How to Use Present Perfect Tense: Guide to Present Perfect

Present perfect is the verb tense used to describe an action that took place at an unspecified time in the past. The present perfect tense is often used to describe actions or events that took place at least once or many times in the past, or over a non-specific period of time such as the recent past or last month.

Structure a present perfect phrase using the following construction: has/have + past participle. The past participle is a regular verb in the simple past tense, like “been” for “be” or “seen” for “see.” Adding the present auxiliary verb “has” or “have” to the conjugated main verb puts it in the present perfect tense. Adding the past auxiliary verb “had” makes the tense past perfect.

Present perfect can be used in several scenarios, including the following situations.

• When discussing a past experience: Use the present perfect to discuss a past event that a person has experienced or not experienced. Using the present perfect tense, an affirmative statement would be: "He has been to New York." If you’re using the present perfect tense to construct negative sentences in the same way. For example: "He has not been to New York."
• When asking a question: When you’re asking a question about whether or not someone has had a particular experience at an unspecified time in the past, you would use the present perfect tense. For example, it is correct to say: "Has he been to New York?”
• When discussing a repeated action in the past: You can use the present perfect tense to talk about past actions that occurred more than once at unspecific times. For example, you say: “He has been to New York many times.”
• When talking about accomplishments: The present perfect tense is commonly used to discuss an accomplishment or a series of accomplishments that a person has garnered. For example, you could say “The actress has won three awards for her performance of Hedda Gabler.”
• To describe growth or change: You can use the present perfect tense to describe an experience of growth or change. For example, you use the present perfect tense to say: “I have grown a lot since last year.”
• When discussing an action you expect to happen: Though the present perfect tense typically describes an action that occurred in the past, you can also use it in the negative form to describe an action that has not yet occurred, though you are expecting it to happen. For example, you could say “Jeremy has not ordered the flowers yet.”

The following sentences are examples of how to use the present perfect form of a verb.

1. 1. “She has been all around the world.” The present perfect form of “be” (“has been”) is used in this sentence to describe an experience that “she” has had many times in her life at unspecified times.
2. 2. “They have not known each other for long.” The present perfect form of “known” (“have not known”) describes an experience that “they” have not had, with the expectation that they will get to know each other better in the future.
3. 3. “The play has run for many years on Broadway.” The present perfect form of “run” (“has run”) describes an unspecified amount of time that the play has run for on Broadway.
4. 4. “Elliot has not passed the driving test yet.” The present perfect statement “has not passed” describes an experience that Elliot is expected to have in the future.
5. 5. “The house has aged over time.” The present perfect statement “has aged” describes what the subject “the house” has done over many years in the past.

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