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Which tense is this sentence written in?
I have taken the bins out.
This sentence uses have and the past participle of the verb to take.
This is the present perfect tense.
Even though it sounds as if the sentence is talking about something that happened in the past, we call it the present perfect tense.
The present perfect tense is used to talk about something that started happening in the past but it might still be happening and is connected to what’s going on in the present.
For example:
Sally has started painting her room.
This sentence shows that Sally started painting her room in the past, but she might still be painting it now.
To write in the present perfect tense we must use have/has + a past participle.
A past participle is a past tense verb ending in -ed (like walked) or -en (like eaten).
In this activity, we’ll be using past participles ending in -ed.
We use 'have' after the pronouns I, you, we and they.
I have walked
You have walked
We have walked
They have walked
We use 'has' after the words she, he and it.
She has walked
He has walked
It has walked
The past participle in these examples is walked.
Here are some examples of past participles ending in -ed.
| Present | Past Participle |
| listen | listened |
| stop | stopped |
| kick | kicked |
| bake | baked |
Which word is missing from this present perfect sentence?
They ____ baked a cake.
We use have after the pronoun they when writing in the present perfect form.
The past participle in this sentence is baked.
So it should be:
They have baked a cake.
In this activity, you’ll be using past participles ending in -ed to help you write in the present perfect tense. Make sure you remember when to use 'has' and when to use 'have'.
