Lesson 11. Present Perfect Tense
Introduction
You’ll review the common irregular verb have and learn how to form and use past participles and the present perfect tense. Plenty of examples are included to make each concept easy to understand. The lesson starts with a short English conversation to help you improve your conversational English skills.
Conversations
English
Tom and Sarah are talking during lunch break. Tom mentions a new band that he really likes.
Tom: Have you heard any songs by the new band Syndica?
Sarah: No. I haven't heard of them 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, and they have another concert scheduled for next month. I've already bought a ticket.
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. Tom and I, and maybe a few others, are going to have dinner before the show. You're welcome to join us.
Sarah: Thanks. That sounds like fun.
Español
Tom y Sarah están hablando durante el almuerzo. Tom menciona una nueva banda que realmente le gusta.
Tom: ¿Has escuchado alguna de las canciones de la nueva banda Syndica?
Sarah: No. No he oído hablar de esa banda antes.
Tom: Solo han existido durante aproximadamente un año. Lanzaron su primer álbum la semana pasada.
Sarah: ¿Han jugado un concierto por aquí?
Tom: Han tocado en el Teatro Commodore antes. Tienen otro concierto planeado el próximo mes. Ya compré un boleto para ello.
Sarah: Los escucharé esta noche, y si me gustan, tal vez yo también vaya.
Eric: Será un gran espectáculo. No he estado en ningún concierto últimamente, así que estoy ansioso por eso.
Sarah: Tampoco he visto ningún buen concierto este año.
Eric: Avísame si decides ir al concierto. Tom y yo, y tal vez algunos otros, vamos a cenar antes del espectáculo. Eres bienvenido a unirte a nosotros.
Sarah: Gracias. Suena divertido.
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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
- 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 |
Ejemplos
| I have a laptop. | Tengo una computadora portátil. |
| I have his car keys. | Tengo las llaves de su auto. |
| The door has a lock. | La puerta tiene una cerradura. |
| I have a brother. | Tengo un hermano. |
| I had a cold. | Tuve un resfriado. |
| I have an appointment at 3:00. | Tengo una cita a las tres en punto. |
| I have too much work to do. | Tengo demasiado trabajo que hacer. |
| We had a great time. | Nos lo pasamos muy bien. |
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 | Español |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | closed | closed | cerrar |
| learn | learned | learned | aprender |
| have | had | had | tener |
| think | thought | thought | pensar |
| find | found | found | encontrar |
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 | Español |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was | been | estar, ser |
| go | went | gone | ir |
| begin | began | begun | empezar |
| drink | drank | drunk | beber |
| ring | rang | rung | sonar |
| sing | sang | sung | cantar |
| sink | sank | sunk | hundir |
| swim | swam | swum | nadar |
| bite | bit | bidden | bite |
| hide | hid | hidden | esconder |
| drive | drove | driven | conducir |
| ride | rode | ridden | montar, andar, viajar |
| rise | rose | risen | subir |
| strive | strove | striven | esforzarse |
| write | wrote | written | escribir |
| break | broke | broken | romper |
| choose | chose | chosen | elegir |
| freeze | frose | frosen | congelar |
| fly | flew | flown | volar |
| come | came | come | venir |
| do | did | done | hacer |
| eat | ate | eaten | comer |
| find | found | found | encontrar |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | olvidar |
| give | gave | given | dar |
| throw | threw | thrown | tirar |
| know | knew | known | saber, conocer |
| run | ran | run | correr |
| see | saw | seen | ver |
| speak | spoke | spoken | hablar |
| take | took | taken | tomar, llevar, aceptar |
Examples
| a locked door | una puerta cerrada |
| a broken window | una ventana rota |
| a hidden treasure | Un tesoro escondido |
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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. | He estado en España. |
| She has gotten better at math. | Ella ha mejorado en matemáticas. |
| I have learned another language. | He aprendido otro idioma. |
| They have done that already. | Han hecho que ya. |
| We have seen the movie. | Hemos visto la película. |
| He has written a book. | Ha escrito un libro. |
| The book has been read by many people. | El libro ha sido leído por muchas personas. |
Contractions
Contractions are often used with pronouns and have.
Examples
| I've done that too many times. | Lo he hecho muchas veces. |
| You've seen it already. | Usted lo ha visto ya. |
| She's taken that course before. | Ella ha tomado ese curso antes. |
| He's watched the show five times already. | Él observaba el espectáculo cinco veces ya. |
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. | No ha sucedido antes. |
| I haven't been there. | No he estado allí. |
| We've never been there. | Nunca hemos estado allí. |
| I have never done that. | Nunca he hecho eso. |
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? | ¿Alguna vez has visto un oso? |
| Has the car ever worked? | ¿Ha funcionado alguna vez el coche? |
| Have the books been read yet? | ¿Han leído los libros todavía? |
| Have you thought about it? | ¿Ha pensado en ello? |
| Has it happened before? | ¿Ha sucedido antes? |
| Have you seen it already? | ¿Ya lo has visto? |
| Where have you been? | ¿Dónde has estado? |
Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the present perfect tense of some common English verbs.
Examen
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.
Change the following sentences to the present perfect tense. Make sure to use correct capitalization and do not use contractions.
Example - Question: I do the work. Answer: I have done the work.
