present perfect for past experiences

PRESENT PERFECT

(TALKING ABOUT PAST

EXPERIENCES)

STRUCTURE

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES: [Subject + have or has + past participle of verbs] Examples:

“We have visited Italy twice.” “She has learnt four languages.”

QUESTIONS:[Have or has + subject + ever + past

participle + ? ]Examples:

“Has she ever eaten Indian food?” “Have you ever played badmington?”

NEGATIVE SENTENCES:[Subject + haven’t or hasn’t + past participle ]

Examples:“She hasn’t eaten Indian food.”

“You haven’t played badmington.”Or

[Subject + have or has + never + past participle of verbs]

Examples: “We have never seen a ghost.”

“She has never studied German.”

WHEN DO WE USE THE PRESENT PERFECT?

We can use the present perfect tense to talk about our experiences in the past. We do not tell when these experiences took place (for that we prefer the past

simple), but only the number of times or simply nothing.

To ask someone about their experiences we use the present perfect with EVER.

FOR EXAMPLE…

Have you ever been to New York?

We can give different answers to this question:

SHORT ANSWERS: Yes, I have. No, I haven’t We can answer with complete sentences: a) No, I haven’t been to New York. b) No, I have never been to New York. or c) Yes, I have been to New York ……….. times.

Have you ever eaten fried scorpions?

SHORT ANSWERS: - Yes, I have. - No, I haven’t LONG ANSWERS: - No, I haven’t eaten fried scorpions. - No, I have never eaten fried scorpions. or - Yes, I have eaten fried scorpions……….. times.

Have you ever gone bungee-jumping?

SHORT ANSWERS: - Yes, I have. - No, I haven’t LONG ANSWERS: - No, I haven’t gone bungee-jumping. - No, I have never gone bungee-jumping. or - Yes, I have gone bungee-jumping ……….. times.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

SHORT ANSWERS: - Yes, I have. - No, I haven’t LONG ANSWERS: - No, I haven’t seen a ghost. - No, I have never seen a ghost. or - Yes, I have seen a ghost ……….. times. - Yes, I have seen ghosts ……….. times.

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