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B1 · Intermediate

The Present Perfect

Connect the past to the present — talk about experiences, recent results and ongoing situations using have / has + a past participle.

Level: B1 Past meets present Play · Practise · Score
The Grammar Transformer

Choose a subject. A form. A use.

Five subjects, three forms, three uses — 45 combinations, all present perfect. Watch how have / has shifts with the subject and the sentence rebuilds around it.

She has visited Japan before.
Structure:subject + have / has + past participle
The present perfect for experiences — exact time unknown or unimportant. Add ‘before’ or ‘already’ to reinforce the experience meaning.

Got the pattern? Jump to the practice →

The rules — with examples

How to build the three forms, when to use the present perfect, and the words that signal it.

The three forms

Positive
subject + have / has + past participle
I have visited Japan.
She has finished the report.
Negative
haven’t / hasn’t + past participle
We haven’t decided yet.
He hasn’t called back.
Question
Have / Has + subject + past participle?
Have you eaten yet? — Yes, I have.
Has she arrived? — No, she hasn’t.

he / she / it = has. All other subjects = have. After haven’t / hasn’t the main verb is always the past participle — never the past simple form.

Three reasons to use the present perfect

1
Experiences — time unknown or irrelevant
I have visited Japan.   She has never tried sushi.
Signals: ever, never, before, already, once, twice, several times
2
Recent result — effect visible now
He has just left.   We have already booked it.
Signals: just, already, yet, recently, this morning (unfinished)
3
Duration — started in the past, still continuing now
We have lived here for five years.   She has known him since university.
Signals: for + a length of time  ·  since + a starting point  ·  How long...?

Present perfect vs. past simple

Present perfect — no time / unfinished
I have seen that film.
Sometime in my life — we don’t say when.
Past simple — finished time
I saw that film last night.
“Last night” = finished time → past simple only.

The key rule: if the sentence contains a finished-time expression — yesterday, last week, in 2019, ago, when I was young — use the past simple, never the present perfect. The present perfect never specifies a finished point in time.

Irregular past participles to know

go
gone / been
She has gone to work. / I have been to Rome.
see
seen
Have you seen this?
write
written
She has written three books.
take
taken
He has taken the car.
forget
forgotten
I have forgotten his name.
know
known
We have known each other for years.
choose
chosen
They have chosen the date.
do
done
She has done the washing up.

gone vs. been: “She has gone to Paris” = she’s there now. “She has been to Paris” = she visited and returned. In questions and with ever, always use been: “Have you ever been to Paris?”

Signal words & adverb position

Words that point to the present perfect
everneveralreadyyetjustrecentlyso farbeforefor (+ duration)since (+ point)How long...?this week / month / year
Position: ever, never, just, already go between have / has and the past participle.  Yet and recently go at the end of the sentence.  For and since introduce a time phrase at the end.

Practise & score yourself

Ten questions — five multiple choice, five gap-fill. Instant scoring and a short explanation for every answer.

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Answer a question to begin.

The one rule to remember

Use have / has + past participle when the past connects to now — an experience in your life, a result you can see, or a situation still in progress. The moment you add a finished time (yesterday, last year, in 2019), switch to the past simple.

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