Present Perfect 1 (I have done)

What the Present Perfect Does

The present perfect links a past action to right now. Something happened before, and the result still matters.

Tom can’t find his key. He has lost his key. — He lost it at some point, and he still doesn’t have it.

The form is have/has + past participle:

Subject	Auxiliary	Past participle examples
I / we / they / you	have (‘ve)	lost, done, finished, written
he / she / it	has (‘s)	lost, done, finished, written

The past participle often ends in -ed (finished, decided), but many common verbs are irregular (lost, done, written, been).

Announcing New Information

When you say “something has happened,” you’re usually sharing news — something that just changed.

• The server is down. There has been an outage.
• HR has announced new working-from-home guidelines.
• I ‘ve cut my finger. Where’s the first-aid kit?

The Past Has a Result Now

Every present perfect sentence points back to now. The past action created a situation that still holds:

Present perfect sentence	What it means now
Tom has lost his key.	He doesn’t have it now.
She told me the password, but I ‘ve forgotten it.	I can’t remember it now.
Sarah is still here. She hasn’t left the office.	She is here now.
I can’t find the report. Have you seen it?	Do you know where it is now?

Gone (to) vs. Been (to)

These two get mixed up a lot. The difference is about where the person is right now.

Sentence	Where is the person?
James has gone to the London office.	He is there now, or on his way.
Amy has been to the London office.	She went and came back. She’s here now.

Just, Already, Yet

Three words that pair naturally with the present perfect:

Just = a short time ago

• ‘Is the manager free?’ ‘No, she ’s just stepped into a meeting.’
• I ‘ve just sent you the spreadsheet. Check your inbox.

Already = sooner than expected

• ‘Don’t forget to submit your timesheet.’ ‘I ‘ve already submitted it.’
• ‘When is the delivery arriving?’ ‘It ’s already arrived.’

Yet = until now (questions and negatives only)

• *Has the client confirmed the order yet?*
• I’ve drafted the email, but I haven’t sent it yet.

Present Perfect or Past Simple?

You can often use either one. The present perfect stresses the connection to now; the past simple just reports what happened.

Present perfect	Past simple
Ben isn’t here. He ’s gone out.	Ben isn’t here. He went out.
I ‘ve just had lunch.	I just had lunch.

Both are correct. The present perfect is more common in British English; American English leans toward the past simple in casual speech.

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