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Primary English · Year 5Chapter 5 · Modal verbs, possibility and the perfect form
Year 5 English · Modal verbs, possibility and the perfect form · Lesson 5.3

Year 5 English: The perfect form: have or has and the past participle

Part of the Year 5 English modal verbs, possibility and the perfect form chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

5.3

The perfect form: have or has and the past participle

Year 5
Form the perfect with have or has and the past participle, and contrast it with the past tense (G5-4, WV2, G3-7)
Story. Nadia is writing a report on the school garden. She writes, We planted the seeds in May. Then she writes, We have grown carrots and beans. The first sentence is about a finished time. The second sentence links the past to now.

Key pattern

The perfect form uses have or has with the past participle: I have seen, she has gone.

The past participle of many verbs is the same as the past tense: walked, played.

Many irregular verbs have a different past participle: seen (see), gone (go), eaten (eat), written (write).

Use the past tense for a finished time: We saw a fox yesterday. Use the perfect for a time that links to now: We have seen a fox.

Key ideas

  • have is used with I, you, we and they; has is used with he, she and it.
  • The past participle follows have or has.
  • The past tense does not use have or has: I saw, not I have saw.
  • Use the perfect when the time is not stated or links to now.
Worked example 5.3.1
Write the past participle of see.

Method. Check the irregular verb.

  1. Find the verb. See is an irregular verb.
    see
  2. Write the past participle. The past participle of see is seen.
    seen
  3. Write the answer.
    seen

Check. Seen. ✓

Worked example 5.3.2
Complete the perfect form: We ____ (go) to the beach this summer.

Method. Use have with we, then the past participle.

  1. Choose the helping verb. We takes have.
    have
  2. Choose the past participle. The past participle of go is gone.
    gone
  3. Write the answer.
    have gone

Check. We have gone. ✓

Worked example 5.3.3
Choose the past tense or the perfect: Ben ____ (eat) his lunch at twelve yesterday.

Method. Look at the time phrase.

  1. Find the time. Yesterday tells us a finished time.
    finished
  2. Choose the form. The past tense is used for a finished time: ate.
    ate
  3. Write the answer.
    ate

Check. Ben ate his lunch at twelve yesterday. ✓

Exercise 5C  Practice: the perfect form

1
FWrite the past participle of eat.
2
FWrite the past participle of write.
3
FWrite the past participle of walk.
4
FComplete the perfect: They ____ (break) the window.
5
FComplete the perfect: She ____ (take) the bus to school.
6
FComplete the perfect: It ____ (rain) all morning.
7
PSChoose the past tense or the perfect: We ____ (see) a fox yesterday. (a finished time)
8
PSChoose the past tense or the perfect: We ____ (see) several foxes this year. (time up to now)
9
PSAli writes I have saw a rainbow. Write the correct sentence.
10
PSWrite the perfect form of go with she.
11
RWrite one sentence in the perfect form about something you have done this week.
12
RExplain why We saw a fox yesterday is correct, but We have seen a fox yesterday is not.

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