10They have travelled have been travelling for months, and they have visited have been visiting three countries so far.

9I think I ‘ve been liking ‘ve liked chocolate since I was born.

7She must be tired. She has been writing has written all afternoon.

6How many books has she been writing has she written ?

5Somebody has been eating has eaten my cookies. There are very few left.

4Somebody has eaten has been eating my cookies. There are none left.

3How long have you been knowing have you known Peter?

2I’m sorry I’m late, have you waited have you been waiting for a long time?

1I ‘ve been cycling ‘ve cycled and my legs are really tired now.

 

Present perfect simple – use

 

Summary chart

 

 
We use the present perfect simple with past finished actions or experiences when we don’t mention or we don’t know when they happened. And we also use the present perfect simple to ask or talk about situations that started in the past and have not finished.
 

Present perfect continuous – form

 

 
We form the present perfect continuous with the present perfect simple of be + the -ing form of the main verb.
 

Present perfect continuous – use

 

Summary chart

 

 

Actions from the past till now – duration

 
We use the present perfect continuous with action verbs (dynamic verbs) to talk about situations that started in the past and have not finished or have just finished.

• Have

   you 

  been crying

  ?

• Sorry I am so dirty, but I

  ‘ve been painting

  .

There is often a present result from doing these actions.

• You

  ‘ve been crying

  . (Your eyes are red.)

• I am dirty because I

  ‘ve been painting

  . 

We can use the present perfect continuous to talk about continuous or repeated actions or situations from the past till now.

• She

  ‘s been calling

   you for days. (=She has repeated this action for several days.)

• I

  ‘ve been studying

  since you left. (=I have done this action continuously without stopping.)

 

for, since, how long, lately, all day/week/month/etc.

 
We can use for, since, how long, lately, all day/week/month/etc. to ask or say how long a situation has been happening.

• I haven’t been feeling well 

  lately

  .

• He’s been annoying us 

  all evening

  .

• She’s been studying very hard 

  for weeks

  .

• How long

  have you been playing golf?

 

Present perfect simple or continuous?

 

Situations that started in the past and still continue

 
We can use the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous to talk about situations that started in the past and still continue. But we must use the present perfect simple with non-action verbs (stative verbs), and we normally use the present perfect continuous with dynamic verbs (although the present perfect simple is also possible.)

•  We

  ‘ve had

   this car for years.

• I 

  haven’t been sleeping

   well lately.

We use the present perfect continuous (and NOT simple) with dynamic verbs for situations that started in the past and still continue when we want to emphasise how long the situation has lasted.

• I have been waiting 

  for hours

  ! (=I want to emphasise that I’ve been waiting for a long time).

• I couldn’t do the dishes. I’ve been working 

  all day

  .

 

Finished and unfinished situations

 
We use the present perfect simple for finished actions in the past when we don’t say when. We use the present perfect continuous for actions or situations that maybe have not finished or that maybe have finished (very recently)

• Who 

  has eaten

   my cookies? (=We would say this if there are no cookies left. The action is finished.

• Who 

  has been eating

   my cookies?  (=We would say this if there are some cookies left)

• I

  ‘ve been watching

   the series you recommended. I’ll tell you about it when I finish watching it.

• I

  ‘ve watched 

  the series you recommended. I watched the last episode yesterday.

 

Actions with present results

 
We can use present perfect simple and present perfect continuous for actions with present results. We use the present perfect simple if the present results come from completing the action.

• Look how nice my car looks. I

  ‘ve washed

   it. (=The car looks nice because I have finished washing it.)

• Something is different in this house. 

  Have

   you 

  painted

   it? (=The house looks different because you have completed the action of painting it.)

We use the present perfect continuous if the present results come from the process of doing the action.

• Sorry I’m so sweaty. I

  ‘ve been washing

   my car. (=I am sweaty because of the physical activity that washing the car involves.)

• How come you are so dirty? 

  Have

   you 

  been painting

  ? (=You are dirty because of the process of painting.)

 

how long vs how many/much

 
We use the present perfect continuous to talk about the duration of an action, i.e. about how long we have been doing something. And we use the present perfect simple to talk about how many things or how much of something we have done.

• I’ve written

  twenty

  e-mails. (I’m talking about how many emails I’ve written.)

• I’ve been writing emails

  for hours

  . (=I’m talking about how long I have spend writing emails)

 

Tenses are the most essential grammar structure in English. If you have mastery over 12 tenses in English you can speak fluently and write your sentences without grammatical mistakes. Here in this article, we have accomplished present perfect tense exercises with answers for ESL students or teachers.

Present Perfect Tense Exercises

Exercise 1:

1- He has _________________ dinner already.

• a- eat

• b- ate

• c- eating

• d- eaten

2- Have they ________________ their books?

• a- bring

• b- brought

• c- bringing

• d- bringged

3- Have you ever _______________ the Titanic.

• a- Seen

• b- saw

• c- seen

• d- see

4- Who ________________ speech in front of the public?

• a- has given

• b- have given

• c- has gave

• d- has giving

5- Who _________________ with their problems?

• a- have you helped
• b- has you helped
• c- has helped
• d- helped have you

6- Have you ever _____________ the rules and regulations of Aarud for students.

• a- Read
• b- read
• c- readed
• d- readen

7- Has she ________________ her promise?

• a- breaks
• b- broke
• c- break
• d- broken

8- Haven`t you ________________ on the project yet?

• a- finish
• b- did
• c- started working
• d- starts

9- Where ____________________?

• a- he has gone
• b- has he went
• c- he has go
• d- has he gone

10- I have taught English for ________________.

• a- seven years ago
• b- last year
• c- many years
• d- I was twenty years old

11- We have lived in Quetta since____________________.

• a- two years
• b- 2011
• c- many years
• d- for several years

12- I have ______________ in casinos.

• a- gambled never
• b- never gambled
• c- gamble
• d- gambling

Exercise 2:

Select the correct option. Pay close attention to the difference between “Present Perfect Tense” and “Simple Past Tense”.

1. When ___________ the school?

• a) have you joined
• b) did you joined
• c) did you join
• d) have you ever joined

2. ___________in England?

• a) Did you ever worked
• b) Have you ever worked
• c) Worked you
• d) Didn’t you have worked

3. That’s the best speech____________

• a) I never heard
• b) I didn’t hear
• c) I used to hear
• d) I’ve ever heard

4. He’s the most difficult housemate______________

• a) I never dealt with.
• b) I never had to deal with.
• c) I’ve ever had to deal with.
• d) I’ve never had to deal with.

5. ____________ to him last week.

• a) I spoke
• b) I’ve already spoken
• c) I didn’t spoke
• d) I speaked

6. ___________ a contract last year and it is still valid.

• a) We have signed
• b) We signed
• c) We haven’t signed
• d) We have sign

7. ___________ from a business trip to France.

• a) I come back
• b) I came back
• c) I never came back
• d) I’ve just come back

8. Prices ________ in 1995 but then_____in 1996.

• a) rised _____falled
• b) rose _____ fell
• c) have risen _____ have fallen
• d) rose _____ have fallen

9. You____________to a word____________

• a) listened _____ I haven’t said
• b) didn’t listen _____ I say
• c) listened _____ saying
• d) haven’t listened _____ I’ve said

10. I can’t believe that ___________ the news.

• a) you haven’t read
• b) you didn’t read
• c) you don’t read
• d) you read not

Exercise 3:

Choose the correct time expression used with the present perfect tense.

1. We have lived in this city ………………………… fifteen years. (since / for)
2. She has not ……………………. returned from school. (yet / just)
3. Jane has ………………………. gone out. (just / yet)
4. You have not returned my money ………………………. (already / yet)
5. James has …………………….. arrived in London. (already / yet)
6. I have …………………….. had a call from your brother. (yet / just)
7. She has worked with me ……………………… 2008. (since / for)
8. I haven’t seen him ……………………. two weeks. (since / for)
9. How …………………….. have you known him? (long / much)
10. I have ……………………. completed my homework. (already / yet)

Answers to Present Perfect Tense Exercises:

Exercise 1.
 Exercise 2. 
Exercise 3.

1. eaten
1. have you joined
1. for

2. brought
2. have you ever worked
2. yet

3. seen
3. I’ve ever heard
3. just

4. has given
4.I’ve never dealt with
4. yet

5. have you helped
5. I spoke
5. already

6. read
6. we have signed
6. just

7. broken
7. I’ve just come back
7. since

8. started
8. rose—–fell
8. for

9. has he gone
9. have not listended—–I’ve said
9. long

10. many years
10. You have not read
10. already

11. 2011

12. never gambled

…