Year 4 English: The present perfect in contrast to the past tense
Part of the Year 4 English noun phrases, pronouns and verb forms chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
The present perfect in contrast to the past tense
The past tense tells what happened at a finished time: Sam painted the walls yesterday.
The present perfect is made with have or has and a past participle, such as seen, gone or eaten. It shows something that has happened and matters now, or something that happened at a time we do not name: Sam has finished his model.
Use have with I, you, we and they. Use has with he, she, it and a single name.
| Verb | Past tense (finished time) | Past participle (with have or has) |
|---|---|---|
| see | saw | seen |
| do | did | done |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| go | went | gone |
| write | wrote | written |
| take | took | taken |
| give | gave | given |
| break | broke | broken |
| begin | began | begun |
| play | played | played |
Key ideas
- The past tense tells what happened at a finished time: yesterday, last week, in 2020.
- The present perfect is have or has plus a past participle: have seen, has gone.
- Use has with he, she, it and a single name; use have with I, you, we and they.
- Do not use a finished time, such as yesterday, with the present perfect.
- Words such as already, just, ever, never and yet often go with the present perfect.
Method. Choose the word that fits the grammar and the meaning.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Decide which word the sentence needs.Yesterday, Sam ___ his model.
- Think about the grammar and the meaning. Yesterday is a finished time, so the past tense is used.Yesterday, Sam finished his model.
- Check the other choice. Has finished cannot go with a finished time such as yesterday.Yesterday, Sam finished his model.
- Write the answer. finished
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud with finished in the gap. ✓
Watch out. Put each choice in the gap and read the sentence aloud.
Method. Use they with have, and the past participle of eat.
- Choose have or has. They takes have, not has.have
- Find the past participle. The past participle of eat is eaten, not ate.eaten
- Put them together. They is the subject, then have and the participle.They have eaten.
- Write the answer. They have eaten.
Check. Have goes with they, and the participle is eaten. ✓
Watch out. Ate is the past tense. It cannot follow have.
Method. Find the verb form that is not Standard English, and change it.
- Read the sentence. Check the form of each verb.I have went to the park.
- Find the wrong form. The past participle of go is gone, not went.went -> gone
- Write the correct sentence. Read it aloud. It now uses the Standard English form.I have gone to the park.
- Write the answer. I have gone to the park.
Check. Read the corrected sentence aloud. ✓
Watch out. In writing, use the Standard English verb form, even if speech uses another form.
Watch out
Watch out: have gone, not have went; have seen, not have saw. The past participle always follows have or has. A finished time such as yesterday needs the past tense: Ella saw the film yesterday.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child: has this happened, and does it matter now? If it has, use have or has. If the time is finished, such as yesterday or last week, use the past tense.
Exercise 7F Practice: the present perfect and the past tense
Method. Choose the word that fits the grammar and the meaning.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Decide which word the sentence needs.Last week we ___ the museum.
- Think about the grammar and the meaning. Last week is a finished time, so the past tense is used.Last week we visited the museum.
- Check the other choice. Have visited cannot go with a finished time.Last week we visited the museum.
- Write the answer. visited
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud with visited in the gap. ✓
Watch out. Put each choice in the gap and read the sentence aloud.
Method. Choose the word that fits the grammar and the meaning.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Decide which word the sentence needs.We ___ the museum twice so far.
- Think about the grammar and the meaning. So far is a time that has not finished, so the present perfect is used.We have visited the museum twice so far.
- Check the other choice. Visited is the past tense, and it is used for a finished time.We have visited the museum twice so far.
- Write the answer. have visited
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud with have visited in the gap. ✓
Watch out. Put each choice in the gap and read the sentence aloud.
Method. Find the past participle of see.
- Look at the verb. See has an irregular past participle.see
- Write the form. Seen is used with have or has.seen
- Write the answer. seen
Check. Have seen is correct. ✓
Method. Find the past participle of write.
- Look at the verb. Write has an irregular past participle.write
- Write the form. Written is used with have or has.written
- Write the answer. written
Check. Have written is correct. ✓
Method. Find the past participle of take.
- Look at the verb. Take has an irregular past participle.take
- Write the form. Taken is used with have or has.taken
- Write the answer. taken
Check. Have taken is correct. ✓
Method. Choose the word that fits the grammar and the meaning.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Decide which word the sentence needs.The boys ___ gone home.
- Think about the grammar and the meaning. The boys is more than one person, so the helping word is have.The boys have gone home.
- Check the other choice. Has goes with he, she, it and a single name.The boys have gone home.
- Write the answer. have
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud with have in the gap. ✓
Watch out. Put each choice in the gap and read the sentence aloud.
Method. Find the verb form that is not Standard English, and change it.
- Read the sentence. Check the form of each verb.We have ate our lunch.
- Find the wrong form. After have, the past participle of eat is eaten, not ate.ate -> eaten
- Write the correct sentence. Read it aloud. It now uses the Standard English form.We have eaten our lunch.
- Write the answer. We have eaten our lunch.
Check. Read the corrected sentence aloud. ✓
Watch out. In writing, use the Standard English verb form, even if speech uses another form.
Method. Find the verb form that is not Standard English, and change it.
- Read the sentence. Check the form of each verb.She has broke the cup.
- Find the wrong form. Broke is the past tense. After has, the past participle is broken.broke -> broken
- Write the correct sentence. Read it aloud. It now uses the Standard English form.She has broken the cup.
- Write the answer. She has broken the cup.
Check. Read the corrected sentence aloud. ✓
Watch out. In writing, use the Standard English verb form, even if speech uses another form.
Method. Check the form after has.
- Look at A. Saw is the past tense, and it cannot follow has.has saw
- Look at B. Seen is the past participle, and it follows has.has seen
- Write the answer. B
Check. Has seen is the present perfect form. ✓
Watch out. After has or have, use the past participle, not the past tense.
Method. Choose the word that fits the grammar and the meaning.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Decide which word the sentence needs.Dad ___ lunch at one o'clock yesterday.
- Think about the grammar and the meaning. Yesterday at one o'clock is a finished time, so the past tense is used.Dad cooked lunch at one o'clock yesterday.
- Check the other choice. Has cooked cannot go with a finished time.Dad cooked lunch at one o'clock yesterday.
- Write the answer. cooked
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud with cooked in the gap. ✓
Watch out. Put each choice in the gap and read the sentence aloud.
Method. Check the time word.
- Look at yesterday. Yesterday is a finished time, so the present perfect cannot be used.yesterday
- Choose the form. The past tense is needed: I finished my homework yesterday.I finished my homework yesterday.
- Write the answer. No. Yesterday is a finished time, so use the past tense: I finished my homework yesterday.
Check. Yesterday goes with the past tense. ✓
Watch out. Remember: a finished time word, such as yesterday or last week, goes with the past tense.
Method. Use has, already and a past participle.
- Choose the person. Jack is one person, so use has.Jack has
- Add already and the past participle. Already and a past participle show that the task is done now.Jack has already tidied his room.
- Write the answer. Jack has already tidied his room.
Check. Has already and tidied make the present perfect. ✓
Watch out. Tidied is the past participle, and it is the same as the past tense for regular verbs.
Method. Compare the two sentences.
- Look at the first sentence. Last week is a finished time, so the past tense broke is used.last week
- Look at the second sentence. Has broken links the event to now, so the window is still broken.has broken
- Write the answer. the first is a finished event at a finished time; the second links it to now
Check. The time word and the form of the verb show the difference. ✓
Watch out. Look at the time word first: finished time, past tense; no finished time, present perfect.