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 sir, I have a question about the differences about Past Simple and Present Perfect.
For example: She had been played piano since she was eight
She played piano since she was eight.
So when do we know that which one is present perfect if the first sentence didn't have " had been" and the second sentence is " played". We only have since. How can we know the which one is Past simple and which one is Present Perfect.
Sorry about my grammar. I just a starter at English so it was hard for me to say i good sentence.
-Please answer when you have time sir-
Hello Lily_daisy,
The past simple and present perfect have different forms, which are explained above, but in brief:
'She has played the piano since she was eight' is correct. It means that she started the piano at eight and today still plays the piano. The playing began in the past and is still true now.
'She played the piano since she was eight' isn't generally correct. The past simple suggests that she no longer plays the piano, but 'since she was eight' suggests she still plays the piano now. So there is a contradiction.
Does that make sense?
There is a detailed explanation of how to use 'since' with different verb tenses on this Cambridge Dictionary page.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi I wanna ask, why is this question answered A? it was asking about the duration, wasn't it?
You've got a new car? How long ___ the old one?
did you have
Incorrect --> have you had
Hello cheol'swife,
Although it's not 100% clear, here the idea is that the person has a new car and got rid of the old car. In this case, having the old car was in the finished past. We use past simple forms for the finished past, i.e. for a time that isn't connected to the present.
If the person still had the old car, the present perfect is possible.
Hope that clears it up for you!
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
I'm confused about this question: Find the mistake "We've lived in Spain before, but now we live in France."
The mistake is We've lived (correct: We lived). But I thought the Present Perfect Simple can be used to talk about a life experience, just like in 'Have you ever lived in Spain before?'
Thank you for your help.
Hello hangng89
The present perfect is used when the time reference is open (not finished). For example, when you ask about a person's life experience the present perfect is used as they are still alive and so the time period is not closed.
Using the present perfect with 'before' is a little tricky as the word often signifies a closed time period: before last week, before you got the job, before 1975 etc. This is the case in your example. The speaker now lives in France and is asking about the period before they began living in France - a finished period of time.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear teachers,
I don't understand what the use of the present perfect is in this sentence:
"Without absolute secrecy, the mission wouldn't have succeeded."
Can you explain it? Thank you.
Hello Stor,
This is not present perfect but rather a perfect modal (modal verb + have + past participle - would (not) have succeeded).
We use this form to describe a past situation which did not happen: an alternative unreal or imagined past. Here, the mission did succeed and the speaker is imagining something else (failure) and the reason for it.
This form is often used in past hypothetical conditionals. Usually these have an if-clause:
If we had not had absolute secrecy, the mission wouldn't have succeeded.
'Without...' replaces the if-clause here, but the rest is the same.
You can read more about these and other conditional structures on this page:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/verbs-time-clauses-if-clauses
And you can read more about would have here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/will-have-would-have
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi , dear teachers. Could someone help me and explain this question? The answer is "did you go " However, I personally think have you been yet is more appropriate. What is the answer? What is the each thing mean? I am so confused. Please help.
You said you’ve been to South America. How interesting! Where _____________?
did you go
have you gone
have you been yet
Hello termobarik,
Among these three answers, the only correct one is 'did you go'.
When the speaker says 'you've been to South America', it's referring to a time period that began in the past but which hasn't finished yet. More specifically, this time period is the listener's lifetime. One of the experiences in the listener's lifetime (which is still continuing now and will include more experiences) is the experience of going to South America some time in the past.
But the question that comes next is not about the listener's lifetime. It's about the specific experience of going to South America. This specific experience happened some time in the past, and is no longer true -- in other words, the listener is not in South America now. Since this experience only happened in the past and is not directly related to the present, we use a past simple form ('did you go').
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team