Present Perfect Tense Examples, How To Use Them In A Sentence

What is the present perfect tense? Here are some examples.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE – In this article, let’s study the structure and use of the Present Perfect tense with sample sentences.

In English, the Present Perfect tense is a rather important tense. It has a very simple structure have/has + the past participle. Past perfect is used to talk about experience, change, and continuing situations or actions.

Has or have is the first element and it depends on the verb it is conjugated with. It is then followed by the second element, the verb in its past participle form. This describes an action that began in the past but has present consequences.

This particular tense shows a link between the present and the past. It is used in everyday conversations, in the news, on the radio, and when writing letters.

Check out some sample sentences below:

EXPERIENCE:

I have seen him do dangerous acrobatics.
I have lived in Thailand.
Sheila has never eaten caviar.
I have been to Canada.

CHANGE:

Has the price gone up?
The authorities have arrested the suspect in the hit-and-run case.
I have broken my heart for the same guy.
Karen has lived in Italy since 2008.

CONTINUING SITUATION:

I have worked as a writer since 2017.
Ken has been ill for three days.
I have known him for a decade.
It has rained a lot this month.

Sometimes, people have mistaken the present perfect for the simple past tense. But these are two entirely different things.

Present perfect tells an action that started in the past and is still happening now, or it is something that happens regularly. Meanwhile, the simple past is an action that happened at a certain time in the past and is not happening anymore.