Present Perfect Simple
FORM
AFFIRMATIVE
I have played
You have played
He/she/it has played
We have played
You have played (plural)
They have played
NEGATIVE
I have not played
You have not played
He/she/it has not played
We have not played
You have not played
They have not played
QUESTION
Have I played?
Have you played?
Has he/she/it played?
Have we played?
Have you played?
Have they played?
FUNCTIONS AND EXAMPLES
We use the present perfect simple:
1 to show that a finished action or event has a connection with the present, or has a result in the present
I can't go out because I've lost my keys
She's had an accident and she's in the hospital now
I've had lunch so I'm not hungry
2 to give news or talk about recent events
She's had a baby girl
There's been a big fire at the factory
The value of the dollar has risen in recent weeks
3 We can use "just" in these cases to express a very recent action
She's just had a baby
I've just had lunch
4 to talk about a period of time from the past until now
I've lived in Spain for 10 years (use "for" for a period of time)
She hasn't spoken to him since April last year (use "since" for a specific time)
If we don't use "for" or "since", we don't know when the action or event happened, or it's not important when it happened
Have you ever eaten frogs' legs? (at any time in your life until now)
I've never had a computer (at any time in my life until now)
She has read all the Harry Potter books (at some time in the past until now)
COMPARE:
I've seen Shrek (only the action is important, not when I did the action)
I saw Shrek last week
5 We often talk about repeated actions or events from the past until now
We've visited China many times
I've been to France twice
The phone has rung five times since lunchtime
6 We can use "already" to say something happened sooner than expected
I've already seen Mission Impossible
7 We can use "yet" to say that we expect something to happen
I haven't seen Mission Impossible yet
Have you spoken to Dave yet?
8 to talk about a period of time not finished at the time of speaking
COMPARE:
I have had three cups of coffee today (today is not finished)
I had three cups of coffee yesterday
Have you seen the news this week? (this week is not finished)
Did you see the news yesterday?
I've been on holiday twice this year (this year is not finished)
I went on holiday twice last year
IMPORTANT POINTS
Been and gone
They've gone to Greece for a holiday (they are in Greece now)
They've been to Greece. (they went to Greece and they've come back)
