Look at these examples to see how the present perfect is used.
He's been to ten different countries.
I haven't seen her today.
My phone's run out of battery. Can I use yours?
Have you ever dyed your hair a different colour?
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use the present perfect simple (have or has + past participle) to talk about past actions or states which are still connected to the present.
Unfinished time and states
We often use the present perfect to say what we've done in an unfinished time period, such as today, this week, this year, etc., and with expressions such as so far, until now, before, etc.
They've been on holiday twice this year.
We haven't had a lot of positive feedback so far.
I'm sure I've seen that film before.
We also use it to talk about life experiences, as our life is also an unfinished time period. We often use never in negative sentences and ever in questions.
I've worked for six different companies.
He's never won a gold medal.
Have you ever been to Australia?
We also use the present perfect to talk about unfinished states, especially with for, since and how long.
She's wanted to be a police officer since she was a child.
I haven't known him for very long.
How long have you had that phone?
Finished time and states
If we say when something happened, or we feel that that part of our life is finished, we use the past simple.
We visited Russia for the first time in 1992.
I went to three different primary schools.
Before she retired, she worked in several different countries.
We also use the past simple for finished states.
We knew all our neighbours when we were children.
I didn't like bananas for a really long time. Now I love them!
Past actions with a result in the present
We can use the present perfect to talk about a past action that has a result in the present.
He's broken his leg so he can't go on holiday.
There's been an accident on the main road, so let's take a different route.
They haven't called me, so I don't think they need me today.
Again, if we say when it happened, we use the past simple.
He broke his leg last week so he can't go on holiday.
However, we often use the present perfect with words like just, recently, already, yet and still.
We've recently started going to the gym.
She's already finished season one and now she's watching season two.
Have you checked your emails yet?
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello tikah,
If you say 'How long have you had the old one?', this means that you still have the old car. I suppose that is possible, but the idea here is to distinguish between the present perfect, which speaks about something that is still happening (owning the car) and the past simple, which is speaking about something that already finished.
So 'How long did you have the old one?' means that you no longer have the old car. It is now 2020; if you had the old car from 2007 to 2019, then the past simple is the best form, because it speaks about a finished past time.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello angeeeeeeel,
All three of these clauses are correctly formed -- in this sense, they are all correct -- but none are a complete sentence (with a subject, verb and complement), and in this sense, none of them are correct.
The third one is probably the most appropriate for the context you mention.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Timothy555
It's not completely clear whether 'killed' is 'have killed' or just 'killed', but most of the time I think people would understand it to be 'have killed'. We definitely leave out some words when the meaning is understood to be clear (this is called 'ellipsis').
You could certainly have a sentence with multiple present perfect forms such as the one you ask about, but most of the time people would omit the auxiliary verb.
Many different combinations of verb tenses in the same sentence are possible, but I'm afraid I can't list them out for you. If you have a question about a specific combination, please feel free to ask us.
As for your last question, it could be that the sequence of the sentence is the same as that of the actions, but not necessarily. Most people don't speak so precisely, I'd say, but it could well be true.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tim,
Regarding your first point, yes, that is what I meant. As for your second and third points, yes, that is also what I meant, but in general I think you can count on people reporting the sequence correctly. I made that comment because some people are not always so precise in ordinary conversation. But in general it's reasonable to assume that people are reporting things in the sequence in which they occurred. Sorry if that was confusing!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tim,
I think most native speakers would use the past simple to express such a sequence of actions in most situations.
If, however, someone was casting some doubt on their statement that they'd carried out these actions, then they might use the present perfect simple to emphasise that they did indeed carry them out. But they could also use the past simple or the past simple with emphatic 'did'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team