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Verb Tenses - Lesson 106

Present Perfect Simple

Lesson 106 - learn the present perfect simple tense: how to form it, when to use it, clear examples and a short video from a British English teacher.

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How to form and use the present perfect simple

How To Form The Present Perfect Simple:

For positive statements take a subject (I, tomorrow, my friends...) then use the auxiliary verb to have in the corresponding form of the present simple (have, has) and then use the past participle formed by taking the infinitive without to and adding ...ed for regular verbs (walked, talked, jumped, constructed), or using the word in column 3 for irregular verbs (eaten, seen, understood). Put all this together: I have constructed. The dog has eaten. Be careful to use has with third person singular. Notice the contractions I've and he's. To make negatives place not after the auxiliary have or has. I have not constructed. The dog has not eaten. Notice the contractions I haven't and he hasn't. So make questions interchange the positions of the subject and the auxiliary have or has. Have I constructed? Has the dog eaten? If you wish you can place a question word (who, what when...) before the auxiliary have. What have I constructed? What has the dog eaten? The table below sets out the form of the present perfect simple:

Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I have constructed I have not constructed Have I constructed?
You have constructed You have not constructed Have you constructed?
He has constructed He has not constructed Has he constructed?
She has constructed She has not constructed Has she constructed?
It has constructed It has not constructed Has it constructed?
We have constructed We have not constructed Have we constructed?
You have constructed You have not constructed Have you constructed?
They have constructed They have not constructed Have they constructed?

The following video explains how to form the Present Perfect Simple:

Watch the video lesson

Video transcript

How to form the present perfect. Take a subject I and then use the present simple of the auxiliary verb have, I have. To this you add the past participle. To make the past participle take the infinitive of the verb without to for example construct and add ...ed, constructed. So to make your present perfect of the verb construct, I have constructed. Or contraction: I've constructed. Second person you have constructed. You've constructed. He has constructed. He's constructed. She has constructed. It has constructed. We have constructed. You have constructed. They've constructed. To make negatives put not after the have. I have not, or I haven't constructed. You have not constructed. He has not constructed. She hasn't constructed. It has not constructed. We have not constructed. You have not constructed. They have not constructed. To make questions change the place of the subject and the auxiliary have. So. Have I constructed? Have you constructed? Has he constructed? Have we constructed? Have you constructed? Have they constructed? So that's how to form, or construct the present perfect. In the next video I'll explain when to use it, what it means. That's more problematic. See you. Bye.

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This lesson is part of our free English Verb Tenses course. Work through the series in order, or jump to the tense or structure you need next.

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