You will learn how to:

• Talk about past events.

GUIDE NUMBER 1
MY LIFE
PRESENT PERFECT

How to form the Present Perfect

• Present Perfect
Present Positive
Perfect Positive

SUBJECT HAVE / HAS PAST PARTICIPLE

I / you / we / they have written
he / she / it has written

Note: In spoken English, it’s common to use the contraction:

• I’ve written three books.

• We’ve already seen that movie
• Barbara’s forgotten her cell phone.
• He’s just woken up.

In this case, he’s, she’s, Barbara’s, etc. mean he has, she has, and Barbara has,
not he is, she is, or Barbara is.

•Present Perfect
Present Negative
Perfect Negative

SUBJECT HAVEN’T / HASN’T PAST PARTICIPLE

I / you / we / they haven’t seen
he / she / it hasn’t seen

Examples:

• I haven’t seen John this week.

• Mary hasn’t come to class for the past two days.

•Present
Present Perfect
Perfect Questions
Questions

HAVE / HAS SUBJECT PAST PARTICIPLE

Have I / you / we / they finished?
Has he / she / it finished?
Examples:

• Have you finished the project yet?

• Has George ever been to New York?

How to answer present perfect questions:

• Have you been to London?
Yes, I have. / No, I haven’t.
• Has Alex met Miriam yet?
Yes, he has. / No, he hasn’t.
• Have the results of the election been announced?
Yes, they have. / No, they haven’t.

What
Whatis is
thethe
past participle?
past participle

The past participle is a form of the verb that describes a completed action or

state. For regular verbs, the past participle is the same as the simple past:

• I worked (simple past) all day yesterday.

• I’ve worked (past participle) here since August.

This is also the case for many irregular verbs:

• He sold (simple past) his car last week.

• He’s sold (past participle) 200 books so far.

However, some irregular verbs’ past participles are different from their simple past form:

• We wrote (simple past) an article for the newspaper.

• We’ve written (past participle) for many famous publications.

Many of these irregular past participles end in –n:

Infinitive Simple Past Past Participle

be was / were been
break broke broken
choose chose chosen
do did done
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
fly flew flown
forget forgot forgotten
give gave given
go went gone
know knew known
see saw seen
show showed shown
speak spoke spoken
steal stole stolen
take took taken
wear wore worn
write wrote written

Other irregular past participles have a change in the vowel:

Infinitive Simple Past Past Participle

become became become
begin began begun
come came come
drink drank drunk
ring rang rung
run ran run
sing sang sung
swim swam swum

1. Fill in the blanks to form the present perfect.

• You have bought a new computer.

• I _________ learned a lot about computers.
• We _________ read the story about Google.
• Larry _________ known Sergey since they were at Stanford University.
• They_________ (not) known each other since they were children.
• It _________ been easy for me to learn about computers.
• You _________ used the Internet many times.
• Larry and Sergey _________ (not) finished their degrees.

2. Fill in the blanks with the correct past participle.

• I have _____________ (do) many things in my life.

• I’ve _____________ (travel) to many countries and I’ve _____________ (see) many
beautiful places.
• I’ve _____________ (meet) lots of interesting people all over the world.
• I have _____________ (visit) cities in all 5 continents.
 • I’ve _____________ (sail) round the world and I’ve _____________ (climb) some of the
highest mountains.
• I have even 4 _____________ (participate) in a north pole expedition.
• I have _____________ (eat) fried ants in Africa.
• I have _____________ (have) some difficult moments but I have _____________
(forget) all of them.

3. Complete the sentences with the verbs in the box.

not buy not do not eat forget go invite

meet not phone not see take

• No, I ________________ my sister. I’ll text her later.

• She ________________ a lot of people to her wedding.
• We ________________ a lot of photographs during our holidays.
• A: Where’s Mike? B: I don’t know, I _____________ him today.
• Mum, Alex ________________ his bed!!
• It’s Megan’s birthday tomorrow but I ________________ her present.
• A: Where’s Ann? B: She ________________ to bed.
• I think we ________________ before but I ________________ your name.
• I’m starving! I ________________ anything since yesterday.

4. Complete the question and answer “yes” and “no”

• you / phone / the doctor? Have you phoned the doctor? Yes, I have.
• she / finish / her meal?
_________________________________________________________________
• they / buy / a new car?
_________________________________________________________________
• Harry / tell / you / the news?
_________________________________________________________________
• John / go / on holiday?
_________________________________________________________________
• Megan / open / her presents?
_________________________________________________________________