Lesson 11 - Present Perfect Tense
Introduction
In this lesson, you'll learn about the verb have. you'll also learn how to use the past participle of verbs as well as how to use the present perfect tense. The lesson starts with a short English conversation.
Conversations
English
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?
Tom: 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.
Eric: 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 Verb Have
The verb have is one of the most common verbs in English and has several different meanings. Here are some of the more common one:
- own
- possess
- hold
- include
- consume or use up
- state the existence of
- to be scheduled to attend undertake, or perform and action
- experience or undergo
- be afflicted with
- cause to be
The verb have is also used as a helper verb to create the present perfect tense, which will be covered later in this lesson. The following table shows the present and past tense of the verb have.
| Present Tense | Past Tense | |
|---|---|---|
| I | have | had |
| you | have | had |
| he | has | had |
| it | has | had |
| she | has | had |
| we | have | had |
| they | have | had |
Examples
| I have a laptop. | |
| I have his car keys. | |
| The door has a lock. | |
| I have a brother. | |
| I had a cold. | |
| I have an appointment at 3:00. | |
| I have too much work to do. | |
| We had a great time. |
The Past Participle
The past particple is a form of a verb that can be used to turn verbs into adjectives. The past participle can also be used with the auxiliary verb have to create certain verb tenses such as the present perfect tense that will be discussed later in the lesson.
For most verbs, the past participle is the same as the past tense. Some example of past participles that are the same as the past tense are shown in the following table.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | closed | closed | |
| learn | learned | learned | |
| have | had | had | |
| think | thought | thought | |
| find | found | found |
There are some very common verbs in English that have a unique form of the past participle. Most verbs whose past tense is creating by changing the vowel have a unique form of the past participle. Some common verbs with a unique form of the past participle are shown in the following table.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was | been | |
| go | went | gone | |
| begin | began | begun | |
| drink | drank | drunk | |
| ring | rang | rung | |
| sing | sang | sung | |
| sink | sank | sunk | |
| swim | swam | swum | |
| bite | bit | bidden | |
| hide | hid | hidden | |
| drive | drove | driven | |
| ride | rode | ridden | |
| rise | rose | risen | |
| strive | strove | striven | |
| write | wrote | written | |
| break | broke | broken | |
| choose | chose | chosen | |
| freeze | frose | frosen | |
| fly | flew | flown | |
| come | came | come | |
| do | did | done | |
| eat | ate | eaten | |
| find | found | found | |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | |
| give | gave | given | |
| throw | threw | thrown | |
| know | knew | known | |
| run | ran | run | |
| see | saw | seen | |
| speak | spoke | spoken | |
| take | took | taken |
Examples
| a locked door | |
| a broken window | |
| a hidden treasure |
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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
- a change that has happened over an extended amount of time.
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. |
| She has grown since the last time I saw her. |
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 a single action that happened at a specific time in the past, the simple past tense needs to be used. 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. | |
| They have done that already. | |
| We have seen the movie. | |
| He has written a book. | |
| The book has been read by many people. |
Contractions
Contractions are often used with pronouns and have.
Examples
| I've done that too many times. | |
| You've seen it already. | |
| She's taken that course before. | |
| He's watched the show five times already. |
Negative Statements with the Present Perfect
The following table shows the forms of the present perfect tense that are used to make a negative statement.
| Negative Form |
|---|
| I haven't walked |
| you haven't walked |
| he hasn't walked |
| she hasn't walked |
| it hasn't walked |
| we haven't walked |
| they haven't walked |
You can also create a negative statement by using the adverb never after the verb have.
Examples
| It hasn't happened before. | |
| I haven't been there. | |
| We've never been there. | |
| I have never done that. |
Question Form of the Present Perfect
To make a questions with the present perfect tense, the noun or pronoun follows the auxiliary verb have.
| Question Form |
|---|
| Have I walked? |
| Have you walked? |
| Has he walked? |
| Has she walked? |
| Has it walked? |
| Have we walked? |
| Have they walked? |
Examples
| Have you ever seen a bear? | |
| Has the car ever worked? | |
| Have the books been read yet? | |
| Have you thought about it? | |
| Has it happened before? | |
| Have you seen it already? | |
| Where have you been? |
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.
