Lesson 11 - Present Perfect Tense
Conversations
Tom and Sarah are talking during lunch break. Tom mentions a new band that he really likes.
Tom: Have you heard any of the songs from the new band Syndica?
Sarah: No I haven't heard of that band before.
Tom: They've only been around for about a year. They released their first album just last week.
Sarah: Have they played any shows around here?
Eric: They've played at the Commodore theater before. They have another concert planned next month. I've already bought a ticket for it.
Sarah: I'll listen to them tonight, and if I like them, maybe I'll go too.
Eric: It'll be a great show. I haven't been to any concerts lately, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Sarah: I haven't seen any good concerts yet this year either.
Tom: Let me know if you decide to go to the concert. Tom and I, and maybe a few others, are going to have dinner before the show. You're welcome to join us.
Sarah: Thanks. It sounds like fun.
Vocabulary and Phrases
Let me know if you decide to go to the concert.
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You're welcome to join us.
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It sounds like fun.
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Have they played any shows around here?
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songs
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band
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before
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during
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they released
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album
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just last week
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concert
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to mention
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to like
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to plan
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theater
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ticket
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maybe
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to look forward to
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Grammar
The Past Participle
The past participle is a form of a verb. A past participle can be used as an adjective, or together with the verb to have to indicate past actions. The past participle is often formed by adding ed or d to the end of the verb, but there are many common verbs with irregular forms. This lesson will discuss these concepts in more detail, but first have a look at the following table which shows the past tense and past participle of some very common verbs.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was | been | |
| begin | began | begun | |
| choose | chose | chosen | |
| close | closed | closed | |
| come | came | come | |
| do | did | done | |
| drink | drank | drunk | |
| eat | ate | eaten | |
| feel | felt | felt | |
| find | found | found | |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | |
| give | gave | given | |
| go | went | gone | |
| happen | happened | happened | |
| have | had | had | |
| know | knew | known | |
| learn | learned | learned | |
| let | let | let | |
| like | liked | liked | |
| live | lived | lived | |
| need | needed | needed | |
| open | opened | opened | |
| run | ran | run | |
| say | said | said | |
| see | saw | seen | |
| sit | sat | sat | |
| sleep | slept | slept | |
| speak | spoke | spoken | |
| stand | stood | stood | |
| take | took | taken | |
| talk | talked | talked | |
| tell | told | told | |
| think | thought | thought | |
| touch | touched | touched | |
| turn | turned | turned | |
| walk | walked | walked | |
| want | wanted | wanted | |
| wish | wished | wished | |
| write | wrote | written |
Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is created in English by using the past participle of a verb along with the present tense of the verb have.
The following table shows how to create the present perfect tense for the verb walk.
| Present Perfect Tense |
|---|
| I have walked |
| you have walked |
| he has walked |
| she has walked |
| it has walked |
| we have walked |
| they have walked |
The present perfect tense is used in English to describe:
- An action that started in the past and continues into the present
- An action that started in the past and just finished
- A repeated series of actions that have finished in the past, but are likely to happen again in the future
- An action that happend at an unknown time in the past, or when the action happened is unimportant.
For example:
| I've gone to see the ocean. |
| I have seen the ocean. |
| I have seen the ocean many times. |
| I have seen the ocean, but I can't remember when. |
| I have seen the ocean, but it doesn't matter when. |
Never use the present perfect tense with with words such as today, yesterday, days of the week, or other words that indicate a specific time. For example:
| I saw the ocean yesterday. |
| I saw the ocean on Monday. |
| I saw the ocean in June. |
| I saw the ocean on our vacation. |
Examples
| I have been to Spain. | |
| She has gotten better at math. | |
| I have learned another language. | |
| I have never done that. | |
| They have done that already. | |
| We have seen the movie. | |
| He has written a book. | |
| The book has been read by many people. | |
| Have you ever seen a bear? | |
| Has the car ever worked? | |
| Have the books been read yet? | |
| Have you thought about it? |
Contractions
Contractions are often used with pronouns and have.
Examples
| I've done that too many times. | |
| We've never been there. | |
| You've seen it already. | |
| She's taken that course before. | |
| He's watched the show five times already. | |
| It hasn't happened before. |
Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the present perfect tense of some common English verbs.
Quiz
In the quiz for this lesson, you'll practice writing sentences using the present perfect tense. You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.
