Lesson 11. Present Perfect Tense
Introduction
You’ll review the common irregular verb have and learn how to form and use past participles and the present perfect tense. Plenty of examples are included to make each concept easy to understand. The lesson starts with a short English conversation to help you improve your conversational English skills.
Conversations
English
Tom and Sarah are talking during lunch break. Tom mentions a new band that he really likes.
Tom: Have you heard any songs by the new band Syndica?
Sarah: No. I haven't heard of them before.
Tom: They've only been around for about a year. They released their first album just last week.
Sarah: Have they played any shows around here?
Tom: They've played at the Commodore Theater before, and they have another concert scheduled for next month. I've already bought a ticket.
Sarah: I'll listen to them tonight, and if I like them, maybe I'll go too.
Eric: It'll be a great show. I haven't been to any concerts lately, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Sarah: I haven't seen any good concerts yet this year either.
Eric: Let me know if you decide to go. Tom and I, and maybe a few others, are going to have dinner before the show. You're welcome to join us.
Sarah: Thanks. That sounds like fun.
Français
Tom et Sarah parlent pendant la pause déjeuner. Tom mentionne un nouveau groupe qu'il aime vraiment.
Tom: Avez-vous entendu l'une des chansons du nouveau groupe Syndica?
Sarah: Non. Je n'ai jamais entendu parler de ce groupe auparavant.
Tom: Ils ne existent que depuis environ un an. Ils ont sorti leur premier album la semaine dernière.
Sarah: Ont-ils joué à des spectacles ici.
Tom: Ils ont déjà joué au Commodore Theatre. Ils ont un autre concert prévu le mois prochain. J'ai déjà acheté un billet pour cela.
Sarah: Je les écouterai ce soir, et si je les aime, je vais peut-être y aller aussi.
Eric: Ce sera un grand spectacle. Je n'ai pas participé à des concerts ces derniers temps, donc je suis vraiment impatient d'y être.
Sarah: Je n'ai pas encore vu de bons concerts cette année non plus.
Eric: Dis-moi si tu décides d'aller au concert. Tom et moi, et peut-être quelques autres, allons dîner avant le spectacle. Tu es invité à nous rejoindre.
Sarah: Merci. Cela semble amusant.
Annonce
Grammar
The verb have
The verb have is one of the most common verbs in English and has several different meanings. Here are some of the more common one:
- own
- possess
- hold
- include
- state the existence of
- to be scheduled to attend, undertake, or perform and action
- experience or undergo
- be afflicted with
- cause to be
The verb have is also used as a helper verb to create the present perfect tense, which will be covered later in this lesson. The following table shows the present and past tense of the verb have.
| Present Tense | Past Tense | |
|---|---|---|
| I | have | had |
| you | have | had |
| he | has | had |
| it | has | had |
| she | has | had |
| we | have | had |
| they | have | had |
Exemples
| I have a laptop. | J'ai un ordinateur portable. |
| I have his car keys. | J'ai ses clés de voiture. |
| The door has a lock. | La porte a une serrure. |
| I have a brother. | J'ai un frère. |
| I had a cold. | J'ai eu un rhume. |
| I have an appointment at 3:00. | J'ai rendez-vous à trois heures. |
| I have too much work to do. | J'ai trop de travail à faire. |
| We had a great time. | Nous avons passé un bon moment. |
The Past Participle
The past particple is a form of a verb that can be used to turn verbs into adjectives. The past participle can also be used with the auxiliary verb have to create certain verb tenses such as the present perfect tense that will be discussed later in the lesson.
For most verbs, the past participle is the same as the past tense. Some example of past participles that are the same as the past tense are shown in the following table.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | Français |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | closed | closed | fermer |
| learn | learned | learned | apprendre |
| have | had | had | avoir |
| think | thought | thought | penser |
| find | found | found | trouver |
There are some very common verbs in English that have a unique form of the past participle. Most verbs whose past tense is creating by changing the vowel have a unique form of the past participle. Some common verbs with a unique form of the past participle are shown in the following table.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | Français |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was | been | être |
| go | went | gone | aller |
| begin | began | begun | commencer |
| drink | drank | drunk | boire |
| ring | rang | rung | sonner |
| sing | sang | sung | chanter |
| sink | sank | sunk | couler vers le bas |
| swim | swam | swum | nager |
| bite | bit | bidden | mordre |
| hide | hid | hidden | cacher |
| drive | drove | driven | conduire |
| ride | rode | ridden | conduire, aller à, aller en |
| rise | rose | risen | se lever |
| strive | strove | striven | aspirer |
| write | wrote | written | écrire |
| break | broke | broken | briser, rompre |
| choose | chose | chosen | choisir |
| freeze | frose | frosen | geler |
| fly | flew | flown | voler |
| come | came | come | venir |
| do | did | done | faire |
| eat | ate | eaten | manger |
| find | found | found | trouver |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | oublier |
| give | gave | given | donner |
| throw | threw | thrown | lancer |
| know | knew | known | savoir, connaître |
| run | ran | run | courir |
| see | saw | seen | voir |
| speak | spoke | spoken | parler |
| take | took | taken | prendre |
Examples
| a locked door | une porte verrouillée |
| a broken window | une fenêtre cassée |
| a hidden treasure | Un trésor caché |
Annonce
Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is created in English by using the past participle of a verb along with the present tense of the verb have.
The following table shows how to create the present perfect tense for the verb walk.
| Present Perfect Tense |
|---|
| I have walked |
| you have walked |
| he has walked |
| she has walked |
| it has walked |
| we have walked |
| they have walked |
The present perfect tense is used in English to describe:
- an action that started in the past and continues into the present
- an action that started in the past and just finished
- a repeated series of actions that have finished in the past, but are likely to happen again in the future
- a change that has happened over an extended amount of time.
For example:
| I've gone to see the ocean. |
| I have seen the ocean. |
| I have seen the ocean many times. |
| I have seen the ocean, but I can't remember when. |
| She has grown since the last time I saw her. |
Never use the present perfect tense with with words such as today, yesterday, days of the week, or other words that indicate a specific time. For a single action that happened at a specific time in the past, the simple past tense needs to be used. For example:
| I saw the ocean yesterday. |
| I saw the ocean on Monday. |
| I saw the ocean in June. |
| I saw the ocean on our vacation. |
Examples
| I have been to Spain. | Je suis allé en Espagne. |
| She has gotten better at math. | Elle s'est améliorée en maths. |
| I have learned another language. | J'ai appris une autre langue. |
| They have done that already. | Ils l'ont déjà fait. |
| We have seen the movie. | Nous avons vu le film. |
| He has written a book. | Il a écrit un livre. |
| The book has been read by many people. | Le livre a été lu par beaucoup de gens. |
Contractions
Contractions are often used with pronouns and have.
Examples
| I've done that too many times. | Je l'ai fait trop de fois. |
| You've seen it already. | Vous l'avez déjà vu. |
| She's taken that course before. | Elle a déjà suivi ce cours. |
| He's watched the show five times already. | Il a déjà regardé la série cinq fois. |
Negative Statements with the Present Perfect
The following table shows the forms of the present perfect tense that are used to make a negative statement.
| Negative Form |
|---|
| I haven't walked |
| you haven't walked |
| he hasn't walked |
| she hasn't walked |
| it hasn't walked |
| we haven't walked |
| they haven't walked |
You can also create a negative statement by using the adverb never after the verb have.
Examples
| It hasn't happened before. | Cela n'est pas arrivé avant. |
| I haven't been there. | Je n'y suis pas allé. |
| We've never been there. | Nous n'y sommes jamais allés. |
| I have never done that. | Je n'ai jamais fait ça. |
Question Form of the Present Perfect
To make a questions with the present perfect tense, the noun or pronoun follows the auxiliary verb have.
| Question Form |
|---|
| Have I walked? |
| Have you walked? |
| Has he walked? |
| Has she walked? |
| Has it walked? |
| Have we walked? |
| Have they walked? |
Examples
| Have you ever seen a bear? | Avez-vous déjà vu un ours? |
| Has the car ever worked? | Est-ce que la voiture jamais travaillé? |
| Have the books been read yet? | Les livres ont-ils déjà été lus? |
| Have you thought about it? | Avez-vous pensé à cela? |
| Has it happened before? | Est-ce que cela s'est passé avant? |
| Have you seen it already? | L'avez-vous déjà vu? |
| Where have you been? | Où étiez-vous? |
Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the present perfect tense of some common English verbs.
Quiz
In the quiz for this lesson, you'll practice writing sentences using the present perfect tense. You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.
Change the following sentences to the present perfect tense. Make sure to use correct capitalization and do not use contractions.
Example - Question: I do the work. Answer: I have done the work.
