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

Present Perfect: Forms

The present perfect is a very useful verb tense in English. We use it to talk about things that happened in the past but are connected to the present — for example, experiences you have had, or things that have just happened.

Before we look at the rules, read this short situation:

Tom is at home. He is tired. He says: "I have cleaned the house. I have cooked dinner. And I have just finished my homework."

Tom is using the present perfect to talk about things he did recently. These actions are finished, but they are important right now.

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the present perfect correctly — positive sentences, negative sentences, and questions.

The Building Blocks of the Present Perfect

To make the present perfect, you need two parts:

Part 1: The verb have (or has)
Part 2: The past participle of the main verb

So the basic structure looks like this:

Subject + have / has + past participle

For example:
I have eaten breakfast.
She has visited Paris.

Part 1: Have or Has?

The word have changes depending on the subject (the person or thing doing the action). Let's keep it simple.

Use have with: I, you, we, they
Use has with: he, she, it

Subject	Use	Example
I	have	I have lived here for two years.
You	have	You have seen this film before.
We	have	We have visited London.
They	have	They have finished the test.
He	has	He has eaten lunch.
She	has	She has worked here for a year.
It	has	It has rained a lot this week.

Simple rule: If the subject is he, she, or it — use has. For everyone else, use have.

Part 2: The Past Participle

The past participle is a special form of the verb. It is the second part of the present perfect.

For most verbs, the past participle is easy to make. Just add -ed to the verb. These are called regular verbs.

work → worked
clean → cleaned
finish → finished
visit → visited
live → lived

But some very common verbs have a different past participle. These are called irregular verbs. You need to learn these by memory.

Base Verb	Past Participle	Example
eat	eaten	She has eaten breakfast.
go	gone	He has gone to the shops.
see	seen	I have seen that film.
do	done	They have done their homework.
write	written	She has written a letter.
have	had	We have had a good time.
be	been	I have been to France.
buy	bought	He has bought a new phone.
take	taken	She has taken the bus.
make	made	I have made a cake.

Positive Sentences

To make a positive (affirmative) sentence in the present perfect, use this pattern:

Subject + have / has + past participle

I have visited Rome.
You have studied hard.
He has worked here for five years.
She has seen the new film.
We have eaten at that restaurant.
They have finished the project.

Contractions in Positive Sentences

In spoken English and informal writing, we often shorten (contract) have and has. A contraction is when two words are joined together with an apostrophe (').

I have → I've
You have → You've
We have → We've
They have → They've
He has → He's
She has → She's
It has → It's

Full Form	Contraction	Example
I have	I've	I've finished my homework.
You have	You've	You've passed the exam!
We have	We've	We've lived here for ten years.
They have	They've	They've bought a new car.
He has	He's	He's eaten all the cake!
She has	She's	She's gone to work.
It has	It's	It's rained every day this week.

Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence in the present perfect, add not after have or has:

Subject + have / has + not + past participle

I have not visited Japan.
She has not seen the film.
We have not eaten lunch yet.
He has not finished his work.

In everyday English, we almost always use the contraction in negative sentences:

have not → haven't
has not → hasn't

I haven't visited Japan.
She hasn't seen the film.
We haven't eaten lunch yet.
He hasn't finished his work.

Subject	Full Negative Form	Contraction
I	have not	haven't
You	have not	haven't
We	have not	haven't
They	have not	haven't
He	has not	hasn't
She	has not	hasn't
It	has not	hasn't

Question Forms

To make a yes/no question in the present perfect, we move have or has to the beginning of the sentence — before the subject:

Have / Has + subject + past participle?

Have you visited Paris?
Has she finished her homework?
Have they eaten dinner?
Has he seen that film?

Short Answers to Yes/No Questions

When we answer a yes/no question, we use a short answer with have or has. We do NOT repeat the main verb.

Have you visited Paris? — Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
Has she finished? — Yes, she has. / No, she hasn't.
Have they eaten? — Yes, they have. / No, they haven't.

Wh- Questions

We can also make wh- questions (questions that ask for more information). Put the question word first, then have / has, then the subject, then the past participle:

Question word + have / has + subject + past participle?

What have you done today?
Where has she gone?
How long have you lived here?
Who have they invited?

Complete Sentence Pattern Table

Form	Pattern	Example
Positive (I/you/we/they)	Subject + have + past participle	I have finished the book.
Positive (he/she/it)	Subject + has + past participle	She has finished the book.
Negative (I/you/we/they)	Subject + haven't + past participle	I haven't finished the book.
Negative (he/she/it)	Subject + hasn't + past participle	She hasn't finished the book.
Yes/No Question (I/you/we/they)	Have + subject + past participle?	Have you finished the book?
Yes/No Question (he/she/it)	Has + subject + past participle?	Has she finished the book?
Short Answer (positive)	Yes, subject + have / has.	Yes, I have. / Yes, she has.
Short Answer (negative)	No, subject + haven't / hasn't.	No, I haven't. / No, she hasn't.

Important Differences: He's Gone vs He's Been

Two very common expressions with the present perfect can be confusing. Look at the difference:

He has gone to Italy. — This means he is in Italy right now. He is not here.
He has been to Italy. — This means he visited Italy before, but he is here now. He came back.

gone = the person is still there (away)
been = the person visited but came back

Common Mistakes

Here are the most common mistakes students make with present perfect forms. Study these carefully!

❌ She have finished her homework.
✅ She has finished her homework. (Use has with he/she/it.)

❌ I has eaten lunch.
✅ I have eaten lunch. (Use have with I/you/we/they.)

❌ They have eat dinner already.
✅ They have eaten dinner already. (Use the past participle, not the base verb.)

❌ He has go to the bank.
✅ He has gone to the bank. (The past participle of go is gone, not go.)

❌ Have she seen the film?
✅ Has she seen the film? (Use has in questions with he/she/it.)

❌ Yes, I have seen. / Yes, I have been.
✅ Yes, I have. (In short answers, do not use the main verb.)

❌ I have not seen him yesterday.
✅ I didn't see him yesterday. (With a specific finished time in the past, use the past simple, not the present perfect.)

Present Perfect Forms: Quick Summary

Here are the key points to remember about present perfect forms:

• The present perfect is formed with have / has + past participle.
• Use have with I, you, we, they.
• Use has with he, she, it.
• Regular past participles end in -ed (e.g. worked, cleaned, finished).
• Irregular past participles must be learnt separately (e.g. gone, seen, eaten, been).
• For negatives, use haven't or hasn't before the past participle.
• For questions, put have or has before the subject.
• In short answers, use Yes, I have or No, she hasn't — do not repeat the main verb.

Now practise present perfect forms in the exercises below.