The syntax of the structure is: subject + auxiliary verb "have" or "has" + past participle.
I have finished my lunch. I'm going back to work now.
John y Mary have come back from a holiday in Spain. They look very brown.
The contracted forms are:
I have done = I've done; you have done = you've done; she / he / it has done = she's, he's, it's done; we have done = we've done; they have done = they've done.
To make a question in present perfect simple, we invert the auxiliary "have" or "has" with the subject:
They have been to see the Olympic Games.
Have they been to see the Olympic Games?
The cat has fallen out of a tree.
Has the cat fallen out of a tree?
Negative sentences use the word "not" which combines with the auxiliary:
It has not (hasn't) rained one day yet this summer.
John and Mary have not (haven't) gone out together this week.
There have not (haven't) been a lot of tourists in our city this year.
We must remember that present perfect is a present tense. However, present perfect can be used to talk about completed action in the past:
I've finished my English homework.
But the person who said this was also implying something which is present. For example, he could be saying
Can I go home now? or,
Can I do another exercise now? or,
Can you check it for me , teacher? etc.
If we are thinking about or we mention a past time when we speak, then we can't use present perfect; we use past simple:
I finished my English homework before dinner last night.
If a past action continues to the present time, we use present perfect to express that action. Present perfect simple is often preferred when we use stative verbs (have, be, like, etc.) or the time period is more permanent, eg. a long time, ages. (Compare with present perfect continuous):
I've had this shirt for two days.
Our country have been world soccer champions for a long time.
Mary has always liked John.
In the above examples we assume that: I have the shirt now; our country are world soccer champions now; Mary likes John now.
It is a mistake to use present simple in these situations:
I have this shirt for two days.
With this use of present perfect, it is common to use the prepositions "for" and "since" to express how much time has passed. "For" is used to talk about the length of a period of time and "since" is used to mention the starting moment of the period of time:
I've wanted to own a car like that for years.
He's only known that girl for about two weeks.
There's been a power cut since eight o'clock this morning.
Mary has dressed in that way since she was a teenager.
Present perfect is also used in a similar way to talk about repeated actions in the past but with reference to a present time like: this year, this month, recently, etc:
My husband has been to Madrid three times this year.
I've had a cold twice this month.
There have been several robberies in this area recently.
Yet, already and just are common with present perfect although they can be used with other tenses too. We use these words to talk about a finished action. With questions, we usually use yet. Observe how yet comes after the complement or at the end of the sentence:
Have you finished your homework yet?
Has it stopped raining yet?
When we use yet in questions, we are asking if the action has been completed. Perhaps we expect the action has been finished or we want it to be finished:
Have you finished that report yet? I need to see the figures.
We also use yet in negative sentences:
I haven't finished yet.
He hasn't arrived at work yet.
When we use yet in negative sentences, we are saying something hasn't happened but we expect it to happen soon:
I haven't received an email from him yet. I expect it will arrive later today.
We often see already in affirmative sentences. It comes after the first auxiliary or at the end of the sentence:
I've seen than film already / I've already seen that film.
The police have already been here. / The police have been here already.
When we use already, we mean that something has happened before the action was expected it to happen. Perhaps we are surprised it has happened so soon. In this context, we may use already in negatives and questions too.
You're not leaving already, are you? I thought you were going to stay for dinner.
When we use already in questions, we suspect that the answer is "yes". Really, we are confirming what we think we know:
"They've told six people to leave their jobs today!"
"Oh, dear. Is your company having problems already?"
Is it 3 o'clock already? Oh, no! I'm going to be late!
Just talks about when an action happened. It is probably the only time adverb used with present perfect to talk about when an action happened. It is used when the action happened very close to the time of speaking:
He's just left. He went a few minutes ago.
I've just heard the news. I'm so sorry about what happened.
Interestingly, in American English, just is usually used with past simple and not present perfect - like other time adverbs:
He just left
I just heard the news.
Also see already in past perfect...
This second use of present perfect is closely related to present perfect continuous...
- Exercises on present perfect...
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