
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 JoAp,
All the sentences are correct. The differences are really ones of emphasis,
Sentence 1: The information from Sarah is recent; it is still 'news' to you. Speaking in your sleep is still a problem/issue.
Sentence 2: The information from Sarah is not seen by you as 'news'. either she told you some time ago, or you consider it something not relevant to your present. For example, you may not be interested in acting upon the information – you don't care that you speak in your sleep. The change from I'm talking to I've been talking does not make any difference in this context.
Sentence 3: This is a combination of 1 and 2; see the relevant parts of the descriptions above.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir,
I think the clearest way to expain this is to compare two version of your sentence:
In sentence 2 the possessive India's refers to both people. It is clear that both the prime minister and the president are Indian.
In sentence 1 the possessive form describes only 'President'. The prime minister could be from India or from another country. We would only know this from the context. The article here must refer to another mention of the prime minister earlier in the text.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir,
It's difficult to make generalizations about grammar, and especially without specific examples in context. To me the general rule of using the present perfect sounds correct, but this is not to say that it's always the only possible form.
I'm afraid I can't explain the sentence you ask about. I don't think I'd say 'the past few years' -- instead I'd probably say 'in recent years'. I wouldn't say the sentence is wrong, but I'd suggest changing that last part.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir,
It looks to me as if some words have been omitted from the sentence you ask about. I'd need to know the context to give you an exact answer, but it sounds as if the text this sentence is from probably discusses two or more images before this sentence -- for example, maybe it's two images of two comets, one of which is relatively close and the other is further away.
The sentence you ask about indicates that it's talking about the more distant comet, which is represented in the first image. In other words, it's another form of 'The first image was [a photograph] of the more distant [comet].'
Hope this helps you make sense of it.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Kapil Kabir,
Yes! It's just a question of style.
In traditional grammar, the nominative case is used after a copula verb (e.g. It was not he. / It is I. / (on the phone) Is Jane there? And Jane answers: This is she). However, this is considered very formal in modern English, and the use of the objective case is common and accepted instead (e.g. It was not him / It's me / This is her).
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Kapil Kabir,
There are two things to note here.
I hope that helps. If you have more questions about adverbs of frequency, it would be good to put them on our page on How often. We can continue the discussion there if needed :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi JIE LI,
If you say she's never had a pet (present perfect), it refers to an unfinished time period. That means, she still has the opportunity to get a pet now.
If you say she never had a pet (past simple), it is also grammatically possible, but the meaning is different. It refers to a finished time period. For example:
We don't have any information that the time period is finished, so we can assume that the time period continues to the present moment (i.e., it is unfinished).
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir,
None of those are correct. There are problems with singular/plural consistency and with subject-verb logical agreement. You could form the statement like this, however:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir,
With the phrase 'it's (high/about) time...' we can use a past form (learnt) or a to-infinitive. We don't use use a present form.
You can read more about this here:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/it-s-time
'Always' means every time or without exception. However, it can be used to mean very often as a form of exaggeration. All three of your examples are correct. The second suggests the speaker finds the situation a little irritating or exasperating.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Maahir,
The question implies that the new car is a replacement for the old car (i.e., the person doesn't have the old one any more). So, since it's a finished time, did you have is the right answer here. Have you had is for an unfinished time.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Maahir,
Yes, that's right. If the speaker still has the old car, 'How long have you had the old one?' would be correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jack Red,
Both the past simple and present perfect are grammatically correct here and mean the same thing, really. In the first sentence, the user sees the day as finished whereas in the second one, she sees it as not quite over, or still relevant to the present moment even if it's over. There are many cases when the speaker's perspective on what they are speaking about will determine which verb form is the correct one. You might find our Talking about the past page useful.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ayn,
I've answered this question on another page for you. Please post questions once only; asking the same question multiple times only slows the process down.
Thanks,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Easy peasy,
Both forms are possible. Enjoyed tells us that the speaker no longer works in the company. Have enjoyed tells us that they still work there, or have only just finished.
I think you need 'I'm looking' rather than 'I look', however, as it is presumably an ongoing action.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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
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
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
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
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
Hello PavlaH,
The best choice here is the past simple (I heard it...). The other person's question already places the action in a completed past time frame, so the past tense is appropriate.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello PavlaH,
You can use either form here. The question with 'it' is more specific: you are asking about a concrete piece of information. The question without 'it' could be more general or specific, depending on the context.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Turki123456,
Actually, my first answer would be had put/lost too :) But has put/lost also work.
The difference is in the relationship between the events. If you say had put and had lost (past perfect), it means that John put on weight and Kelly lost weight before you saw them yesterday. It links both events to the party/restaurant yesterday. You would choose this tense if, after saying these sentences, you wanted to keep on speaking about what happened yesterday at the party/restaurant.
If you say has put and has lost (present perfect), it means that John putting on weight and Kelly losing weight is relevant to the current conversation topic. So, you would choose this tense if you wanted to continue speaking about their weight gain/loss (not the party/restaurant).
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Fiona,
The first sentence (has been described) uses the present perfect for something which happened in the past (someone described him) and is still relevant now (he has this reputation).
The second sentence (is being described) uses the present continuous for something which is in progress at the time of speaking, or which is currently true but is temporary. You might say this if the person has become the focus of attention and is receiving praise in the media at the moment.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team