The Present Perfect Simple Tense

How to form the present perfect

• Learn about USING the present perfect here
• For a list of all the present perfect exercises, click here

To make the positive present perfect tense, use:

• 'have' / 'has' + the past participle
• Make the past participle by adding 'ed' to regular verbs (for example, 'play' becomes 'played')
• There are a few verbs that change their spelling when you add 'ed' (for example, 'study' becomes 'studied')
• We also have some completely irregular verbs

(Also, here's some help if you are not sure how to pronounce '-ed' at the end of a verb).

Positive	Positive Short Form
I have played	I've played
you have worked	you've worked
he has written	he's written
she has walked	she's walked
it has rained	it's rained
we have travelled	we've travelled
they have studied	they've studied

Try an exercise about the positive form here

The negative is really simple too. Just put 'not' after 'have' or 'has':

Negative	Negative Short Form
I have not eaten breakfast today	I haven't eaten
you have not been to Asia	you haven't been
he has not seen the new film	he hasn't seen
she has not played tennis	she hasn't played
it has not snowed this winter	it hasn't snowed
we have not slept all night	we haven't slept
they have not tried the food	they haven't tried

Try an exercise about the negative form here

To make a question, put 'have' or 'has' in front of the subject:

'Yes / No' Questions

have I missed the bus?

have you visited London?

has he worked as a waiter before?

has she met John?

has it been cold this week?

have we arrived too early?

have they studied English grammar before?

As you can imagine, for 'wh' questions, we just put the question word before 'have' or 'has':

'Wh' Questions

where have I left my umbrella?

what have you done today?

why has he gone already?

where has she been in the UK?

why has it rained so much this summer?

what have we done?

where have they learned English before?

• Click here for a list of all the present perfect exercises