3 Present Perfect Negative

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Introduction

The present perfect is a tense used to express completed actions which have occurred in the past, are connected to the present and still have effects on it.

When expressed in its negative form, the verb denies something about the subject.

Form

The present perfect, in its negative form, has this structure:
Subject + have/has + not + past participle + …

  • Have/has: the third person singular changes from have to has;
    • Short forms of the negative form are: I haven’t – you haven’t – she hasn’t…
  • Regular past participles are formed by adding -d or -ed to the base form of verbs. Irregular past participles have to be learned by heart.
Subject have/has + not Past Participle
I/You have not worked
He/She/It has not worked
We/You/They have not worked

{Check the topic Past Participle to learn irregular verbs}.

Example

  1. Past situations with results in the present
    • I haven’t lost my car keys!
    • He hasn’t put on weight.
    • We haven’t finished our homework!
  2. Finished actions referring to life experience up to now
    • I haven’t talked to her four times.
    • She hasn’t visited this castle.
    • They haven’t travelled without their computer.

Use

We use the present perfect, in its negative form, to deny something about:

  1. Past situations with results in the present;
  2. Finished actions referring to life experience up to now.

Summary

We use the present perfect, in the negative form, to deny completed actions which have occurred in the past, are connected to the present and still have effects on it.

The structure is:
Subject + have/has + not + past participle + … (has for the third person singular)

For example:
— “It hasn’t rained the whole month.” = We use the present perfect because the past action still has effects on the present (for example, the water levels are low).
♦ “It didn’t rain last  month.” = We use the past simple because the past action is finished and there’s no need to emphasise its effects on the present.

NOTE: The past participle is usually used to form the perfect tenses, and it indicates past or completed actions. It is formed by adding -d or -ed to the base form of regular verbs, whereas irregular verbs have different fixed forms which need to be studied off by heart.

Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.

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