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 Melvin,
[1] (a) Generally, it is considered bad style to join independent clauses with commas. You should use a full stop between the sentences or else use a conjunction such as 'and'.
[1] (b) Yes, that's fine.
[2] No, the sentence is not correct. Belief is not something we envisage changing, which is why we do not use the verb with progressive aspect (we say 'I believe...' not 'I am believing...'). For the same reason, we would not use 'I haven't believed it yet' as we would not anticipate our belief changing. We would use a verb like 'read', 'seen', 'familiarised myself with' etc.
[3] I think 'I already know' is the best option. 'I already knew' would need some time reference to anchor it in the past (Sue told me yesterday but I already knew) as otherwise it would suggest that you knew it in the past but not any more.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
Could you check my sensentence for grammar mistake?
Last month, I went online looking for a cleaning service company, after a while I still didn't find any companies that meet my requirements, but I found something that can help me clean my house, it is called X-box cleaning robot.
Hello Khangvo2812,
I would recommend making two changes. First of all, the verb 'meet' should be in the past simple ('met') because it describes a past situation.
Secondly, this is what's called a run-on sentence, which is not correct in standard written English (though it's OK in text messages). To fix this, I would break this into three sentences by changing the commas after 'company' and 'house' into full stops. That way you will have three complete sentences. If you want to learn more about run-on sentences, grammarly has a page on how to fix and prevent them.
I hope that makes sense, but if you have any more questions, let us know.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Instead of saying it is called X-box cleaning robot, could I say I found something that can help me clean my house called X-box cleaning robot?
Hello Khangvo2812,
Yes, that's also fine. Though actually you should say 'the X-box cleaning robot' instead of just 'X-box cleaning robot' (with the definite article 'the'). I missed that in your first version of the sentence and 'the' is needed in both versions. Sorry about that.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
in grammer test 2, question 2,
why we can't use "have you seen"?
Could you please explain to me? Thanks a lot.
Hi inci.yildirim,
The phrase "when you were in New York" locates the action at a finished time in the past, so the past simple is best.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
in grammer test 1 question 3,
why we can not use 'have you had'?
In examples there is sentences such like "How long have you had that phone?"
Can you please explain? Thank you so much.
Hello inci.yildirim,
The person has a new car which we understand to mean that they no longer have the old car. Thus, having the old car is an example of finished time. We would use 'How long have you had...?' for something the person still has, not something they have lost or got rid of.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi my beloved teachers. Is it possible to use Since and Ago simultaneously in a single sentence? An example for this would be “ I have driven my car since three days ago” Thanks a lot for a remarkable service.