A bridge between past and now: The present perfect links the past to now. You form it with have / has + the past participle: I have finished, she has gone. Unlike the past simple, it doesn't tell you exactly *when* something happened — it tells you that the past action still matters now**: a life experience, a piece of news, or an action in a time period that isn't over yet.
- present perfect
- the tense 'have/has + past participle' that links a past action to the present
- auxiliary (have / has)
- the helper verb: 'have' for I/you/we/they, 'has' for he/she/it
- past participle
- the third form of a verb (finished, gone, seen, done) used after have/has
- regular participle
- a participle ending in -ed (work → worked, play → played)
- irregular participle
- a participle that does not follow the -ed rule (go → gone, see → seen, do → done)
- experience
- something that has happened to you at some unstated time in your life
- unfinished time
- a time period that includes now (today, this week, this year)
Why it carries the marks: Reading texts, listening clips and writing tasks at SL constantly mix the present perfect with the past simple. Choosing the right one — and forming the participle correctly — is core Criterion A (Language) accuracy. Examiners notice immediately if you write “I have went” or “I saw him since Monday”.
Auxiliary + past participle: Use have with I, you, we, they and has with he, she, it. Then add the past participle. For regular verbs the participle is just the -ed form (work → worked, play → played, study → studied). Many common verbs are irregular and must be learned (go → gone, see → seen, do → done, eat → eaten). For questions, put the auxiliary first (Have you finished?); for negatives use haven't / hasn't (She hasn't arrived).
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive (I/you/we/they) | have + participle | I have finished my essay. |
| Positive (he/she/it) | has + participle | She has finished her essay. |
| Negative | haven't / hasn't + participle | We haven't seen that film. |
| Question | Have / Has + subject + participle? | Have you ever been to Italy? |
| Short answer | Yes, I have. / No, she hasn't. | — Has he called? — No, he hasn't. |
Watch the irregular participles: The biggest source of mistakes is the participle. It is the third form, not the past simple: go → went → gone (so *“I have gone”*, never *“I have went”*). A few high-frequency irregulars to memorise: be → been, do → done, see → seen, eat → eaten, write → written, take → taken, give → given. Some don't change at all: cut → cut, put → put, read → read**.
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Present perfect vs past simple: This is the key decision. Use the present perfect when the exact time is not stated and the past still connects to now — a life experience, recent news, or a time period that isn't over. Use the past simple when you say exactly when (yesterday, in 2019, last week, when I was ten). Compare: “I have visited Paris” (sometime in my life) vs “I visited Paris last summer” (a finished, dated event).
Use the present perfect
- Experience, time not stated — “I have eaten octopus.”
- Unfinished time period — “We have studied a lot this week.”
- Recent news / result now — “I have lost my keys (so I can't get in).”
Use the past simple
- A stated, finished time — “I ate octopus in Greece last year.”
- A finished time period — “We studied a lot yesterday.”
- A completed event with a date — “I lost my keys on Monday.”
Signal words — for / since and already / yet
- for + a length of time — “I have lived here for ten years.” (how long)
- since + a starting point — “I have lived here since 2016.” (from when)
- already — something done sooner than expected: “I have already finished.” (positive)
- yet — in questions/negatives, expected but not done: “Haven't you finished yet?” / “not yet”
- ever / never — in experience questions/answers: “Have you ever flown?” / “I have never flown.”
for vs since: Both go with the present perfect for an unfinished situation. for takes a duration (for three days, for a long time); since takes a point in time (since Monday, since 2020, since I was a child). Mixing them up — “since three days” — is one of the most common errors.
One short paragraph, every use: Here is a short paragraph built one sentence at a time. Each sentence uses the present perfect in a different way — experience (have visited, have never been, have you ever tried), unfinished time with for/since (have lived all my life, have known since primary school), and already/yet (have already finished, haven't started yet). Read it once for meaning, then study how each form is built.
IB-style task — the present perfect in action
One paragraph, sentence by sentence
- I have lived in this town all my life, so I know every street.
- I have already finished my homework, but I haven't started the project yet.
- My sister has visited five countries, and she has never been afraid of flying.
- We have known each other since primary school — that's more than ten years.
- Have you ever tried sushi? I have eaten it twice and I loved it.
Steal this for your writing: Notice how few patterns you need: have/has + participle, plus for/since for how long, and already/yet for what is or isn't done. Swap in your own experiences (I have travelled to…, I have never…, I have lived here for…) and you have ready-made sentences for the oral or a writing task.
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The slips to watch for: Four mistakes dominate. 1. Using the past simple form after have/has (“I have went” instead of I have gone). 2. Using the present perfect with a stated past time (*“I have seen her yesterday”* instead of *I saw her yesterday*). 3. Mixing up for/since (*“since three days”* instead of *for three days*). 4. Wrong auxiliary for the subject (*“she have”* instead of *she has***). Compare the right version with the typical mistake and the fix becomes clear.
Correct
- I have never seen that film.
- I saw her yesterday.
- I have lived here for three years.
- She has already left.
Common mistake
- I have never saw that film. (past simple, not the participle 'seen')
- I have seen her yesterday. (stated time — needs the past simple 'saw')
- I have lived here since three years. ('since' + a point; for a duration use 'for')
- She has already leaved. ('leave' is irregular — the participle is 'left')
Ask: is a time stated, and is the participle right?: Before you choose this tense, run two checks. 1. Is there a stated, finished time (yesterday, in 2019)? If yes, use the past simple. If the time is unstated or unfinished, the present perfect fits. 2. Is the participle the third form (gone, seen, done), and the auxiliary the right one (have/has)? And remember: for + duration, since + a point in time.