Present Perfect: Forms 1

Choose the correct verb form for each

sentence.
1.

2.

She ________ three

pieces of pizza already.
A. ? have ate
B. ? have eaten
C. ? has ate
D. ? has eaten

________ an eagle?
A. ? Have you ever seen
B. ? Have you ever see
C. ? Has you ever seen
D. ? Has you ever see

4.

We ________
across the Pacific three times.
A. ? have sailed
B. ? have sail
C. ? has sailed
D. ? has sail

My car ________
down again.
A. ? have broke
B. ? have broken
C. ? has broke
D. ? has broken

The books ________

on that shelf for fifteen years.
A. ? have be
B. ? have been
C. ? has be
D. ? has been

7.

She ________ hard this

semester.
A. ?
B. ?
C. ?
D. ?

Someone ________ my
video player!
A. ? have stole
B. ? have stolen
C. ? has stole
D. ? has stolen

3.

5.

6.

have worked
have work
has worked
has work

8.

I ________
snowboarding.
A. ? have never try
B. ? have never tried
C. ? has never try
D. ? has never tried

9.

I ________ since I left

my house this morning.
A. ? have rode
B. ? have ridden
C. ? has rode
D. ? has ridden

10.

They ________ a
brand new sports car.
A. ? have just bought
B. ? have just buy
C. ? has just bought
D. ? has just buy

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grammar/prperf1.htm

Present Perfect: Forms

The present perfect tense is common in
English. It is used for many different
functions. This page will explain the rules
for forming the tense with regular and
irregular verbs.

1. Forming the present perfect

tense
This tense is formed using two
components: the verb HAVE (in the
present tense), and the past participle
form of a verb. With a regular verb the
past participle ends with -ED (just like the
simple past). Irregular verbs have a
special past participle form that you have
to learn. Here are the rules, using the
regular verb arrive and the irregular
verb eat:
Subject
I

HAVE
have

Past Participle
arrived
eaten
You
have
arrived
eaten
He
has
arrived
eaten
She
has
arrived
eaten
It
has
arrived
eaten
We
have
arrived
eaten
They
have
arrived
eaten
Note that the subject and auxiliary verb
may be contracted: for example, I have
becomes I've and She has becomes
She's.

2. How to make the past participle

form
With regular verbs, the past participle is
the same as the simple past. You can
form it by adding -ED to the end of the
verb. (See Simple Past: Regular Verbs for
more information on this.) However, with
some verbs, you need to add -EN or
change the verb itself. There are no real
rules for this; you just need to learn the
verbs which are irregular. Sometimes the
past participle is the same as the simple
past, and sometimes it isn't. Here are
four main categories of verbs with
examples. Please note that there are
many different ways to form past
participles; this is just a small sample.
Category

Prese
nt

Simpl
e Past

Past
Partici
ple
cut
hit
fit

Verbs
cut
cut
which
hit
hit
don't
fit
fit
change
Verbs
put
put
put
which
sit
sat
sat
change
drink
drank
drunk
their vowel
Verbs
break
broke
broken
which
eat
ate
eaten
change
take
took
taken
their vowel
and add
-EN
Verbs
catch
caught caught
which
bring
brough brought
change
teach
t
taught
completely
taught
When you are sure that you understand
the lesson, you can continue with the
exercises.

Present Perfect: "For" or "Since"?

Each of these present perfect sentences contains

a time expression. Each time expression is a
length of time (which requires FOR) or a
starting time (which requires SINCE). Select
the correct word for each sentence.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Mary has kept a diary

________ she was ten years old.
A. ? since
B. ? for

B.

They've been married

________ twenty-five years.
A. ? since
B. ? for

for

7.

First Nations people in

British Columbia have told
stories about the eagle ________
hundreds of years.
A. ? since
B. ? for

8.

The Canadian two-dollar

coin (or toonie) has been in
circulation ________ 1996.
A. ? since
B. ? for

9.

So far, it has rained

________ five hours.
A. ? since
B. ? for

Jo has been a student

here ________ March.
A. ? since
B. ? for

I haven't been
snowboarding ________ last
winter.
A. ? since
B. ? for

10.

Cougars have almost

disappeared from the Victoria
area ________ humans settled
here.
A. ? since
B. ? for
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30/grammar/upperf1.htm

Present Perfect: Present Perfect or

Simple Past?
5.

The beaver has been

an emblem of Canada ________
many years.
A. ? since
B. ? for

6.

Maya has been a

professional singer ________
1989.
A. ? since

Each of these sentences should be either simple

past or present perfect. The simple past is
usually used with definite times (such as "at six
o'clock"), while the present perfect is usually
used if an action started in the past and is still
going on now. Choose the best tense for each
sentence.

A.
B.
1.

2.

Dolphins ________ in BC
waters for millions of years, and are
still common today.
A. ? lived
B. ? have lived

8.

Junko ________ bacon

in her life! She's a true vegetarian.
A. ? never ate
B. ? has never eaten

? lost
? have lost

I ________ some new

shorts, but I don't think I like them.
Maybe I'll take them back to the
store.
A. ? bought
B. ? have bought

9.
3.

He ________ when his

girlfriend left him, but he's OK now.
A. ? cried
B. ? has cried

4.

I ________ these boots

to go hiking yesterday.
A. ? wore
B. ? have worn

5.

We ________ this TV set

since 1968, and it still works!
A. ? owned
B. ? have owned

The Titanic ________ in

1912.
A.
B.

10.

? sank
? has sunk

The children
________ all the orange juice! We'll
need to get some more.
A. ? drank
B. ? have drunk

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mmar/upperf2.htm

The Form of the Present Perfect Tense

Making the correct form.

6.

This wine ________ in the

cellar for 15 years. When we take it
out and open it, it will taste beautiful!
A. ? was
B. ? has been

Jack

(be)

my

friend for over 20 years. We (know)

7.

I ________ my binder
yesterday, but my brother found it this
morning.

each

other

since

we

were

children. Recently, he and his family

(move)

each

other

since

we

were

to a house on the same

children. Recently, he and his family

street as me, and now our children play

together
almost
every
day.

(move)

For the last ten years, Jack and I (play)

street as me, and now our children play

together
almost
every
day.

for

the

same

hockey

team

to a house on the same

For the last ten years, Jack and I (play)

every Saturday. Jack is a better player
than I am, but in the last few months he
(have)

some trouble with his left

knee and he (find)

it hard to

play a full game. He (see)

the

doctor several times about his knee, but

the doctor doesn't know what is causing
his pain. Jack (decide)

to take

a break from hockey for a while, so that

his knee can recover. It's going to be
lonely on the team without him!

for

the

same

hockey

team

every Saturday. Jack is a better player

than I am, but in the last few months he
(have)

some trouble with his left

knee and he (find)

it hard to

play a full game. He (see)

the

doctor several times about his knee, but

the doctor doesn't know what is causing
his pain. Jack (decide)

to take

a break from hockey for a while, so that

his knee can recover. It's going to be
lonely on the team without him!

The Form of the Present Perfect Tense

Making the correct form.

Irregular Past Participles

1
Begin: We're late -- the game has
already ______.
begin

Jack

(be)

my

friend for over 20 years. We (know)

begun

began

2
Break: Shelley can't go skiing any
more. She has ______ her leg.

broken
broke

breaken
lost

3
Become: In the last few years, it has
______ more and more difficult to get into
college.
become
becume
4

became

Bring: Duncan's here, and he's ______

some sandwiches!
braught
brought

choosen

chose

chosen

6
Drink: It's so hot that I've ______ five
cans of Coke already this afternoon.
drank
7
you!

drunken

ate

aten

Fall: The price of oil has ______ rapidly

since January.
fell

drunk

Eat: You've ______ my lunch! How dare

eaten

felt

fallen

Feel: I've never ______ so good!

felt

feelen

fold

10
Hear: Have you ______ about the
accident?
heared

put

hearn

heard

11
Lose: I've ______ my grammar book.
Have you seen it?

putten

pought

13
Run: Jan's out of breath because she's
______ all the way from the bus terminal.
ran

run

runnen

Sell: Have you ______ your car yet?

sellen

5
Choose: She's getting married in a
week, and she hasn't ______ her dress yet.

losen

12
Put: I found your grammar book under
the table. I've ______ it away on the bookshelf.

14

brung

loose

sole

sold

15
Show: Stewart hasn't ______ up yet.
He must have been delayed.
shown

shew

showed

16
Sleep: I was so exhausted after the
exam that I ______ for twelve hours.
sleep
slept

sleeped

17
Steal: Someone has ______ my
bicycle!
stolen

stole

stelt

18
Swim: She's never ______ in the sea
before.
swim

swum

swam

19
Teach: Gerry has ______ English at
UVic for many years.
tought

taught

teach

20
Write: How many pages have you
______ for your homework?
writen

wrote

written