Present Perfect: Experience Practice Tests with A2 Grammar Rules & Examples

Present Perfect: Experience

Have you ever eaten sushi? Have you ever visited another country? When we talk about experiences in our life — things we have done or have never done — we use the present perfect.

The present perfect for experience tells us whether something has happened at some point in a person's life. We do not say exactly when it happened. The important thing is the experience itself, not the time.

Look at these simple examples:

• I have visited Paris. (At some point in my life, I went to Paris.)
• She has never eaten sushi. (In her whole life, she has not eaten sushi.)
• Have you ever ridden a horse? (At any point in your life, did you ride a horse?)

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the present perfect for experience, when to use it, and how to avoid common mistakes.

A Quick Grammar Note: What Is the Present Perfect?

Before we look at rules, let's understand the words we will use.

• Subject — the person or thing doing the action (e.g. I, you, he, she, we, they)
• Auxiliary verb — a "helper" verb. For the present perfect, the auxiliary verb is have or has.
• Past participle — a special form of the main verb (e.g. eat → eaten, visit → visited, see → seen)

How to Form the Present Perfect for Experience

The present perfect is built with three parts:

Subject + have / has + past participle

Here is a simple situation to show you how it works:

Tom is 30 years old. In his life, he tried skydiving once. It is not important when — maybe five years ago, maybe last year. The important thing is that he has this experience.

So we say: Tom has tried skydiving.

We use have with I, you, we, they.
We use has with he, she, it.

Positive (Affirmative) Sentences

Pattern: Subject + have/has + past participle

Negative Sentences

Pattern: Subject + have/has + not + past participle

We add not after have or has to make a negative sentence. We often use the word never in negative experience sentences. Never means "not at any time in my life."

Pattern with "never": Subject + have/has + never + past participle

Question Sentences

Pattern: Have/Has + subject + ever + past participle?

To ask about someone's experience, we move have or has to the beginning of the sentence. We often use the word ever in questions. Ever means "at any time in your life."

Short Answers to Experience Questions

When someone asks a present perfect question, we often give a short answer. We do not repeat the whole sentence.

Question: Have you ever eaten sushi?

Yes: Yes, I have.
No: No, I haven't. (I have never eaten sushi.)

Question: Has she ever visited Paris?

Yes: Yes, she has.
No: No, she hasn't. (She has never visited Paris.)

Contractions in the Present Perfect

In everyday spoken and informal written English, we often shorten (contract) have and has.

Regular and Irregular Past Participles

To use the present perfect, you need the past participle of the verb. There are two types of verbs: regular and irregular.

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs form the past participle by adding -ed to the base verb. This is the same as the simple past form.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the -ed rule. Their past participle form is different. You need to learn these separately.

Important Differences: "Been" and "Gone"

The verb go has two past participle forms in the present perfect: been and gone. They have different meanings.

Have been to

We use have/has been to to say that someone visited a place and came back. This is very common for talking about life experiences.

• I have been to Paris. (I visited Paris in my life. I am not there now.)
• She has been to Japan twice. (She visited Japan two times. She is back home now.)

Have gone to

We use have/has gone to to say that someone went to a place and is still there. They have not come back.

• He has gone to Paris. (He is in Paris now. He has not returned.)
• They have gone to the shops. (They are at the shops right now.)

For talking about life experiences, use been to, not gone to.

Key Words for Present Perfect Experience

Certain words are very common when we use the present perfect for experience. Learn these words — they are strong signals!

Present Perfect for Experience vs. Simple Past

Students often wonder: when do I use the present perfect and when do I use the simple past? Here is a simple rule:

Use the present perfect when you do not say a specific time.

Use the simple past when you do say a specific time (yesterday, last year, in 2010, etc.).

Common Mistakes

Here are the most common errors students make with the present perfect for experience.

❌ I have visited Paris last year.
✅ I visited Paris last year. (Use simple past with a specific time like "last year.")

❌ She has never ate sushi.
✅ She has never eaten sushi. (Use the past participle "eaten," not the simple past "ate.")

❌ Have you ever visit London?
✅ Have you ever visited London? (Always use the past participle after "have/has.")

❌ He have been to Japan.
✅ He has been to Japan. (Use "has" with he, she, it.)

❌ I have went to Spain twice.
✅ I have been to Spain twice. (For life experiences with a place, use "been to," not "gone to.")

❌ Yes, I have visited. / No, I have not visited.
✅ Yes, I have. / No, I haven't. (In short answers, only use have/haven't — do not repeat the past participle.)

Present Perfect Experience: Quick Summary

Let's look at the key points from this lesson:

• We use the present perfect for experience to talk about things that happened at some point in a person's life. The exact time is not important.
• The structure is: Subject + have/has + past participle
• Use have with I, you, we, they and has with he, she, it.
• Use ever in questions: Have you ever tried sushi?
• Use never in negative sentences: I have never tried sushi.
• Do not use a specific time (yesterday, last year) with the present perfect. Use the simple past instead.
• Use been to (not gone to) for life experience with places: I have been to Rome.
• Regular verbs: add -ed for the past participle. Irregular verbs must be learnt individually.

Now practise present perfect for experience in the exercises below.