Present perfect

Present perfect

Do you know how to use phrases like She's called every day this week, I've broken my leg and Have you ever been to Scotland? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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

Present perfect: 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

Present perfect: Grammar test 2

Language level

Average: 4 (53 votes)

Hello BobMux,

In natural speech, how exactly someone would express these ideas would also depend on the situation and their purpose in saying this. For example, in the first situation you describe, what I'd probably say is 'I know some mnemonic techniques' -- assuming that the most relevant point is not when I learned them, but rather that I can use them now. Then if someone asked me when I learned them, I could say 'I learned them in 2014'. I'm sure there are some contexts when the present perfect would be appropriate, but I can't think of one off the top of my head right now.

As for the second situation, you could use the past simple, but again I'd probably say something different -- for example, 'I used to know some mnemonic techniques, but I don't remember much'. (Ironic, isn't it?)

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by HEMAM on Sat, 23/01/2021 - 15:20

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Hello..!! May I ask a quistion please ? I am little confused what is different between " have you seen..?" and " did you see..?" Thank you

Hello Hemam,

This is explained in the Past and the present section of our Talking about the past page. Please have a look there, and then if you have any further questions, feel free to ask us there.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Kapil Kabir on Thu, 21/01/2021 - 13:10

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Hello sir, I found a sentence while I was reading a lesson of a book. I got muddled headed and until now my head has been in a whril. "He had always wanted to go England; to have gone there, done things, and not to remember was something utterly impossible ". The first thing that I want to ask is that As far as I known, "perfect participle" shows an action which has happened by contrast The writer had wanted to go and this statement states that he had not gone to England. But the perfect participle shows he had gone to England. The second thing gets me confused is the verb "was" in the sentence. I don't know what is the subject of this verb. Please describe it. Thank you.

Hi Kapil Kabir,

It's an interesting sentence. The part with to have gone there, done things ... is actually a perfect infinitive (to have + past participle). We can use a perfect infinitive as the subject of a sentence, as it is here, and was is the verb in that sentence. 

A perfect infinitive can refer to something that happened in the past, or something that could have happened (but didn't happen). So, the sentence starting with to have gone there, done things ... doesn't actually tell us whether he really went to England or not. It just tells us that it would be impossible to go to England and do things but have no memory of it (i.e. if he had gone there, he would definitely remember it). Does the rest of the text show whether he went to England?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Kapil Kabir on Sun, 17/01/2021 - 05:30

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Hello sir, I have a doubt regarding the use of word 'There'. I'm mentioning a Statement that I have read,the statement is - We use "there" in a way particularly with the subject that has indefinite article, no article, or indefinite determiners like some, any, one, no and so on. " But the doubt that I have is the use of determiners( Definite or Indefinite). I have two examples. 1) There are some students in the class. 2) There are Ten students in the class. In my point of view, both are correct but I got muddled headed when I read the statement mentioned above. In 1) According to the statement mentioned above is correct but in 2) "Ten" is a numerical determiner which is always Definite. How can it be possible one side we are saying we use "there" with the subjects that have no article or no/indefinte determiner by contrast we use "Ten" in 2).
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Submitted by Peter M. on Sun, 17/01/2021 - 08:54

In reply to by Kapil Kabir

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Hello Kapil Kabir,

It's fine to use numbers with 'there is/there are'. What you have read is is not a grammatical rule, but rather a tendency that comes out of how 'there is/are' is used in communciation.

 

Generally, when we say 'There is/There are' we are describing a place to a person who has not seen it before. For example, I could describe my kitchen to you by saying 'There is a cooker near the window and...' but I would not do this if you are familiar with my kitchen as you would already know what is in it.

The definite article, by its nature, generally refers to things that are known to the speaker and listener. Therefore it is unusual to use 'there is/there are' with the definite article. However, it is not a rule, but rather a tendency resulting from its inherent meaning.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Basheer Ahmed on Sun, 10/01/2021 - 23:56

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Hello British Council Team, I have just confusion about a structure "having + 3rd form of verb +..." that I have seen many times written and listening to from some of the people in their conversation. Could you please clarify its uses with examples? Thank you.

Hello Basheer Ahmed,

You can see an explanation of this on our Participle clauses page. If you have any questions after reading it, please feel free to ask us on that page.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by PavlaH on Mon, 07/12/2020 - 07:12

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Dears, may I ask you a question? I have a question and I nee to answer: "How did you find it out?" what is the best and correct answer to it? "I heard it in the canteen" or "I have heard it in the canteen". From my point of view the first one is the correct one, because it was a finished action, but I´m not certain about it. It might have a connection to the present and in this case the present perfect would be better….Thank you for your help.