Present Perfect Tense|Definition, rules, Formula, Examples
When the Verb of the sentence denotes an action that is finished or completed at the time of speaking, then this verb is indicating “Present Perfect Tense”. It means that when the purpose is to show a completed action of the present time, then the “Present Perfect Tense” is used. For example;
- I have spoken.
- You have spoken.
- He has spoken.
- We have spoken.
- They have spoken.
- I hear he has passed all right.
- I have been living here for months.
- We have heard a strange story.
Sentence Structure of Present Perfect Tense
The Assertive, Negative, Interrogative, and Negative-Interrogative Sentences of the Past Perfect Tense use “has/ have” as a helping verb with the 3rd degree of the verb and have the following Sentence Structure.
“Has” as a helping Verb in the Present Perfect Tense
“Has” is used in Present Perfect Tense to show the completed actions and activities with a singular number of nouns and with the following singular personal pronouns:
- He
- She
- It
“Have” as a helping Verb in the Present Perfect Tense
“Have” is used in Present Perfect Tense to show the completed actions and activities with a plural number of nouns and with the following plural personal pronouns:
- I
- We
- You
- They
Assertive Sentence Structure of Present Perfect Tense
Assertive Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense use “has/have” as a helping verb to indicate the completeness of the action/state. 3rd form of the Verb is used with the helping verb “has/have”.
The helping verb “has” can be used with single-person pronouns “he, she, it” and with a single number of nouns. Thus, Assertive Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense with the helping verb “has” and 3rd form of the Verb has the following arrangement of Parts of Speech in the sentence.
Subject+ has+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
Plural person pronouns “we, you, they, I” and plural number nouns use “have” as a helping verb with the 3rd form of Verb to state the completed actions of the Present Period. So, Assertive Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense with plural person pronouns and “have” have the following agreement of Parts of Speech.
Subject+ have+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
Examples of Assertive Sentences of Present Perfect Tense
Following are some examples of Assertive Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense.
Has
“Has” is used as a helping verb in the Present Perfect Tense and takes 3rd form of the verb with singular person pronouns and singular number nouns. Following is the sentence structure of the Present Perfect Tense with the helping verb “has”:
Subject+ has+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
- The boy has learned the lesson.
- That girl has written the story.
- The dog has caught the rabbit
- The rainy season has set in.
- The winter has come to an end.
- The poor man has grown rich.
- Harry has won the prize.
- The clock has struck four.
- The chief guest of honor has given away the prizes.
- The Principal has given away the certificates to the students.
- The court has decided in my favor.
- The board has declared the result.
- She has passed the examination.
- David has won a scholarship.
- The match has ended in a draw.
- The army has captured the fort.
Have
“Have” is used as a helping verb with the 3rd form of Verb in the Present Perfect Tense. “Have” can be used with plural person pronouns and with plural number nouns. The Present Perfect Tense sentences with “have” have the following sentence structure:
Subject+ have+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
- They have taught the poem.
- You have finished your work.
- I have taken my breakfast.
- We have heard the songs.
- The rats have made holes in the walls.
- Plants have grown into trees.
- We have accepted the invitation.
- The candidates have solved the paper.
- The teams played the match.
- The thieves have broken into the house.
- I have sold this picture.
- All the birds have flown away.
- We have fired the gun.
Negative Sentence Structure of Present Perfect Tense
Negative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense uses “not” with the helping verb “has/have”, to indicate the negativity of the sentences.
Singular personal pronouns “he, she, it” and singular number nouns use “has not” with 3rd form of Verb to show the negativity of the sentence, Such sentences of Present Perfect Tense have the following sentence structure:
Subject+ has+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
Negative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense with Plural personal pronouns “I, we, you, they” and plural number nouns use “have not” with 3rd degree of Verb. The Present Perfect Tense sentences with the “have” helping verb have the following sentence structure.
Subject+ have+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
Examples of Negative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense
Following are some examples of the negative sentences of the Present Perfect Tense.
Has+not
“Has not” is used to denote negative actions associated with singular personal pronouns and singular number nouns, and has the following sentence structure:
Subject + has+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
- He has not torn the book.
- The Principal has not closed the school.
- The train has not started.
- The mason has not left the work incomplete.
- The king has not taken off the crown.
- The hen has not laid the egg.
- The peacock has not danced in the forest.
- The sun has not set in.
- The patient has not taken the medicine.
- The bridegroom has not put on new clothes.
- The roof has not been given away.
- The court has not considered the petition of the accused.
- He has not trusted his wife.
- The watchman has not done his duty.
- The successful candidate has not been awarded certificates. (Passive Voice)
- Our friend has not consulted us.
- The soldier has not obeyed his officer.
- The enemy has not laid down the army.
- Our army has not retreated.
Have+not
Plural Personal Pronouns and Plural Number nouns use “have not” as a helping verb with the 3rd form of Verb. The negative sentences of Present Perfect Tense with “have not” have the following subject, verb, and object agreement:
Subject+ have+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words
- They have not waited for us.
- We have not taken tea.
- The laborers have not gone on strike.
- The women have not made up the bride.
- They have not searched for the lost child.
- You have not accepted our application.
- All the guests have not arrived.
- The players have not been served cold drinks. (Passive Voice)
- Good players have not been encouraged. (Passive Voice)
- My friends have not given me tea.
- Police have not caught him red-handed.
Interrogative Sentence Structure of Present Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Tense uses “has/ have” at the start of sentences with their respective pronouns and nouns to ask questions.
However, Interrogative Sentences with Words of Questions (who, where, why, when, how, etc;), have “has/ have” after the Words of Questions. The Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense with Words of Questions have the following sentence structure:
Word of Question+ has/have+ Subject+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
In interrogative Sentences with singular personal pronouns “he/ she/ it” and singular number nouns, use “has” at the start of the interrogative sentence. Such Interrogative Sentences with “has” as an interrogative verb have the following subject, object, and verb agreement:
Has+ Subject+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+?
Interrogative Sentences with plural personal pronouns “I, we, you, they” and with a plural number noun use “have” at the start of the sentence to ask the question. Thus, such Interrogative Sentences with “have” have the following Sentence Structure:
Have+ subject+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
Examples of Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense
Following are some examples of the Interrogative Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense.
Word of Question+has/have+?
Interrogative Sentences with Word of Question either take “has” or “have” concerning nouns and pronouns, and have the following sentence structure:
Word of Question+ has/have+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
- Where have you seen this man?
- When has your friend married?
- How have you saved the drowning child?
- Why have they completed their work?
- Why have you spent all your income?
- Where has he made his maiden speech?
- Where have the dacoits robbed the rich man?
- Why have you bought a ticket for me?
- Who has broken the bottle?
- How has he fallen from the roof?
- Why have the police entered the house?
- Why have you resigned?
- Where have you kept the money?
Has+?
Singular Personal Pronouns “he, she, it” and singular number nouns use “has” at the start of the sentence to ask the question, and the 3rd form of the Verb appears after the subject of the sentence. Following is the Sentence Structure of the Present Perfect Tense with “has”:
Has+ Subject+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
- Has this boy passed the examination?
- Has the hunter caught the birds?
- Has his son killed the man?
- Has he taken revenge for his insult?
- Has Henry neglected his duty?
- Has your brother reached the top of the hill?
- Has John recovered his lost money?
- Has water frozen in the lake?
- Has he loaded the gun?
- Has he left the village forever?
Have+?
Plural Personal Pronouns “he, she, it” and plural number nouns use “have” at the start of the sentence to ask a question, and the 3rd form of Verb appears after the subject of the sentence. Following is the Sentence Structure of the Present Perfect Tense with “have”:
Have+ Subject+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
- Have you finished your work?
- Have the robbers made a good escape?
- Have they displayed fireworks on the occasion of marriage?
- Have you carried the day?
- Have your companions run away?
- Have we proved our claim?
- Have they reached a time?
- Have I received that letter?
- Have you told him the truth?
- Have they buried the dead body?
- Have you seen this movie this week?
Negative Interrogative Sentence Structure of Present Perfect Tense
Negative-Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense use “has/ have” at the start of sentences with their respective pronouns and nouns to ask questions. And “not” comes after the subject to show the negativity of the interrogative sentence.
However, Negative-Interrogative Sentences with Words of Questions (who, where, why, when, how, etc;), have “has/ have” after the Words of Questions. The Negative Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense with Words of Questions have the following sentence structure:
Word of Question+ has/have+ Subject+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
In Negative-Interrogative Sentences with singular personal pronouns “he/ she/ it” and singular number nouns, use “has” at the start of the negative interrogative sentences, and “not” comes after the subject of the sentence. Such Negative Interrogative Sentences with “has” as an interrogative verb have the following subject, object, and verb agreement:
Has+ Subject+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+?
Negative-Interrogative Sentences with plural personal pronouns “I, we, you, they” and with a plural number noun use “have” at the start of the sentence to ask the question and “not” after the subject of the sentence to show the negativity of the sentence. Thus, such Negative Interrogative Sentences with “have” at the start have the following Sentence Structure:
Have+ subject+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
Examples of Negative-Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense
Following are some examples of the Negative Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense:
Word of Question+has/have+not+?
Negative Interrogative Sentences with Word of Question either take “has” or “have” for nouns and pronouns, and “not” comes after the subject of the Negative Interrogative Sentence. So, Negative Interrogative Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense have the following sentence structure:
Word of Question+ has/have+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
- Where have you not seen this man?
- Why have they not completed their work?
- Why have you not spent all your income?
- Where has he not made his maiden speech?
- Why have the dacoits not robbed the rich man?
- Why have you not bought a ticket for me?
- Who has not broken the bottle?
- Why has he not fallen from the roof?
- Why have the police not entered the house?
- Why have you not resigned?
- Why have you not kept the money?
Has+not+?
Singular Personal Pronouns “he, she, it” and singular number nouns use “has” at the start of the sentence to ask the question, and “not” after the subject of the Negative Interrogative sentence to show the negativity of the interrogative sentence. Following is the Sentence Structure of the Negative Interrogative Sentences of Present Perfect Tense with “has” and “not”:
Has+ Subject+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
- Has this boy not passed the examination?
- Has the hunter not caught the birds?
- Has his son not killed the man?
- Has he not taken revenge for his insult?
- Has Henry not neglected his duty?
- Has your brother not reached the top of the hill?
- Has John not recovered his lost money?
- Has water not frozen in the lake?
- Has he not loaded the gun?
- Has he not left the village forever?
Have+not+?
Plural Personal Pronouns “he, she, it” and plural number nouns use “have” at the start of the sentence to ask the question, and “not” appears after the subject of the Negative Interrogative Sentences to show the negativity of the interrogative sentences. . Following is the Sentence Structure of the Negative Interrogative Sentences of the Present Perfect Tense with “have”:
Have+ Subject+ not+ 3rd form of Verb+ Object+ Remaining Words+ ?
- Have you not finished your work?
- Have the robbers not made a good escape?
- Have they not displayed fireworks on the occasion of marriage?
- Have you not carried the day?
- Have your companions not run away?
- Have we not proved our claim?
- Have they not reached on time?
- Have I not received that letter?
- Have you not told him the truth?
- Have they not buried the dead body?
- Have you not seen this movie this week?
Passive Voice of Present Perfect Tense
Passive Voice of Present Perfect tense can be made by following the rules mentioned in the following article:
