Present Perfect Verb Tense English Grammar Lesson
Hi, I’m Maria.
Welcome to Oxford Online English!
In this lesson, you can learn about the present
perfect verb tense in English.
Hey Daniel, how long have you been a teacher?
I’ve been a teacher for four years now.
Have you taught many lessons on the present
perfect?
Of course!
I’ve taught hundreds!
How many have you taught this week?
I haven’t taught any this week yet.
This is the first one!
Does your language have anything like the
present perfect?
Many languages don’t have a similar verb
form.
This can make it more difficult to use the
present perfect correctly in English.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use
the present perfect verb form in different
ways.
Let’s start with two basic but important
points.
Try to keep these in mind as you watch!
First, the present perfect connects the past
and the present.
Secondly, think about the name, ‘present
perfect’.
It’s a present verb form.
It tells you something about now.
Even though you often use the present perfect
to talk about things in the past, it’s still
a present form; it gives you some information
about the present.
Let’s start by looking at how to form the
present perfect tense.
The present perfect is formed with have or
has plus a past participle.
Have and has are often contracted.
For example:
I’ve finished everything.
She’s just left.
We’ve been here for hours.
Past participles usually look the same as
the past tense.
For example:
finish – finished – finished
leave – left – left
However, many common verbs are irregular.
That means you need to know irregular verbs
to use the present perfect.
There’s also a continuous form of the present
perfect, with been plus a verb with -ing.
For example:
I’ve been cleaning the house all morning.
He’s been acting very strangely lately.
However, in this lesson, we’re going to
focus on the simple verb form.
Make negatives by adding not after have or
has.
Again, this form is often contracted.
For example:
I haven’t seen anything like that before.
He hasn’t helped at all.
They haven’t given me much information.
Make questions by moving have or has before
the subject:
Have you booked the tickets yet?
How long has your sister been a vet?
How many people have you told about this?
Next, let’s look at how to actually use
the present perfect, and what it means.
Have you ever been to Argentina?
No, I’ve never even been to South America,
but I’d love to go!
Have you ever been skydiving?
Yeah, actually.
It was amazing!
Have you tried kangaroo before?
No, never.
What’s it like?
How many times have you seen this film?
More than once.
So, twice?
Three times?
Ok, ok, I’ve seen it eight times.
Eight?
You can use the present perfect to talk about
life experiences.
You just heard different examples of this.
Do you remember the questions we asked?
This is common with questions like:
Have you ever…?
Have you … before?
How many times have you…?
For example:
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Have you met Amit before?
How many times have you bought something and
never worn it?
In all these questions, you don’t say when.
You don’t use a time reference like ‘this
year’ or ‘recently’.
That’s because all these questions are asking
about your whole life.
You don’t say it, but the meaning is there.
Try something now: pause the video and write
down three questions.
Use your own ideas.
Then, write your own answers!
Pause the video and do it now.
Now, let’s look at another way to use the
present perfect.
Have you called about the Internet yet?
I haven’t, I’m sorry.
I’ve been so busy all day.
You said you’d do it today!
I haven’t been able to do any work since
Monday!
I’ve tried to call several times this week,
but they always say that they can only talk
to the account holder.
That’s you!
I know, I’m sorry.
I just haven’t had time all week.
So, what can I help you with?
Well, I haven’t been feeling well recently.
What are your symptoms?
I’ve had a really bad cough for a couple
of weeks now.
This week, I’ve started to feel really slow
and tired, and I haven’t had much appetite.
Have you had any nausea?
Headaches?
No, not really.
We’ll do some tests and see what we can
do.
You can use the present perfect to talk about
a time period which is unfinished.
Remember that the present perfect connects
the present and the past.
For example, take today.
Today is an unfinished time period.
It’s started, but it hasn’t finished yet.
You heard several other unfinished time periods
in the dialogues.
Can you remember any?
Here are some examples:
I’ve been so busy all day.
I haven’t been able to do any work since
Monday!
I haven’t been feeling well recently.
This week, I’ve started to feel really slow
and tired.
Other unfinished time periods include things
like this week, this month, this year, and
so on.
So, if you’re talking about an unfinished
time period, you can use the present perfect.
To make this clearer, compare unfinished time
with finished time:
I’ve been so busy all day.
I was so busy yesterday.
I haven’t been able to do any work since
Monday!
I wasn’t able to do any work last week.
I haven’t felt well recently.
I didn’t feel well last weekend.
I’ve had a really bad cough for a couple
of weeks now.
I had a really bad cough last year.
When you talk about a finished time period,
like last year or yesterday, you need to use
the past simple.
You can’t use the present perfect to talk
about finished time periods.
Sometimes, you can choose to use the present
perfect or the past simple with an unfinished
time period.
For example:
I’ve worked hard today.
I worked hard today.
These are both possible, but there’s a small
difference in meaning.
Do you know what?
The first sentence, with the present perfect,
suggests that today is not finished yet.
Maybe you have more work to do!
The second sentence, with the past simple,
suggests that today is finished.
It’s the evening and you’re relaxing after
a long day!
Let’s practice.
Look at three incomplete sentences:
I haven’t … today.
I’ve … a lot this week.
I haven’t … enough recently.
Can you complete the sentences to make them
true about you?
For example, you could say something like:
I haven’t eaten any fruit today.
I haven’t watched TV today.
I haven’t had a shower today.
Pause the video and write down three sentences.
Ok?
How was that?
Let’s look at one more way to use the present
perfect tense.
How long have you lived here?
For about a year.
Have you two known each other long?
Yeah, since we were at primary school!
How long have they been married?
I’m not sure.
I think for a couple of years?
Maybe not even that long.
Nice jacket!
Is it new?
This? No, I’ve had it for years!
You can use the present perfect to talk about
something which started in the past and is
still true now.
For example:
How long have you lived here?
This means that you still live here now.
Have you two known each other long?
You still know each other now.
How long have they been married?
They’re still married now.
I’ve had this jacket for years.
I still have it now.
Be careful: there’s a common mistake which
English learners make here.
It looks like this:
I’ve bought this jacket for three years.
Can you explain why this is wrong?
It’s wrong because the action of buying
the jacket is finished, and in the past.
You could say:
I bought this jacket three years ago.
The action of having the jacket is not finished.
It started in the past, when you bought it,
and it’s still true now, because you still
have the jacket now.
Again, it’s useful to compare the present
perfect and the past simple:
I’ve lived here for about a year.
I still live here now.
I lived there for about a year.
I don’t live there now.
How long have they been married?
They’re still married now.
How long were they married?
They’re not married now.
Okay, your turn to practice!
Look at three incomplete sentences:
I’ve had … for …
I’ve lived in … since …
I’ve been …
Your job is to complete these sentences so
that they’re true for you.
Pause the video, think about what you could
say, and write down three sentences.
If you aren’t sure, review this section
and use the examples you’ve seen to help
you.
How was that?
Hopefully easy!
Let’s look at one more way you can use the
present perfect tense.
What’s wrong with you?
Eurrgh.
I’ve eaten too many cakes and now I feel
terrible.
How many did you have?
I had six or seven.
That was smart.
But they were so tasty…
Have you lost something?
Yeah, I’ve lost my phone.
I put it down somewhere and now I can’t
find it.
When did you last use it?
I don’t know.
I had it last night, for sure.
Can you call me?
Oh no!
The cat’s been sick on the couch!
Again?
That’s the third time this week.
Can you clean it up?
I cleaned it last time!
You can use the present perfect to talk about
things in the past if there’s still a result
in the present.
For example:
I’ve eaten too many cakes and now I feel
terrible.
I ate the cakes in the past, but the result—feeling
terrible—is still true now.
I’ve lost my phone.
I lost my phone sometime in the past, but
the result—I can’t find my phone—is
still true now.
The cat’s been sick on the couch!
The cat was sick on the couch in the past,
but the result—the sofa needs cleaning—is
still true now.
You can also see something useful in these
dialogues: often, you start a conversation
using the present perfect, and then switch
to the past simple.
For example:
I’ve eaten too many cakes.
How many did you have?
I’ve lost my phone.
When did you last use it?
This is a very common pattern in English conversations.
Again, let’s compare the present perfect
to the past simple:
I’ve lost my phone.
I can’t find it now.
I lost my phone.
Maybe I found it again, or maybe I gave
up and had to get a new phone.
This sentence only tells you about the past,
so you can’t be sure what happened.
The cat’s been sick on the couch!
The couch needs cleaning, and maybe the
cat needs to go to the vet.
The cat was sick on the couch.
It’s safe to sit on the couch again.
Now, you know the most common ways to use
the present perfect tense in English.
We have a question for you: can you name all
the other verb tenses in English?
Which one do you find the most difficult to
understand?
Let us know in the comments.
Want more practice with this topic?
Check out the quiz on our website: Oxford
Online English dot com.
There’s a link below the video if you’re
watching on YouTube.
Thanks for watching!
See you next time!