Writing with Tenses / Present Perfect
LESSON 77 OF 261 · 6 MIN READ

Present Perfect — Introduction and Verb Forms

Understand the time relationship and choose the required verb form.

Introduction

Connect a past action with a result, experience, or period that reaches up to now.

When and why

Recent completion: She has just arrived.
Present result: Someone has broken the glass.
Experience: Have you ever ridden a horse? I have never skied.
Up to now: I have read five books this year.
Already/just before V3: I have already eaten.
Yet often ends a negative/question: Has she arrived yet?
For + duration: He has worked here for five years.
Since + starting point: He has lived in Delhi since 2019.
Repeated actions: She has called three times today.
Unfinished period: We have learned a lot this week.

Formula

Subject + have/has + V3

Required verb form

V3 — I/you/we/they → have; he/she/it/singular → has.

Examples

Cindy has finished her homework.

Cindy has not gone shopping yet.

Remember irregular V3

eat → eaten; break → broken; write → written; go → gone; take → taken; see → seen; drink → drunk; do → done; make → made; buy → bought; find → found; lose → lost; speak → spoken; begin → begun; give → given; drive → driven. Use the linked Verb Trainer while writing.

Ask WH questions in this tense

WH + have/has + subject + V3 ...?
What has Riya written?
How long have they lived here?
Choose what, where, when, why, which, whose or how for the information needed. How many asks about countable quantities; how much about amounts; how often about frequency; how long about duration. A subject question can keep normal order: Who works here? Do not add do just because a WH word appears.

Find and correct errors

Read the context, identify the verb phrase and check the required form. Try the correction activities below. A wrong attempt gives a hint; stronger hints follow, and an example is available only on request after repeated attempts.

Learn this tense, then use it

  1. Introduction, concept and use
  2. Formula and required verb form
  3. Positive and negative sentences
  4. Yes/no and WH questions
  5. Uses and time expressions
  6. Common mistakes and correction practice below
  7. MCQ practice, picture sentences and scenario writing
  8. Guided paragraph and topic test
Read the existing lessons for each part

Formula: Subject + have/has + V3

Verb form: V3

Use this rule: write and correct

Try first. Hints become more specific after each attempt. Your attempts and corrections are saved with your existing writing progress.

Enlarged practice scene
TRY IT YOURSELF

A quick check

A wrong answer is a chance to learn. Use the hint and try again.