Present Perfect Tense: Definition, Useful Examples and Exercise

The present perfect tense in English with present perfect examples! Learn the definition and how to form the present perfect tense with useful examples and ESL printable infographics.

Contents

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Definition

In the Present Perfect tense, the action is complete or has ended and hence termed Perfect. The exact time when the action happened is not important and hence, it is not mentioned in this tense.

Forming Present Perfect Tense

Positive Statements | Present Perfect

SUBJECT	HAVE / HAS	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have	seen	this movie.
You	have	seen	this movie.
He	has	seen	this movie.
Tom	has	seen	this movie.
The boy	has	seen	this movie.
She	has	seen	this movie.
Anna	has	seen	this movie.
The girl	has	seen	this movie.
We	have	seen	this movie.
You	have	seen	this movie.
They	have	seen	this movie.
The children	have	seen	this movie.

Notice that we use:

‘have’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Negative Statements | Present Perfect

SUBJECT	HAVE NOT / HAS NOT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have not	eaten	lunch.
You	have not	eaten	lunch.
He	has not	eaten	lunch.
Tom	has not	eaten	lunch.
The boy	has not	eaten	lunch.
She	has not	eaten	lunch.
Anna	has not	eaten	lunch.
The girl	has not	eaten	lunch.
We	have not	eaten	lunch.
You	have not	eaten	lunch.
They	have not	eaten	lunch.
The children	have not	eaten	lunch.

Notice that we use:

‘have not’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has not’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Interrogative Statements / Questions | Present Perfect

HAVE / HAS	SUBJECT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Have	I	finished	the work?
Have	you	finished	the work?
Has	he	finished	the work?
Has	Tom	finished	the work?
Has	the boy	finished	the work?
Has	she	finished	the work?
Has	Anna	finished	the work?
Has	the girl	finished	the work?
Have	we	finished	the work?
Have	you	finished	the work?
Have	they	finished	the work?
Have	the men	finished	the work?