11 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners - The Present Perfect Tense

11 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners

15 . The Present Perfect Tense

Positive	Negative	Question
I have played .	I have not (haven’t) played.	Have I played?
He She has played.  It	He She has  not (hasn’t)played . It	she Has     he   played ?       it
We They have played . You	We They have not (haven’t) played. You	we Have they played ?           you

1 . The present perfect tense is formed : have / has + Past Participle .

2. It is used to link the past with the present . It is used to indicate actions that started in the past and still take place or have an effect at present [ for , since ] . It is also used to indicate actions that have recently happened [ just , already , lately ] .

She has worked as a teacher for seven years . [ She started work . She is still a teacher . ]

She has been here since the morning .

They have bought a bigger car .  [ An action recently happened ]

He has already written the composition .

3 . It is used to ask about experienced actions or past experiences [ ever , yet ].

Have you ever been to Canada ?

Have you visited Canada yet ?

3 . The present perfect is often used with the following adverbs :

just / yet / for / since / ever / never / already / recently / lately

Exercise

Put the verbs in the correct form of present perfect :

1 . I ---------------------[ just finish ] the homework .

2 . --------------------you ever ------------------[ read ] a novel by Charles Dickens .

3 . My brother ----------------already -----------------[ se ] this film .

4 . I -----------------------already ---------------------[ tell ] you the answer of this question .

5 . Ali --------------just --------------[ leave ] school to hospital .

6 . The book ------------------[ appear ] recently .

7 . You won’t find him in his office . He ---------------------[ leave ] already .

8 . We can’t tell you anything about him . We -------------------[ not meet ] yet .

9 . My mother -------------------[ just finish ] cooking .

10 . He -------------[ bee ] here for a week .

11 . I -------------------[ live ] in London for nine years .

12  The train ---------------------------[ not arrive ] yet .

13 . It ---------------[ rain ] here since I last visited you ?

14 . The police -----------------[ not find ] the thief yet .

15 . You ------------------[ hear ] from Allan lately ?

16 . They --------------------[ recently move ] to a new house .

17 . She ------------------never [ read ] a French book .

18 . Our dinner guests --------------------just [ arrive ] .

19 . She ------------------[ not see ] him recently .

20 . I -------------------[ be ] ill since Monday .

21 . He is the worst student she ----------------ever [ know ] .

22 . The baby ---------------------[ sleep ] for ten hours .

23 . I ---------------never [ see ] such beautiful mountains .

24 . I --------------------never [ meet ] him since last winter .

25 . He ------------------already [ have ] his breakfast .

26 . He --------------[ not wash ] his face today .

27 ------------------you ------------------[ write ] any composition today ?

Since - For

1 . Since is used to indicate the start of the action or when it started .

He has been absent since last Friday .

2 . For is used to indicate a period of time or a prolonged action .

He has been absent for three days .

For	Since
for a few seconds	since this morning
for a moment	since five o’clock
for five minutes	since last week
for two hours	since winter
for three days	since last June
for five weeks	since Monday
for a month	since 1970
for four years	since he was born
for several years	since they were married
for many years	since he left school
for a long time	since I met you
for ages	since he was a baby
for a while	since the war began

Exercise 1

Add [ since or for ] to these sentences :

1 . Mr. Ahmad has been my Math teacher -------------------three years .

2 . I have lived in this town ---------------December .

3 . He has been ill -----------------last Monday .

4 . It has rained --------------two hours .

5 . He has been absent from school ------------------three weeks .

6 . This servant has worked for me ------------------- seven years .

7 . I have been awake ----------------7 o’clock .

8 . He hasn’t been to bed -------------------yesterday .

9 . I have known him ---------------years .

10 . I have worn those shoes -------------years .

11 . He has been my friend --------------------we were children .

12 . I have been I this school -----------------eleven years .

13 . I have been in the library --------------the bell rang .

14 . Has anything interesting happened ----------------------I last saw you ?

15 . Why have you not been to school ------------the last two days ?

Exercise 2 

Add [ since or for ] to these sentences :

1 . I haven’t seen him -------------last year .

2 . I haven’t seen him ---------------several months .

3 . They haven’t had any food -----------------twelve hours .

4 . He hasn’t een here ---------------several days .

5 . I haven’t seen him -------------I left school .

6 . We haven’t used that car ------------------at least a week .

7 . He has been away ---------------last Saturday .

8 . I have been in this school ----------------years .

9 . He hasn’t heard from him --------------a year now .

10 . He has been in that hotel -----------------three days .

11 . We haven’t worn our coats ---------------last winter .

12 . He has changed a lot -------------------he got married .

13 . I have been a student ---------------seventeen years .

14 . She has been asleep ----------------six o’clock .

15 . They haven’t met -------------------they were children .

Exercise 3

Choose the correct word from those between brackets :

1 . We haven’t had a swim ( since / for ) last summer [ since / for ] almost a year .

2 . Her husband hasn’t been ill [ since / for ] the day they were married .

3 . Peter hasn’t traveled by train [ since / for ] six months [ since / for ] he bought his new car .

4 . I haven’t received e-mails from you [ since / for ] two months .

5 . I have been standing in the rain [ since / for ] half an hour [ since / for ] half past six .

6 . How long have you been learning French ? [ since / for ] quite a long time .

7 . How long have you been married ? [ since / for ] last winter .

8 . They haven’t visited Paris [ since / for ] the last world war .

9 . She has been wearing glasses [ since / for ] years .

10 . She hasn’t made any friends [ for / since ] they moved to their new house .

11 . They have been fishing [ since / for ] two hors .

12 . She has boiled the egg [ since / for ] two minutes .

Exercise 4

Choose the right word in brackets :

1 . He has driven the same car [ since / for ] 2020 .

2 . The kettle has been boiling [ since / for ] half an hour .

3 . He has been very ill [ since / for ] last month .

4 . Nobody has seen her [ since / for ] last week .

5 . He hasn’t eaten anything [ since / for ] twenty-four hours .

6 . She has never cut her hair [ since / for ] more than ten years .

7 . He has worn these shoes [ since / for ] he was in primary 2 .

8 . She hasn’t bought new clothes [ since / for ] last year .

9  . We haven’t had English [ since / for ] Miss Williams got married .

10 . We haven’t painted the house [ since / for ] a very long time .

11 . Have you had anything to eat [ since / for ] this morning ?

12 . Has it rained here [ since / for ] last winter ?

13 . We haven’t had gym [ since / for ] more than three weeks .

14 . Have you heard from Sally [  since / for ] she left school ?

15 . I haven’t eaten any fats [ since / for ] I had a heart attack .