English Tenses · Connect earlier events with now
Present Perfect – Learn & Practise
“I’ve finished.” “She hasn’t called yet.” “Have you been to York?” Talk about experience, results now and situations continuing up to now.
100 questions · 10 per round · No sign-in needed
1. What is Present Perfect?
Make the present perfect with have or has + the past participle. A past participle is a verb form such as worked, finished, been, seen or written. The present perfect connects earlier events or situations with now.
Life experience up to now
“I have been to Scotland.” The exact finished time is not the focus.
A past action with a result now
“She has lost her keys.” She cannot find them now.
A situation continuing until now
“We have lived here for three years.” We still live here.
2. Choose the correct form
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I / You / We / They / plural subjects | have + past participle | They have finished. |
| He / She / It / one person | has + past participle | She has finished. |
3. Positive, negative and question patterns
+ Positive
Subject + have/has + past participle
She has finished the form.
− Negative
Subject + have/has + not + past participle
She hasn’t finished the form.
? Question
Have/Has + subject + past participle?
Has she finished the form?
Use have with I, you, we and they; use has with he, she and it. Put not after have or has. Move have or has before the subject in a question. Keep the past participle in positives, negatives and questions. Do not use did to make a present perfect question.
4. Contractions
I have → I’ve
You have → You’ve
We have → We’ve
They have → They’ve
He has → He’s
She has → She’s
It has → It’s
have not → haven’t
has not → hasn’t
In “She’s finished”, ’s means has. In “She’s tired”, ’s means is. Look at the words after it.
5. Questions and short answers
Yes/No questions
“Have you finished?” → “Yes, I have.” / “No, I haven’t.”
“Has he called?” → “Yes, he has.” / “No, he hasn’t.”
“Have they arrived?” → “Yes, they have.” / “No, they haven’t.”
Do not finish a positive short answer with a contraction: “Yes, I have”, not “Yes, I’ve”.
WH-questions
- What have you done?
- Where has she put the keys?
- How long have you lived here?
- Who have they spoken to?
6. Spelling and verb forms
Regular past participles usually end in -ed
work → worked; visit → visited; finish → finished. These have the same form as the regular past simple.
Useful irregular participles
go → gone; be → been; see → seen; take → taken; write → written; eat → eaten; do → done.
Some keep the same spelling
put → put; cut → cut; read → read. The participle read sounds like “red”.
Do not confuse past simple and participles
went → gone; saw → seen; wrote → written; ate → eaten. Say “I have seen”, not “I have saw”.
7. Time expressions and common mistakes
Ever · never · just · already · yet · since · for · so far
Just, already and yet
“I have just finished.” “She has already sent it.” Just and already often go between have/has and the participle. “Have you finished yet?” “I haven’t finished yet.” Yet often goes at the end of questions and negatives.
Ever and never
“Have you ever visited York?” asks about experience at any time up to now. “I have never visited York” means I have no experience of that. Never already has a negative meaning; do not add not.
For and since
For + a length of time: for three years. Since + a starting point: since 2020. “I have known her for years.” “We have lived here since 2020.”
Been or gone?
“She has been to the shops” usually means she visited and returned. “She has gone to the shops” means she left and has not returned yet. “Have you ever been to Scotland?” asks about a life experience.
Present Perfect or Past Simple?
“I have seen the doctor” focuses on the experience or result now. “I saw the doctor yesterday” gives a finished past time. Do not usually use the present perfect with yesterday, last week, in 2020 or two days ago.
An unfinished time period can use the present perfect: “I’ve answered three emails today” when today is still continuing. The choice depends on how the speaker presents the time and event.
- “She have finished.” → She has finished.
- “I have went.” → I have gone.
- “Has he ate?” → Has he eaten?
- “Did you have finished?” → Have you finished?
- “I have seen him yesterday.” → I saw him yesterday.
Audio uses your device’s English (UK) voice when available. No sound plays automatically.
8. Your practice space
Choose an activity. Each round has 10 questions. Type answers, choose an option or build a sentence. Read the feedback before moving on.
Full forms and standard contractions are accepted. Capital letters and final punctuation do not affect your score. Each answer is checked once per round; you can practise missed questions afterwards.
The final assessment draws from the practice bank. It is a learning check, not a qualification test.
Your round
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10. Print and practise
Use these questions for classwork or homework. The print version includes 20 questions followed by the answer key on a separate page. Use your print settings to save as PDF if you prefer.
View worksheet questions and answers
- Use present perfect: I ___ the application form. (finish)
Answer: have finished - Use present perfect: We ___ our appointments. (book)
Answer: have booked - Use present perfect: You ___ good progress. (make)
Answer: have made - Use present perfect: We ___ the new timetable. (receive)
Answer: have received - Use present perfect: They ___ the exam. (take)
Answer: have taken - Complete the present perfect negative: I ___ the application form. (finish)
Answer: have not finished - Complete the present perfect negative: He ___ his bus pass. (lose)
Answer: has not lost - Complete the present perfect negative: My children ___ their lunch. (eat)
Answer: have not eaten - Complete the present perfect negative: We ___ the new timetable. (receive)
Answer: have not received - Complete the present perfect negative: The students ___ the instructions. (read)
Answer: have not read - Complete the question: ___ I finished the application form?
Answer: Have - Complete the question: ___ he lost his bus pass?
Answer: Has - Complete the question: ___ the nurse checked my blood pressure?
Answer: Has - Build a present perfect question. Use all the words.
Words: timetable / new / the / received / we / Have
Answer: Have we received the new timetable? - Build a present perfect question. Use all the words.
Words: before / film / this / seen / you / Have
Answer: Have you seen this film before? - Make this negative. Keep the same subject and details: I have finished the application form.
Answer: I have not finished the application form. - Make this negative. Keep the same subject and details: They have completed the course.
Answer: They have not completed the course. - Make a yes/no question. Keep the same subject and details: He has bought a travel card.
Answer: Has he bought a travel card? - Correct the mistake. Write the complete sentence: They has booked the tickets.
Answer: They have booked the tickets. - Correct the mistake. Write the complete sentence: He has ate lunch.
Answer: He has eaten lunch.
Keep practising
Try another activity, revisit a rule or use a grammar video to support your learning.
ESOLish · Present Perfect
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Write your answers. Keep the same subject when changing sentences. Full forms and contractions are both correct.
Present Perfect · Answer key
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