The Present Perfect
FORM
1
Read this newspaper article and complete the tasks below.
county: a geographical and political division within a state in the U.S.
1. There are five examples of the present perfect in the article. The first
one is underlined. Underline four more.
2. How is the present perfect formed?
The Present 1
GRAMMAR SENSE WORKBOOK 2 Perfect
© Oxford University Press www.oup.com/elt
2Working on Yes/No Questions with Irregular Past Participles
Complete these questions with the past participles of the verbs in the box. Then
answer the questions.
be eat find fly meet ride
Have you ever . . .
1. been on television? No, I haven’tt.
2. a horse?
3. Indian food?
4. a famous person?
5. in a helicopter?
6. money in the street?
Use the words and phrases to write information questions in the present perfect.
1. How long / you / be / out of college?
How long have you been out of college?
2. Where / you / travel / to?
3. How many people / she / invite?
4. Who / be / to China?
5. Why / you / choose / that book?
6. How long / Larry / live / there?
7. What / you / prepare / for lunch?
8. How much money / you / spend / this week?
MEANING AND USE
4
Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1. She’s been a teacher all her life, .
a. and she loved her
b. job and she loves
her job
2. I’ve traveled in Europe a lot, and in 2001 .
a. I’ve gone to Africa
b. I went to Africa
3. I’ve had that car for five years, .
a. and it never breaks down
b. and I sold it
4. We haven’t eaten at the Greek restaurant yet, .
a. so we tried it last night
b. so we want to try it soon
5. We haven’t solved the problem yet, .
a. so we gave up
b. but we aren’t giving up
6. Pedro is one of my best friends; .
a. I’ve known him for a long time
b. I knew him for a long time
Complete these time expressions with for or since.
1. for three days
2. 3 o’clock
3. a long time
4. a moment
5. last month
6. a month
7. he was a boy
8. 1988
6
Complete this conversation with the present perfect or simple past
forms of the verbs in parentheses. Use contractions when possible.
A: Why do you want to work here?
B: Well, I ’ve loved(love) children all my life. I (want) to work
1 2
with kids since I (leave) high school.
3
A: Your resume says that you (work) in the childcare center at the
4
university from 1999 to 2001. Can you tell me about that?
B: Yes. It (be) a part-time job. We (play) with the
5 6
children and (give) them lunch. I (work) with a
7 8
Head Teacher.
A: Tell me about the jobs you (have) since then. (you/
9 10
ever have) full responsibility for children in your care?
B: Yes. For the last year I (look after) one-year-old twins.
11
7Using Adverbs with the Present Perfect
Use the words below to rewrite each sentence in two ways. Do not change the
meaning of the sentence. More than one answer may be possible.
1. I haven’t seen a volcano in my whole life.
already never still so far yet
a. I’ve never seen a volcano.
b. I haven’t t seen a volcano yet.
2. He hasn’t been to Europe.
a.
b.
3. They’ve interviewed five people.
a.
b.
COMBINING FORM, MEANING, AND USE
8Editing
There are nine errors in these paragraphs. The first one has been
corrected. Find and correct eight more.
9Writing
On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph about your
travel experiences. Use the present perfect or the simple past
as needed.
1. In your first few sentences, describe your travel experience in general.
2. In the rest of the paragraph, describe one or more trips
in particular. Use the questions below to help you write
your paragraph:
• How many countries or cities have you visited?
• Have you visited any places more than once?
• Where did you go on a recent trip?
• Think of places you haven’t visited. Which ones would you like to visit?
