The present perfect — have/has + the past participle (I have written, she has gone, we have done) — links a past action to the present moment. You reach for it when the time is unfinished (today, this week, so far) or when the result matters right now (I've lost my keys), not when you pin the action to a finished time.
The 25 questions below work the whole split: finished-time words that force the past simple (yesterday, ago, in 2019, last week, when I was a child), the present-perfect signals that keep the door open (already, yet, just, ever, never, lately), been versus gone, and the honest American-versus-British difference with already and yet. Every answer is checked as you click, no signup, and each miss names the exact trigger that decided it.
Present Perfect Quiz: 25 Questions
Warm-up · have/has + past participle
Core · present perfect vs past simple (the time split)
Challenge · been/gone, superlatives, and dialect
Answer key and explanationsOpen after you finish the quiz.
- 1. doneThe present perfect is have/has + the past participle, and the participle of do is done (do–did–done). did is the past simple, not a participle.
- 2. seenThe past participle of see is seen (see–saw–seen), so has seen. saw would be past simple and cannot follow has.
- 3. goneThe participle of go is gone (go–went–gone), so have gone. went is the past simple form and never follows have.
- 4. writtenThe participle of write is written (write–wrote–written), so has written. wrote is the past simple.
- 5. hasThird-person singular takes has, and just slots between the auxiliary and the participle: My sister has just arrived.
- 6. haven'tyet points to a period running up to now, so the present perfect negative fits: We haven't met ... yet (have + not + participle).
- 7. Haveever for life experience with no named time takes the present perfect: Have you ever tried ...? After did or do the participle tried is wrong.
- 8. have lostHave lost is the present perfect form and connects the loss with the current result. I lost my keys is also grammatical, especially in American English, but this task specifically asks for the present perfect.
- 9. lostyesterday is a finished time and the story is over (you got them back), so past simple: lost. Present perfect cannot take a finished time word.
- 10. wentin 2019 names a finished time, which forces the past simple: went. 'have gone ... in 2019' is impossible — present perfect never pairs with a finished date.
- 11. has workedsince 2020 describes a situation that started in the past and continues now, so present perfect: has worked.
- 12. sawago fixes the action to a finished moment, so past simple: saw. 'have seen ... ago' is never correct.
- 13. hasalready pairs with the perfect, and she takes has: She has already finished. (In American English, 'She already finished' with past simple is also natural.)
- 14. Have you heardyet looks at the period up to now, so present perfect: Have you heard ...? After did, the form would be hear, not heard.
- 15. have writtenso far and today (an unfinished period) count up to now, so present perfect: have written.
- 16. metlast week is finished, so past simple: met. Present perfect cannot co-occur with a finished time word like last week.
- 17. learnedwhen I was a child is a closed period, so past simple: learned. The present perfect would wrongly imply the period still includes now.
- 18. has gonehas gone to = went and is still there (absent). Because he has not returned, gone is right; has been would mean he visited and came back.
- 19. been toFor a completed visit counted as experience, use have been to (visited and returned). have gone to would imply I am still there.
- 20. have ever seenThe superlative + ever frame ('the best ... I have ever seen') spans your whole life up to now, so it takes the present perfect: have ever seen.
- 21. have flownIt's / This is the first/second time takes the present perfect: I have flown. Use had flown only when the lead-in is past (It was the first time I had flown).
- 22. metThe since-clause names a finished starting moment, so it uses past simple: since we met. The main clause keeps the present perfect.
- 23. I already ate.'I already ate' uses past simple with already — standard and common in American English, not an error. British English prefers the present perfect 'I've already eaten.' The other three break the participle (eaten, not ate).
- 24. have hadfor + duration continuing to now needs the present perfect, but 'have' meaning own is stative, so it stays simple: I have had this phone (not have been having).
- 25. have you knownHow long (a period from past to now) takes the present perfect: How long have you known them? know is stative, so it has no continuous form, and the present perfect is the standard way to ask about a period up to now.
The Bridge Rule: Past Connected to Now
The present perfect is a bridge, not a past tense. It describes something that happened before now but that is still relevant to this moment — the time frame is open, or the result is live. The past simple, by contrast, closes the bridge: it parks the action at a finished point and cuts it off from now.
That idea explains most choices in the quiz above. 'I've lost my keys' is present perfect because I still do not have them. 'I lost them yesterday but found them' is past simple because the losing is over. The same contrast works with duration: I have lived in Dublin for a year (I still live there) versus I lived in Dublin for a year (that chapter is closed). The period is the same; the connection to now decides the tense.
- Unfinished time: I've had three coffees today (today is not over).
- Result live now: She's gone — she isn't here (I can't see her).
- Life experience, no time named: I've visited Rome.
- Started in the past, continues now: We've lived here since 2018.
- Recent news still in effect: The board has approved the budget.
Ask yourself one question before choosing: is the time frame or the result still open right now? If yes, present perfect. If the action is filed away as finished, past simple.
Time Expressions: Clues, Not Automatic Rules
Time expressions help identify the intended time frame, but the whole sentence matters. A finished past date normally calls for past simple when describing that event. An open period can take present perfect or past simple, depending on how the speaker views the event and on dialect.
- Past simple (finished time): yesterday, … ago, in 2019, last week, in those days, when I was a child.
- Present perfect (open time): today, this week, this year, so far, up to now, recently, lately.
- Often used with present perfect: already, yet, just, ever, never — I have never smoked. These are not exclusive to this tense: I never smoked when I was younger; I already ate (common in American English).
- Either, mind the context: while it is still morning, I've had two coffees this morning reports a total so far, while I saw her this morning describes a completed meeting. Once the morning is over, use past simple for events in it.
- since + starting point / for + duration both lean present perfect — see the for-vs-since exercises.
The word 'ago' is a guaranteed past-simple trigger, and 'yet/already/ever/never' are strong present-perfect signals. If a sentence contains both a finished date and one of these adverbs, the finished date wins.
Been vs Gone: The Two-Word Trap
Both have been and have gone come from go, but they describe opposite situations. Getting them wrong is one of the most noticeable present-perfect slips, because the difference is about whether the person is here or not.
Use has/have gone when someone went and has not come back (they are absent or on the way). Use has/have been when someone went and returned — that is, when you are talking about the visit as an experience.
- has gone to = went and is still away: 'Where's Ana?' 'She's gone to the bank.'
- has been to = visited and came back (experience): 'I've been to the bank twice today.'
- was/were in a place = neutral finished past: 'She was in Paris last year.'
- Never pair either with a finished date: 'I have been to Rome in 2019' is wrong — say 'I went to Rome in 2019.'
Why 'I Have Seen Him Yesterday' Sounds Right to So Many Learners
German, French, and Italian all have a tense built exactly like the English present perfect — an auxiliary plus a past participle — but in everyday speech they use it for finished past events: Ich habe ihn gestern gesehen, Je l'ai vu hier, L'ho visto ieri. All three mean I saw him yesterday. Translated form for form, they give I have seen him yesterday, which English does not allow.
Spanish splits by region. In much of Spain, he visto covers events earlier today (Hoy he visto a Juan), close to British usage; in most of Latin America, the simple past is used even there (Hoy vi a Juan), which is closer to American habits. Neither maps perfectly onto English, so Spanish speakers have to learn the English line separately.
Speakers of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indonesian face the opposite problem: their languages do not have a separate perfect form, so the present perfect feels unnecessary and the past simple gets used everywhere (Did you ever eat sushi? I didn't finish yet). In American English some of these are acceptable; in British English and in exams, use the present perfect for experience and for already/yet.
If your first language uses its 'have + participle' tense for yesterday, last year, or ago, make that combination a red flag in English: a finished time word means past simple, whatever your instinct says.
American vs British English With Already and Yet
Here is a rule you should not mark anyone wrong about. British English strongly prefers the present perfect with already and yet: 'I've already finished', 'Have you eaten yet?' American English routinely uses the past simple in the same spot — 'I already finished', 'Did you eat yet?' — and this is natural, standard AmE, not a grammar mistake.
What is genuinely wrong in both dialects is a broken participle: 'I have already ate' fails everywhere (it must be eaten). When writing for an international audience, the present perfect is the safe choice because it reads as correct in both dialects, while the past simple with already can look informal to British readers.
- BrE: 'I've already seen it.' — present perfect expected.
- AmE: 'I already saw it.' — perfectly normal, do not correct it as an error.
- Both accept: 'Have you seen it yet?' (AmE also allows 'Did you see it yet?').
- Wrong everywhere: 'I have already saw/ate it' — a perfect needs a true past participle.
Match your audience, not your keyboard: British English keeps already/yet in the present perfect, American English happily spends them in the past simple. Neither is wrong within its own dialect.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When exactly do I use the present perfect?
Use the present perfect (have/has + past participle) when a past action is still connected to now: the time frame is unfinished (today, this week, so far, ever, never, yet), the result is live (I've lost my keys), it is life experience with no specific date (I've visited Rome), or a situation started in the past and continues (we've lived here since 2018). The moment you name a finished time (yesterday, in 2019, last week), switch to the past simple.
Why is 'I have seen him yesterday' wrong?
Because yesterday is a finished time, and the present perfect cannot be used with a finished time expression — it is a bridge to now, but yesterday is fully closed. The correct form is the past simple: 'I saw him yesterday.' Keep the present perfect only when the time is open: 'I've seen him a lot this week.'
What's the difference between 'has been' and 'has gone'?
'Has gone to' means the person went somewhere and is still there or on the way, so they are absent: 'Where's Priya? She's gone to the shops.' 'Has been to' means the person went and came back, so you are describing a completed visit or experience: 'She's been to the shops three times today.' If they are not here now, use gone; if they have returned, use been.
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