Present Perfect Simple
Aprende todo lo que tienes que saber sobre el Present Perfect: cómo se construye y cuándo se usa.
Table of contents
The present perfect in English is a very common and useful verb tense for expressing actions that have taken place in the past in certain contexts.
In this post, I am going to explain exactly how to form the present perfect in English, when it is used, and some points you need to keep in mind when using it.
How to form the Present Perfect (Simple)
The present perfect simple in English is formed like this:
| have/has (aux. v.) + done (past participle) |
As you can see above, the present perfect is a compound tense, which means it consists of a conjugated auxiliary verb and a main verb:
- Auxiliary verb: have/has (conjugated in the present)
- Main verb: done (any verb as a past participle)
In case you don’t know or don’t remember, the past participle of a verb is its -ed form, if it is a regular verb, or the «third column» of the typical irregular verb list.
Present Perfect: affirmative sentences
As we have seen above, affirmative sentences in the Present Perfect are constructed with have/has and the past participle of the verb. Let’s look at several examples:
We have moved abroad.
I have been in town all morning.
Stewie has read ten books this year.
Ron has recently visited his sister.
By the way, keep in mind that you can abbreviate both have and has as follows:
- have → ‘ve
- has → ‘s
| FULL FORM | SHORT FORM |
| We have moved abroad. | We’ve moved abroad. |
| I have been in town all morning. | I’ve been in town all morning. |
| Stewie has read ten books this year. | Stewie’s read ten books this year. |
| Ron has recently visited his sister. | Ron’s recently visited his sister. |
You might be wondering how to tell the difference between the ‘s for has and the one for is in the present simple or the present continuous. Well, it’s very easy:
- If it is the main verb, is followed by v-ing, or is in the passive voice, it is is.
- If it is followed by a past participle and it is an active sentence, it is has.
For example:
He’s been at home all morning. → He has been (active and followed by a participle)
He’s a bit silly. → He is (main verb)
Present Perfect: negative sentences
As with most English verb tenses, the negative form of the present perfect is formed by adding not to the auxiliary verb.
Let’s see now how the previous sentences change from affirmative to negative:
| AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES | NEGATIVE SENTENCES |
| We have moved abroad. | We have not moved abroad. |
| I have been in town all morning. | I have not been in town all morning. |
| Stewie has read ten books this year. | Stewie has not read ten books this year. |
| Ron has recently visited his sister. | Ron has recently not visited his sister. |
And as we have seen in the affirmative forms, the verb can also be contracted with the negative particle not:
| NEGATIVE FORM | CONTRACTED NEGATIVE FORM |
| We have not moved abroad. | We haven’t moved abroad. |
| I have not been in town all morning. | I haven’t been in town all morning. |
| Stewie has not read ten books this year. | Stewie hasn’t read ten books this year. |
| Ron has recently not visited his sister. | Ron hasn’t recently visited his sister. |
In the case of negative sentences, we can choose to contract the verb with the subject (We’ve not moved) or with the negative particle (We haven’t moved).
Present Perfect: interrogative sentences (questions)
As is always the case in English, to build the interrogative form of the present perfect, we simply have to invert the auxiliary verb (have/has) and the subject, as follows:
| (Wh-) + have/has (aux. v.) + subject + done (past participle) |
Let’s look at some examples of questions in the present perfect:
| STATEMENTS | QUESTIONS |
| You have studied enough for the test. | Have you studied enough for the test? |
| You have done something this morning. | What have you done this morning? |
| You have been somewhere all this time. | Where have you been all this time? |
| Your brother has eaten veggies. | Has your brother eaten all his veggies? |
As you can see, it is relatively straightforward, as the pattern is always repeated in the same way.
When to use the Present Perfect
The hardest part of the present perfect is not how to form it, but knowing when we have to use it and for what purpose.
The present perfect is normally used:
- When we want to express that “something has happened” and that it is new information for the speakers:
It looks like there’s been an attack in London.
Holden has published her first novel!
- When we talk about a past action that somehow has a result or a consequence in the present:
I haven’t had any coffee, so I’m still feeling quite sleepy.
I know the city well. This is the third time I’ve been here this year.
- With just, for actions that have happened recently:
I have just seen your dad on my way here.
Liam has just called. He says you should call him back.
- With already, for actions that have happened sooner than expected:
I’ve already watched that film. Could we pick something else?
Joe’s already been to England in the past.
- With yet, at the end of interrogative and/or negative sentences, for actions that haven’t taken place yet:
Wait for me! I haven’t finished my meal yet.
Have you told your parents about your plans yet?
- With certain time expressions, for actions that have taken place from a point in the past until now:
I have studied quite a bit since last week
Brenda has recently started going to the gym.
She hasn’t eaten anything for a long time.
John’s not been around in the last two days.
- With time periods that are not finished at the time of speaking (today, this morning, this year, this afternoon, tonight, etc.):
I haven’t been able to work much this morning.
Paul has written four stories for children this year.
- With first/second/etc., when it is the first/second/etc. time someone has done something:
It’s the first time I’ve managed to run for one hour straight.
It’s the second time you’ve been rude to me.
- With ever, in interrogative sentences (questions) to ask if something has ever happened:
Have you ever been to Thailand?
Has she ever eaten in that restaurant?
- With never, to express that something has never happened or to ask about it:
Have you never been to Thailand?
I have never seen her in my life.
Has she never eaten in that restaurant?
Ben’s never visited us at home.
Present Perfect: Gone (to) vs Been (to)
In the present perfect, there is sometimes a bit of confusion between gone and been, i.e., the participles of go and be, respectively. The fact is that both can refer to having gone somewhere.
However, they are used in different cases:
- When you have gone and come back, we use been (state):
I’ve been to Spain this summer. It was great! (I have already returned from Spain)
Mike’s been to the supermarket, so we don’t need to buy anything. (Mike has already returned from the supermarket)
- When you have gone and are still there, we use gone (gone):
I’ve gone to Spain. It’s great! (right now I am in Spain)
Mike’s gone to the supermarket. Do you need anything? (Mike is still at the supermarket)
Present Perfect: For vs Since
In English, with the present perfect, we can use the prepositions for and since to express the duration of something. However, they are used in different cases:
- For is used with a period of time (e.g. ten years, two hours, a week, etc.).
- Since is used with a point in time (e.g. 2022, last week, etc.).
Let’s look at the difference between for and since in the following table:
| FOR (period) | SINCE (point in time) |
| I have been a student for 10 years. | I have been a student since 2022. |
| Jake’s known Barbara for 5 years. | Jake’s known Barbara since 2017. |
| They’ve been married for a month. | They’ve been married since last month. |
| We’ve not had dinner together for 5 days. | We’ve not had dinner together since Friday. |
To use for and since, you should also keep the following in mind:
- For is not used with expressions using all (
for all day/week/month) - For can be omitted in affirmative sentences, but not negative ones. For example:
I’ve been a teacher (for) 20 years. → I recommend not omitting it. 🙂
I’ve not seen her for a long time. → Here it cannot be omitted.
- Since is not usually used with ago. (
since a month ago) - We can use It’s/It’s been + a long time / (period of time) + since to say how long it has been since something happened:
It’s a really long time since we last went to the cinema. (here we are not using the present perfect)
It’s been ages since we last met for coffee.
It’s been three years since Norman last came home.
- We can use How long is it/has it been since…? to ask how much time has passed since something last happened.
How long is it since we last met for coffee? (here we are not using the present perfect)
How long has it been since we’ve been to the cinema?
It is important that you understand how to use for and since correctly, because their use will be identical in the Present Perfect Continuous.
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See you in the next post. Until then, don’t forget to keep smiling! 🙂