Reference · module 15
Have you ever?
Everything this module explains, on one page.
I have seen
Build the tense that connects the past to now.
- have or has plus the third form of the verb: I have seen, she has gone, they have finished. Two words, and the have is what changes.
- Regular verbs have the same third form as their past: worked, worked. Irregular ones often have a third: see, saw, seen. go, went, gone.
- In speech it contracts: I've seen it, she's gone, they've finished. she's here is both she is and she has, and the next word decides which.
The mistake you are about to make
I have went.
I have gone.
The second and third forms get mixed up because for most verbs they are identical. Go keeps them apart: went is the past, gone is what follows have.
ever and never
Ask about somebody's life so far.
- Have you ever been to Japan? asks about your whole life up to now. ever means at any time and lives almost only in questions.
- The answer is Yes, I have, or No, I never have — or more usually No, I haven't. never already means not, so it takes no second negative.
- The key is that no time is mentioned. The moment you say when, English switches to the past: I went to Japan in 2019.
The mistake you are about to make
I have been to Japan in 2019.
I went to Japan in 2019.
Once a time is named the perfect is no longer available. The perfect covers your life up to now; a date pins the event down in the past.
just, already, yet
Say something has happened recently, or has not happened.
- just means a moment ago: I've just finished. It goes between have and the third form, and it is one of the commonest words in speech.
- already means sooner than you expected: She's already left. It sits in the same place and carries a small surprise with it.
- yet goes at the END and only in questions and negatives: Have you finished yet? I haven't finished yet. Never in a plain statement.
The mistake you are about to make
I've finished yet.
I've already finished.
Yet belongs to questions and negatives, and only at the very end. A positive statement takes already, and it sits in the middle.
Giving news
Announce something new and then tell the story.
- News arrives in the present perfect and continues in the past simple: I've found a new flat. I saw it on Monday and signed yesterday.
- The first sentence connects to now — the flat is yours today. Everything after it has a time attached, so it drops into the past.
- Guess what! and You'll never guess are how English announces that news is coming. Both are informal and both are everywhere.
The mistake you are about to make
I found a new flat! (as news)
I've found a new flat!
News opens in the perfect, because what matters is the result right now. Everything after the headline carries a time and goes into the past.