Learning English

Meaning and use

Positive
The present perfect is made with subject + have/has + past participle.

I've taught English in Italy and in Russia.

Johnny Depp has starred in lots of brilliant films. 

Negative
The negative present perfect is made with subject + have/has not + past participle.

I haven't seen the first Bond film.

I haven't seen the first Bond film.

Questions
Present perfect yes/no questions are made from have/has + subject + past participle?

Present perfect question word questions are made from question word + have/has + subject + past participle?

Ever and never
We often use the present perfect with the words ever or never. Ever mean at any time in someone's life. We usually use ever in questions.

'Has he ever worked in China?' 'No, he hasn't.'

Never means not at any time in someone's life.

I've never seen the first Bond film.

Sometimes we ask questions with never. Often we do this to express surprise:

Have you never eaten a banana? 

Past participles
The past participle is the third form of the verb. For example, with the verb to see, the three forms are: see, saw, seen.

We use the past participle in present perfect sentences with ever and never.

Have you ever eaten sushi?

I've never seen the first Bond film.

Regular and irregular verbs
Many verbs are regular. The past participle ends with -ed

look   -   looked   -   looked
climb   -   climbed   -   climbed
want   -   wanted   -   wanted

Some verbs are irregular. Here are some of them:

become   -   became   -   become
eat   -   ate   -   eaten
forget   -   forgot   -   forgotten
give   -   gave   -   given
go   -   went   -   gone / been
have   -   had   -   had
know   -   knew   -   known
meet   -   met   -   met
read   -   read   -   read
ride   -   rode   -   ridden
run   -   ran   -   run
say   -   said   -   said
see   -   saw   -   seen
sell   -   sold   -   sold
sing   -   sang   -   sung
win   -   won   -   won
write   -   wrote   -   written