Mr! However, just 'Peter' is fine. We try not to be very formal on LearnEnglish.
When the action is complete and presented as a historical fact then the past simple is fine. However, we need to give a time reference of some kind. This can be implied in the sentence itself or even in the nature of the action. For example:
Last summer I went to Egypt.
Really? I went there too. How long were you there?
The time does not need to be stated as it is established in the first sentence.
Sorry I'm late. I missed the bus!
The time is clear from the context.
I went to a very small primary school.
The time is clear as we know when (at what age) a person goes to primary school.
If the time is merely 'at some point during my life' then the present perfect is generally used.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I want to know the difference between present perfect and present perfect continuous
Hello Ebtsam saber,
You can read an explanation of this on our Present perfect simple and continuous page.
In addition to reading the explanation and doing the exercises, I'd recommend reading through the comments on the page. There's usually a lot to learn from other people's insightful questions.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello team, i have a question.
My text book have the following exercise:
Read the situations and complete the sentences:
Joe and Lisa are on holiday in Japan. They’ve been to Japan once before. This is the second time __________
My answer was:(they have gone to japan). Because they haven’t returned so it can’t be the second time they have “been” to japan
But the correct answer was:(they have been to japan). Can you explain this exercise for me? Thank you in advance
Hello itzSaif123457,
You're correct that as forms of 'go', 'they have gone to' means they have not returned, while 'they have been to' means that they have come back.
However, we can also use 'have been to' as an alternative to 'have visited', so it is possible in this context. The answer in your book is therefore correct, but your answer is also possible.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello support team
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Your country joined the EU, and as far as I know, you are a big fan of the EU.
Your country has joined the EU, and as far as I know, you are a big fan of the EU.
Hello Amir__760__,
This really depends on the context in which the sentence appears. However the second sentence is much less likely to be appropriate.
Generally, the past simple (joined) needs to have a past time reference such as last year, on Tuesday or in 2023. However, such a time reference could be understood if both participants in the conversation know it, or if it is implied by the context of the conversation.
The present perfect (has joined) would suggest that this is something new which has happened very recently and/or that the person hearing about this did not know it before. If this is the case then the present perfect would be possible. However, since no countries have joined the EU for many years - the last enlargement was in 2013 - this form seems unlikely unless the person hearing the sentence did not know that their country had joined the EU and was hearing about it for the first time, which is not a very likely situation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peter, thank you for your detailed answer. If I wanted to, for example, tell my friend about my French learning and he wouldn't know when I started learning French, how should I express it?
I've started learning French.
I started learning French.
Hello again Amir__760__,
If this is new information, that is to say if your friend does not know that you are learning French, then you would use I've started...
However, if you wanted to tell your friend when you started then you would use I started... (e.g.) last week.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, Sir.
I wanted to know if the two sentences are correct.
1. Did any of your friends graduate this year?
2. Have any of your friends graduated this year?
I think sentence 1 is more correct because the action finished although the time is not over. Personally it's not possible that "graduate" happens again.
However, we can use the present perfect to introduce a new piece of information, so I think the present perfect is also correct.
Thank you for your time.
Hello Sokhomkim,
Yes, both sentences are possibly correct. Which one is better depends on when the graduation was, what day it is now and how the speaker views the events or how relevant the graduation might be to the situation the speaker and listener are in. There are many different possibilities.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Thank you so much, Sir.
1. My friends graduated in October. Now it's November. The year is not over yet. Is it correct to say "my friends graduated from high school this year.
2. My friends graduated in December (2023). Now it's Jan 1, 2024. Can I use the phrase "this year"? "My friends graduated from high school this year."
A friend of mine told me that "this year" is only used with the present perfect because the time is not over.
Your reply is really a big help for me.
Thank you for your time.
Hello Sokhomkim,
Yes, 1 is correct.
In the case of 2, if you're thinking of an academic year from September to June, then yes, it's fine to say 'this year'. If you're thinking of the calendar year, then it would be strange to say 'this year'; instead, I'd probably say 'last month'. You could even say 'just' if you take a perspective that last month is relatively recent -- in the grand scheme of most people's lives, one month is not a long time ago.
As you can see, it really depends a lot on how the speaker sees the situation.
What your friend told you about 'this year' and the present perfect is a general rule that teachers often give to students. Many such rules -- like this one -- don't cover the vast field of possible uses of different forms. They are useful, but it's more important to understand the logic behind them, which I can see you are working hard to do. Keep it up!
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
Is there an option to download the explanations and exercises of this page?
Thanks
Hello Christine Athens,
We have not created PDFs of these pages, but if the copy is for your own personal use, you are welcome to copy the explanation and exercises into a document.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
could explain why "create" without "s"?
"Have you ever watched somebody create a stunning painting?"
Hello viva,
We add -s to regular third-person present forms, so we normally say he (she/it) creates, as you suggest. However, the construction here is watch someone + base form: watch him create. The main verb (which does have -s in the present simple) is 'watch'.
The other sense verbs work in the same way:
watch something happen > see / hear / listen to / feel / smell something happen
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, happy to read you
Could I use present simple to answer the question with present perfect tense?
E.g Why has she left?
She is busy dealing with her tasks.
Hi Khangvo2812,
Yes, you can. Even though the answer has a different tense, it still clearly answers the original question.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish
There have been a lot of Vietnamese who thought I was a boy when they first heard my name because my name is very common for boys.
Could I combine the tenses like the above?
Hi Khangvo2812,
Yes, sure! It's correctly written and the meaning is clear.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
I would like to ask regarding the question you have made in the section "Present perfect continuous 1"
why is the question "Stefan has been looking really sad since he came back from holiday. Do you know what's the matter?" using present perfect continuous? isnt it started since in the past bc there is "since he came back from holiday?" why wasn't it written in present prefect?
Hi ashiecajlenreese,
We can use "since" phrases with the present perfect continuous too (not just the present perfect simple). But the present perfect continuous emphasises that the action continues into the present moment. The present perfect simple can also mean that, but the continuous form emphasises the "still happening now" meaning more. It seems like a really current and immediate concern for the speaker. In comparison, if we say "Stefan has looked really sad since ...", the issue seems less immediate.
Also, it's common to use continuous forms for actions that we consider to be temporary, or not the usual situation, which also seems to be the case here.
I hope that helps to understand it.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello, Sir.
I wanted to know why the present perfect simple is the correct option.
A: I'm very hungry.
B: I'm not surprised. You ..... all day.
a. haven't been eating
b. haven't eaten
I think the phrase "all day" is mostly used with the perfect continuous except the stative verbs. Could I use the present perfect continuous in the sentence above? If so, I wanted to know what the difference between them is.
Thank you for your time.
Best Wishes!
Hello Sokhomkim,
The simple form is best here because you are interested in the result of a situation. Generally, the progressive form focuses on the activity, especially an incomplete or interrupted activity, while the simple form focuses on the result. Here are some examples to clarify:
It's generally more a question of nuance than a black and white rule, of course.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi,
can you please clarify this? you have mentioned here that present perfect tense can be used when saying something which happened in past but important for now.
Is this sentence correct "I cannot enter my home because I have lost the key yesterday?
I have heard like present perfect tense should not be used when describing an event which happened in definite time in past and simple past tense has to be used instead
Please kindly sort this out
advance thanks
Hi zamrasahamed,
Yes, what you said at the end of your message is right. With the present perfect, the past time is not normally given. Both of these sentences are fine:
In both sentences, "I lost the key yesterday" and "I have lost the key" are clearly important now, since they are the cause of the current situation ("I cannot enter my home"). However, in the first sentence, the word "yesterday" locates the action "lost the key" at a past moment, so the past simple is used. In the second sentence, no time is mentioned, and the use of the present perfect presents the action as relatively recent and connected to the present topic or situation.
It's not usual to use the present perfect with a defined past time moment, e.g. I cannot enter my home because I have lost the key yesterday, and this may be considered a grammatical mistake.
I hope that helps!
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
Could you explain why present perfect is used when we use the time adverbial like for the past three days?
Hi Khangvo2812,
If you say for the past three days, the meaning is "from three days ago until now". It is a time period that is unfinished at the moment of "now". We use the present perfect to talk about actions in this unfinished time period.
You may be interested in our Present perfect page (linked), which has a few more examples and exercises about this. I hope it helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello
example
This car has been sold ten times
can I say life experience for things ?
Hello HLH,
Yes, that's fine.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peter
can I use ever for things
example
Has this car ever been damaged?
Hello again.
Yes, you can use the present perfect to describe things which happen in an unfinished time period (a person's life when they are still alive, an object's history when the object still exists etc). Once the time period is finished (the person dies, for example, or the object no longer exists) you use a past form.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
My friend said"I'm hungry" at 3:00 pm, should I ask him have you had lunch or did you have lunch?
Hello Khangvo2812,
Both are possible. I think 'Have you...' sounds better as you are talking about something with a present result. However, I'm a British English speaker and speakers of other dialects may prefer 'Did you...' In US English, for example, the past simple is common in this kind of context.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I have a question. Are these sentences have the same meaning? Is there any difference?
1. I have not been to Qatar.
2. I have never been to Qatar.
Thank you.
Hi PN,
They have a similar meaning, but sentence 2 with "never" is more emphatic. "Never" means "not at any time".
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello, Is it possible to ask a question about the previous lesson?
Thank you.
Hi capelle,
Sure, feel free to post your questions here! We'll try our best to help.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Good Afternoon Sir. I have gone through the entire lesson on present perfect as well as the comments thereunder.
Although the lesson is well-prepared with lots of practice exercises, still I have some doubts left in my mind.
May I request you to please clear the following doubts:-
1. I have had a headache. Does it mean that "headache started at some unspecified time in the past & continues up to the present moment" i.e. I am still suffering from headache or "headache started at some unspecified time in the past & ended in the past itself" i.e. I am no longer suffering from headache or can it mean both.
2. In the comments section, someone asked "He has been a soldier" and he was told that it means "he was a soldier at some point in time but no longer now". Other person asked "He has been a software Engineer" and he was told it could mean both "He may be a software Engineer now or He may not be". How to interpret the meaning of " He has been a soldier or software engineer or businessman etc."
3. Normally, if a sentence in present perfect is followed by a prepositional phrase (for/since) then it means that the action continues up to the present moment such as He has been married for 30 years (still married) or I have known him for 10 years (still known to me). But It is mentioned in the comment section that "I have waited for 03 hours" means that the action of waiting is completed. How to interpret present perfect tenses with for/since.
Thank You
Regards
Mohit Gupta
Hello Mohit,
It's difficult to respond to these questions without knowing the context for the utterances you're asking about. The context is important because it tells us something about the speaker's perspective and purpose. But I'll make some comments that perhaps are useful.
'I've had a headache' would normally have a time clause with 'since' or 'for' accompanying it. In these cases, I would understand it to mean that the speaker still has the headache at the time of speaking. Perhaps you come home and find your brother laying on the sofa. He's normally very active and so you ask him if he's OK and he says, 'I've had a headache for the past three hours and can't concentrate'.
Regarding 2, I'm afraid I don't have time to go and find the comments you've asked about, but I imagine it was due to the context mentioned in them, or perhaps the context we imagined when responding. In a job interview context, saying 'He has been a soldier/software engineer' could be used to refer to a person's specific past work experience, i.e. to say he has experience in that position, but it could also be used to refer to the job they still currently have. It depends.
Regarding 3, it's difficult for me to imagine a situation when someone would say this. People normally use a present perfect continuous form to talk about waiting that is still in progress, i.e. 'I've been waiting for three hours' is what we'd normally say if we're still waiting at the time of speaking.
I hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
Could you check this sentence for me?
I haven’t met you for a long time. How’s everything going?
Hello Khangvo2812,
Among native speakers, we'd use 'haven't seen' or some other verb instead of 'haven't met', but in international contexts, people use sentences like this all the time and they are fine.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello team!
I have a question regarding "for and since" can I use them at the beginning of the sentence?
For example:
Since 2020(,) I have been a teacher.
For three years(,)I have been a teacher.
And can be written with commas or without?