Intermediate › Grammar
Intermediate 📝 Grammar
Present Perfect
The Present Perfect links the past to now.
1What is it?
The Present Perfect links the past to now. It’s for experiences (I have been to Delhi), recent results (I’ve finished), and things that started in the past and continue (I’ve lived here for ten years).
2Why do we use it?
It is the tense of “so far in my life” and “up to now” — interviews, updates at work and small talk all use it: Have you ever…? I’ve just…
3The simple rule
Have / has + past participle (gone, eaten, worked). Don’t use it with a finished time (yesterday, in 2019) — that’s Simple Past.
4Formula
have / has + past participle · for + length · since + start point · ever / never / just / already / yet
I have workedHe has workedYou have goneShe has goneWe have eatenIt has rainedThey have eatenChechi has left
5Easy examples
I have finished.
She has gone home.
We have never seen snow.
Have you eaten?
6Everyday examples
I’ve just sent the email.Just = a moment ago
Have you ever been to Goa?Life experience
He hasn’t called yet.Yet in negatives / questions
I’ve worked here since 2021.Since + start point
7Kerala and India examples
I’ve lived in Trivandrum for six years.
Have you ever tried karimeen pollichathu?
The rain has stopped — let’s go.
My brother has just moved to Bangalore.
8Common mistakes
I have seen him yesterday.
I saw him yesterday.
Why: Finished time → Simple Past.
I am here since 2020.
I have been here since 2020.
Why: Started in the past, still true → Present Perfect.
She has went.
She has gone.
Why: Go → gone (participle).
I have finished it already yesterday.
I finished it yesterday.
Why: Don’t mix a finished time with Present Perfect.
9Practice quiz
Question 1 of 5Multiple choice
I ___ never eaten sushi.
10Speaking challenge
Speaking challenge
Tell me 5 things you have done in your life (I’ve been to… I’ve tried…) and 3 things you have never done but want to.
0:30
Say it out loud. Nobody is listening — that’s the point. Mistakes are allowed.