Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verb Groups › Present Perfect > Experience
Present Perfect: Experience
Express something happening in an unspecified past time
Experience—Past vs. Present Perfect
| EXPERIENCE—PAST |
|---|
A verb in the past without an adverb or adverbial phrase that pins the activity to the past is understood as having occurred at an indefinite (unspecified) time in the past. It is an experience that ended before the time of speaking. "This happened." |
| AN EXPERIENCE SOMETIME IN THE PAST |
|
Ruth: My family and I saw the Tower of Pisa on our trip to Italy. Bob: Did you like it? This is a past activity without a particular reference to the exact time. |
Ruth: We drove from Pisa to Florence. Bob: You went to Florence too? |
Ruth: Yes. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to see it all. Bob: I don't think that we did either. There's so much to see. |
| EXPERIENCE—PRESENT PERFECT |
|---|
A verb in the present perfect without an adverb or adverbial phrase is understood as (1) having occurred at an indefinite time in the past (experience); and it is either (2a) recent (in one's present frame-of-mind) or (2b) somehow important to the conversation or topic now. |
| A PAST EXPERIENCE THAT SOMEHOW RELATES TO THE PRESENT |
|
Ruth: My family and I have just seen the Tower of Pisa. (recent) Bob: I have have seen the Tower of Pisa too. It's an interesting landmark. This is a recent activity that relates to the present conversation. (past→present) |
Ruth: We drove from Pisa to Florence. Have you been there? Bob: Yes, I have been to Florence also. It's beautiful, isn't it? (relevant) |
Ruth: Yes. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to see it all. Bob: We have also regretted that we didn't stay there longer. (relevant) |
*not used / incorrect
relevant (Adj) – something that relates (has a connection) to the current situation, topic, conversation, situation, etc.
Present Perfect Adverbs
Experience—unspecified time
Ever / Never / Before
| EVER / NEVER |
|---|
Have you ever visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa? |
Yes, I have. Yes, I have seen it . (experience exists) |
No, I haven't. No, I haven't seen it. (experience doesn't exist) |
No, I haven't ever seen it. (negative verb is used with ever) |
No , I have never seen it. (experience doesn't exist - more emphasis) |
No , I've never seen it. (I have can contract to I've) |
| BEFORE |
|---|
Have you visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa before? |
Yes, I have. Yes, I have seen it. (experience exists) |
No, I haven't. No, I haven't seen it. (experience doesn't exist) |
Yes, I have seen it before. (experience doesn't exist - emphasis) |
No, I haven't seen it before. (experience doesn't exist - emphasis) |
No, I've not seen it before. (experience doesn't exist - emphasis) |
| STATEMENT |
|---|
Never is an adverb that expresses "at no time". It is only used with a positive verb (in a positive clause environment). In contrast, ever, which expresses "at any time", is only used with a negative verb or negative clause environment. |
| POSITIVE VERB |
You have been to Italy. experience You have never been to Italy. (positive verb + never) 0 experience |
| NEGATIVE VERB OR CLAUSE ENVIRONMENT |
You haven't ever been to Italy. (negative verb + ever) I doubt that you have ever been to Italy. It is unlikely that you have ever been to Italy. |
| QUESTION | |
|---|---|
An interrogative followed by the adverb ever ( "at any time?") is used when the speaker is uncertain about the answer. A question with never ("at no time?") often expresses disbelief. |
|
| QUESTION | NEGATIVE / AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE |
Have you ever been to Italy? (I'm uncertain.) |
No, I haven't / Yes, I have. |
Have you never been to Italy? (I think you have.) |
No, I haven't / Yes, I have. |
You haven't ever been to Italy, have you? (I think you have not.) |
Yes. I have not. / No. I have. Correct. I have not. / Incorrect. I have. |
polarity — never and ever are said to "have polarity". That is, they are sensitive to the negative or positive environment in the surrounding clause: (positive verb + never) and (negative verb + ever).
*You haven't never been to Italy. Avoid a double negative.
Also see Negatives.
Present Perfect Adverbs (time expressions)
Specify the timing of an action or activity
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Adverbs for Present Perfect Tense
| DEFINITE TIMING "HAPPENING BEFORE AND UP TO NOW" | |
|---|---|
Adverbial expressions with definite timing are used when actions have starting times and ending times relative to the current moment (now). Compare (1) I have just walked to class this morning. The period ended when I arrived at class. (done, perfective) to (2) I have been walking to class this morning. The period will end when I arrive at class. (may be ongoing, imperfective) |
|
| BOTH PROG. NONPROGRESSIVE | BOTH PROG. & NONPROGRESSIVE |
He has just visited Pisa. He has just been visiting Pisa. |
He has visited Pisa today. He has been visiting Pisa today. |
| A TIME PERIOD RELATIVE TO NOW | A STARTING TIME UP TO NOW |
just (just, recently, [neg.] lately) I have just walked a mile. I have just been walking a mile. |
today¹ / tonight (a time starting from within this time to current time)
|
so far (to date, up to now) I have read 40 pages so far. *I have been reading 40 pages so far. |
this month¹ (a time starting from within this time to current tim:morning, evening, week, semester, this spring, year, decade, century) |
already (earlier than expected) I have walked 10 minutes already. I have been walking 10 minutes already. |
since / ever since(from this time to current time: 6:00 AM, noon, midnight, this morning, May 2012; ever since I met you) |
yet (later than expected) I haven't walked 10 minutes yet. *I haven't been walking 10 minutes yet. |
from last Monday until now (1 PM until now) |
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| INDEFINITE TIMING "HAPPENING SOMETIME" | |
|---|---|
Adverbial expressions with indefinite timing are used when activities or states happen "sometime", not related to the current moment (now). The precise time is not important. The focus is on the activity or state. These adverbs express duration (a period of time) or repetition (the interval of occurrence). They are mostly imperfective (may extend in the future). |
|
| MOSTLY PROGRESSIVE | BOTH PROG. & NONPROGRESSIVE |
He has visited Pisa recently. He has been visiting temporarily. |
He has often given tours. ~He has often been giving tours. |
| DURATION— PERIOD | REPETITION — INTERVAL |
temporarily(continuously, briefly, momentarily) [imperfective, ongoing] ⇒ Mostly progressive. |
repeatedly(constantly, continuously, again and again, perpetually, eternally) ⇒ Switch to "keep" with progressive.³ |
for a moment (ten minutes, a week, a month, for a while², a little while, a day, forever) ⇒ Often present perfect. |
always (routinely, customarily, usually, in general, normally, often, sometimes, hardly ever, never) |
during the week (month, year, etc.) ⇒ Mostly nonprogressive. |
ever (requesting any experience: before) |
from Monday to Tuesday(1 PM to 2 PM, morning to night) all my life |
at night (noon, midnight, sunset) in spring (winter, summer, June, July) |
while it is warm(a relative period of time: when, if, whenever, before, after) before sunrise (after) |
on Mondays (Tuesday, Sundays, etc.) most days (nights, weekends, etc.) |
over the past year (weeks, decades, centuries) throughout the year (weeks, decades, centuries) |
every / each / every other (hour, day, night, week, month, year, May, spring) |
¹ time expressions such as like today or this month include time that is past, present and future. With the present tense, we understand the time to be present, current, now.
² for a while (PP) – can be understood in two ways: (1) having some amount of duration, or (2) being very temporary
³ keep + verb+ing – Repetition can be expressed by using the "keep" (I keep walking. He kept smiling.) The progressive with "repeatedly" (*I am walking to class repeatedly. )sounds awkward.
Also see Ever v. Never, Already v. Yet., Adverbs of Frequency, For v Since.
"Leaning Tower of Pisa–Exterior." By Jordiferrer. Wikimedia, 7 Aug. 2016. Licensed under CC BY-SA4.0 International.
Yes-No Short Answers
Respond positively or negatively
Present Perfect — yes / no responses
| YES |
|---|
Whether the question is phrased in a positive or negative manner, yes occurs in the affirmative response with a positive auxiliary verb. |
| POSITIVE QUESTION |
Have you ever eaten octopus? |
Yes, I have. |
| NEGATIVE QUESTION |
Haven't you ever / Have you never eaten octopus? a doubtful question |
Yes, I have. / *No, I have. |
| NO |
|---|
Whether the question is phrased in a positive or negative manner, no occurs in the negative response with a negative auxiliary verb. |
| POSITIVE QUESTION |
Have you ever eaten octopus? |
No, I haven't. |
| NEGATIVE QUESTION |
Haven't you ever / Have you never eaten octopus? a doubtful question |
No, I haven't. / *Yes, I haven't. |
*not used / incorrect
| DOUBLE NEGATIVE STATEMENTS |
|---|
Speakers avoid using double negatives in business and academic English. Informally, double negatives might be used for emphasis. |
Have you eaten octopus? I haven't ever eaten octopus. |
I *haven't never eaten octopus. very informal, mostly in speech – used for emphasis |
I haven't never eaten no octopus. I won't never eat no octopus. very informal, a triple negative! |
| DOUBLE NEGATIVE SHORT RESPONSES |
|---|
When responding to a negative question, a speaker will respond to the question as if it were positively phrased. (The negative phrasing expresses speaker's doubt or disbelief.) |
Haven't you ever eaten octopus? a doubtful question No, I haven't. |
Have you ever eaten octopus? a simple question No, I haven't. |
*Haven't you never eaten octopus? |
Related page Pop-Q "yes-no".
Word Order
Placing Emphasis
Strong emphasis vs. mild emphasis
| STRONG EMPHASIS |
|---|
Emphasis is created by placing the adverb before the sentence AND placing the auxiliary verb before the subject and the main verb ("fronting"). |
Never have we seen such a financial mess. |
Never have we had to have a financial bailout before. |
Never did we expect such a thing to happen. |
|
| MILD EMPHASIS |
|---|
Slightly less emphasis is created by placing the adverb before the auxiliary and main verb. |
We never have seen such a financial mess before. |
We never have had to have a financial bailout before. |
We never expect such a thing to happen. |
|
| NORMAL |
|---|
The adverb is normally placed before the main verb (and after any auxiliary verbs). |
We should never allow this to happen again. We shouldn't ever allow this to happen again. |
| FINAL SENTENCE POSITION |
|---|
In writing, words closer to the beginning of the sentence carry more emphasis. In speech, intonation determines word emphasis regardless of position in the sentence |
We shouldn't allow this to happen again ever. We shouldn't allow this to happen again — ever! ~We will allow this to happen — never! |
~ not normally used, requires a special context
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
Errors and solutions
| ERROR | SOLUTION |
|---|---|
Have you ever visited the Leaning Tower of
Pisa? |
Yes, I visited it in June. (Use
past tense with a definite time in the past.) |
He hasn't never been there. double negative |
He hasn't ever been there. |
Haven't you ever eaten octopus? / Have you never eaten octopus. Yes, I haven't. / No, I have. mixed positive and negative words in the response |
Haven't you ever… / Have you never… No, I haven't. / Yes, I have. |
"Never we have to have a financial bailout of banking institutions in the U.S. before." missing auxiliary verb |
Never have we had to have a financial bailout of banking institutions in the U.S. before. missing verb – see section above "Word order and Emphasis" |
Pop-Q " Never"
Practice 1
Earthquake Experience
Complete the sentence.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the Check 1-14" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left as you go.
Practice 2
Short Answers
Complete the sentence.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check 15-22" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left as you go.