Present Perfect

How to build it

• Affirmative: has / have + past participle (third form): She has written the letter. Short forms: I’ve, you’ve, she’s, we’ve, they’ve.
• Negative: haven’t / hasn’t + past participle: She hasn’t written the letter yet.
• Question: Have / Has + subject + past participle: Has she written the letter? Have you ever been to London?
• Regular verbs: the participle ends in -ed (work → worked). Irregular verbs must be learned: go → gone, see → seen, write → written, do → done.
• Note: she’s can mean she is or she has — the next word tells you: she’s writing vs she’s written.

When to use it

• A past action with a result that matters now: I’ve lost my keys (I can’t get in now).
• Life experience, when the exact time isn’t important, often with ever and never: Have you ever tried borscht with pampushky?
• Recent news, often with just, already, yet: She’s just left. Have you finished yet?
• A state that started in the past and continues now, with for and since: We’ve known each other for ten years.
• An unfinished time period: I’ve drunk three coffees today. Have you seen her this week?

Examples

• I’ve finished the report — you can read it now.
• She has never been to Japan.
• They’ve already eaten.
• Have you heard the news?
• He’s worked here since 2020.
• We haven’t seen that film yet.

Common mistakes

• Using it with finished time: I have seen him yesterday → I saw him yesterday. With yesterday, last week, in 2019, ago, when I was a child you need the Past Simple. The Present Perfect looks at the past from now; once you name a finished moment, it’s simply past.
• Using the Present Simple for duration: I live here since 2018 / I know him for years → I’ve lived here since 2018 / I’ve known him for years. Ukrainian uses the present tense here, English doesn’t.
• Mixing up for and since: for + a length of time (for three days), since + a starting point (since Monday, since 2015).
• Asking “when” with it: When have you arrived? → When did you arrive? A question about the exact time takes the Past Simple.
• Using been vs gone: She has gone to Lviv (she’s there now), She has been to Lviv (she went and came back).

The passive

has/have + been + V3: The letter has been written. Very common in news and announcements: The road has been closed. Two people have been arrested. Your application has been received. Use it when the result matters and the doer is unknown or unimportant.