Present Perfect: Experience & Results
have/has + past participle with ever / never / just / already / yet.
We make the present perfect with the helping verb have or has plus the past participle of the main verb (I/you/we/they have, but he/she/it has): I have seen, she has gone. We use it to talk about life experiences without saying exactly when (Have you ever been to London?), and about recent actions whose result we can see now (I have lost my keys, so I can't open the door). The adverbs ever and never go before the past participle to talk about experience: 'Have you ever eaten sushi?' and 'I have never eaten sushi.' We use just for something that happened a very short time ago (She has just left) and already for something finished sooner than expected, both placed between have/has and the participle (I have already finished). The word yet is used in questions and negatives and goes at the end of the sentence: 'Have you finished yet?' and 'I haven't finished yet.' Remember that the past participle of regular verbs ends in -ed (work → worked), but many common verbs are irregular and must be learned (go → gone, see → seen, eat → eaten). For example: 'I have already done my homework, so I am free now.'
Key terms
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | subject + have/has + V3 | She has seen this film. |
| Negative | subject + haven't/hasn't + V3 | I haven't finished my work yet. |
| Question | Have/Has + subject + V3? | Has she finished her project yet? |
| Signal word | Position / Use |
|---|---|
| ever | Before the participle; in experience questions: 'Have you ever been to Paris?' |
| never | Before the participle; gives a negative meaning in positive sentences: 'I have never been to Japan.' |
| already | Between have/has and the participle; in positive sentences: 'I have already finished.' |
| yet | At the end of the sentence; only in questions and negatives: 'Have you finished yet?' |
| just | Between have/has and the participle; for something a moment ago: 'She has just left.' |
- 1Choose have or has: Subject 'She' is he/she/it, so use 'has'. (Use 'have' with I/you/we/they.)
- 2Add the past participle: The verb 'see' is irregular, so its participle is 'seen', not 'seed' or 'saw'.
- 3Put it together: She + has + seen this film → 'She has seen this film.'
- 1Positive sentence with already: 'already' goes between have/has and the participle: 'I have already done my homework.'
- 2Negative or question with yet: 'yet' goes at the end and is used only in negatives and questions: 'I haven't done my homework yet.' / 'Have you done your homework yet?'
- 3Check the swap: Do not use 'already' at the end of a negative or 'yet' in a positive statement: say 'I have already finished' but 'I haven't finished yet.'
Use 'has' only with he/she/it. With I/you/we/they always use 'have': say 'They have eaten', not 'They has eaten'.
After have/has use the past participle (V3), not the past simple (V2): 'He has written a letter' (not 'wrote'), 'Have you ever been there?' (not 'went').
Use 'yet' (at the end) in negatives and questions, and 'already' (before the participle) in positive sentences. Don't swap them: 'I haven't finished yet', but 'I have already finished'.
Don't add -ed to irregular verbs: the participles are 'lost', 'taken', 'heard', 'read', 'done' — never 'losed', 'taked', 'heared', 'readed'.
Rules
- 1Form: have/has + past participle. Use 'have' with I/you/we/they and 'has' with he/she/it (I have seen, she has gone).
- 2ever and never come before the past participle and talk about experience: 'Have you ever been there?', 'I have never been there.'
- 3just (a moment ago) and already (sooner than expected) go between have/has and the participle: 'She has just arrived.', 'I have already eaten.'
- 4yet goes at the end and is used only in questions and negatives: 'Have you finished yet?', 'I haven't finished yet.'
- 5Past participles: regular verbs add -ed (play → played); learn irregular ones (go → gone, see → seen, do → done, eat → eaten, write → written).
Practice
10 easy · 10 medium · 10 hard
10 random questions per test