Present perfect and past perfect
Present perfect simple
just/already/yetb1
Present perfect simple with just, already and yet
Grammar contents
- I've already visited three universities.
- She's just won the match.
- I haven't made a decision yet.
- ‘Have you seen that new film yet?’ ‘Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.’
We can use the present perfect positive with just or already:
Subject + have/has + just/already + past participle.
| Positive (+) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | auxiliary | just/already | past participle | |
| I | have |
|
visited | three universities. |
| She | has | won | the match. | |
We usually use short forms (I've, You've, He's, etc.) when we are speaking and in informal writing.
We can use the present perfect negative with yet:
Subject + haven't/hasn't + past participle + yet.
| Negative (-) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | auxiliary | past participle | yet | |
| I | haven't | made | a decision | yet. |
| She | hasn't | finished | it | |
We can form present perfect questions with yet:
Have/Has + subject + past participle + yet?
| Yes/no questions (?) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auxiliary | subject | past participle | yet | |
| Have | you | seen | that film | yet? |
| Has | he | made | a decision | |
We form short answers with:
Yes + subject + have/has.
No + subject + haven't/hasn't.
Regular verbs have past participles which are the same as their past simple forms, ending -ed.
- visit → visited arrive → arrived
Irregular verbs have irregular past participles. Sometimes the past participle of an irregular verb is the same as the past simple form and sometimes it is different.
- have, had → had lose, lost → lost
- do, did → done eat, ate → eaten
In British English, we use the present perfect with just, already and yet to talk about recent events and actions.
We use just in positive sentences to talk about very recent events or actions.
- She's just won the match.
- They've just made a big announcement.
We use yet in questions and negative sentences to talk about actions and events happening up to now.
- Have you finished that book yet?
- I haven't made a decision yet.
We use already in positive sentences to talk about actions and events that happened before now or earlier than expected.
- I've already visited three universities.
- Spring has already arrived in Madrid!
Grammar contentsView all
Present perfect and past perfect
Quantifiers, possessives and demonstratives