Present Perfect
Level B1 · Tenses
Use the present perfect to connect the past and the present: for life experience without saying exactly when (I've been to Japan), for a past action with a result that matters now (I've lost my keys — so I can't get in), or for something that started in the past and is still true (I've lived here for five years). Unlike the past simple, it never combines with a finished, specific time.
Form: have/has + past participle (the verb's third form — often -ed for regular verbs, but frequently irregular: go → gone, see → seen, be → been). I/you/we/they + have; he/she/it + has. Negatives: haven't/hasn't; questions invert have/has and the subject.
The main patterns, with their typical time words:
- ever / never — life experience, mostly in questions and negatives: have you ever been to Japan? I've never tried sushi.
- just / already / yet — a recent or expected result: I've just finished; she's already left; have you finished yet? (yet only in questions and negatives)
- for / since — an unfinished period continuing to now: for + a length of time (for five years), since + a starting point (since 2019)
- no time word at all — a recent event whose result matters now, with no specific 'when': I've lost my keys; they've arrived.
The most common mistake is using the present perfect with a finished, specific time word — yesterday, last week, in 2019, at 3 o'clock — which needs the past simple instead: I saw him yesterday, not I have seen him yesterday. This slips especially for speakers whose language uses a similar-looking compound tense (have/be + participle) for ordinary finished-time narration — French passé composé and German Perfekt both look like the present perfect but translate most naturally as a simple past.
Typical time words: ever, never, just, already, yet, for, since, so far, recently, this week/month/year (an unfinished period). If you can name the exact finished moment, switch to the past simple.
Practice
Life Experience & Recent Results · Present Perfect vs Past Simple