Verbs - Present Perfect

We use present perfect (has/have + past participle):

• To talk about the past with no time reference, so time isn’t important or we don’t know the time e.g. We’ve already eaten, thank you.
• For actions/situations that started in the past and continue in the present. We are more interested in the present result of a past action e.g. Have you been to the factory lately?

Expressions used with present perfect: been, ever, for, since, just, yet, already, never, recently, lately, today, this morning/week/month/year

Since + the point in time when it started e.g. I’ve been here since January/ the beginning of the year / one o’clock / Tuesday / 2011 / 2nd March / the war started

For + the period of time e.g. I’ve been here for twenty minutes / a few hours /ten days / three weeks/ two months / five years /a long time

For regular verbs, past participle = infinitive + ed

Past participle of irregular verbs

 

POSITIVE SENTENCES

I/You /We/They have (‘ve) stopped.
She/He/It has (‘s) stopped.

She has cycled across the country before, so she’s really fit.
We’ve taken some beautiful shots of flowers for the exhibition.
Kumar has done the ironing and he’s cooking now.
The housewives have knitted jerseys for their grandchildren.
The boy scouts have caught some trout for dinner!
You have cleaned your car a million times. I don’t think you need to do it again this week!

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

I/You/We/They have not (haven’t) stopped.
She/He/It has not (hasn’t) stopped.

Lisa hasn’t taken a bath yet so we’ll probably be late.
The patients haven’t taken their medication today.
They haven’t met up for coffee for a long time.
We haven’t driven our new car yet. We only bought it yesterday.
Simon hasn’t read the newspaper so I don’t think he knows about it.
I haven’t ever listened to music using a record player before.


QUESTIONS

Have I/you/we/they stopped?
Has she/he/it stopped?

Have you played golf on that new golf course?
Have the secretaries been on the training course?
Has Sam ever changed a tyre before?
Has Tony washed the plates yet? We don’t have clean ones for the guests.
Has Greg ever worn a tie to work?
Have the customers used the phone service yet?

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