Present Perfect Sentences With Examples

The present perfect tense connects past actions to their present relevance, using "have/has" plus the past participle, like in "They have seen the movie." It's used for actions completed at an unspecified time, ongoing situations, or life experiences. Unlike the simple past, which focuses on specific past events, the present perfect highlights the present effects or outcomes of past actions.

The present perfect tense in English is used to describe actions or states that have occurred at an unspecified time in the past and have relevance to the present or are still ongoing. The structure of a present perfect sentence is:
Have/Has + past participle
Let's explore some examples to understand this better:
Example 1:I have visited Paris three times.This sentence indicates that the speaker visited Paris three times at some point in the past. The exact time of these visits is not specified, and their experience of visiting Paris is relevant to the present.
Example 2:She has lost her keys.This is an example of the present perfect used for a recent action with a present consequence. The action of losing the keys happened in the past, but its effect (the keys being lost) is relevant now.
Example 3:They have been married for ten years.This sentence shows a past action or state (getting married) that is still ongoing. The couple got married ten years ago and is still married.
Example 4:We have never seen that movie.This sentence expresses an experience that has not happened up to the present time. The speaker and their companion have not seen the movie at any time in their past.
Example 5:If you have finished your meal, you can order dessert.This is an example of the present perfect used in a conditional sentence. It suggests that if the action of finishing the meal has been completed, then ordering dessert is possible.
The present perfect is formed by using "have/has" followed by the past participle of the verb. It's crucial to use the correct form of the verb to maintain the tense.
Incorrect: I seen that movie.
We can see that the present perfect is often used to talk about life experiences, changes over time, completed actions with present relevance, and actions repeated over an unspecified period.
The words "already," "yet," "ever," "never," "for," and "since" are commonly used with the present perfect to add context about the timing or frequency of the action.
See this page to learn more about the difference between the present perfect and the simple past.
Click here for an exercise about making Present Perfect sentences.