Present Perfect Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Read the conversation between friends deciding what to eat for dinner. Choose the best option (a, b, c, or d) to complete each sentence.
1 “______ Indian food before? There is a great restaurant nearby.”
(a) Do you ever eat
(b) Have you ever eaten
(c) Did you ever eat
(d) Have you ever eat
2 “I ______ sushi, so I would love to try it tonight. Let’s go to a Japanese restaurant!”
(a) am never trying
(b) hasn’t never tried
(c) never tried
(d) have never tried
3 “We haven’t had pizza ______ last month. Let’s order some!”
(a) for
(b) from
(c) since
(d) in
4 “Mark ______ spicy food, so we should choose a different place.”
(a) never liked
(b) has never liked
(c) has ever liked
(d) have never liked
5 “I’m so hungry! I haven’t eaten anything ______ five hours.”
(a) since
(b) ago
(c) during
(d) for
6 “______ to that new seafood restaurant downtown?”
(a) Has she ever been
(b) Has she ever gone
(c) Did she ever go
(d) Has she ever go
7 “I want to go to the Italian place. We haven’t eaten there ______.”
(a) since a long time
(b) since we are young
(c) for a long time
(d) for a long times
8 “I ______ Mexican food once in 2015, but I ______ it since then.”
(a) try / haven’t eaten
(b) have tried / didn’t eat
(c) tried / hasn’t eaten
(d) tried / haven’t eaten
9 “Let’s not get burgers. I ______ much junk food recently.”
(a) have never eaten
(b) didn’t eat
(c) haven’t eaten
(d) haven’t ate
10 “______ the famous chocolate cake at this cafe? It’s amazing!”
(a) Have you tried
(b) Did you try
(c) Have you try
(d) Are you trying
11 “I haven’t had a good steak ______ I moved to this city.”
(a) for
(b) when
(c) since
(d) after
12 “This is the best curry I ______! It’s so delicious.”
(a) ever had
(b) have ever had
(c) have never had
(d) have ever have
13 “We can’t go to the Thai restaurant. It ______ since 8 PM.”
(a) has been closed
(b) have been closed
(c) is closed since
(d) has closed
14 “Sarah is a vegetarian. She hasn’t eaten meat ______.”
(a) for over ten year
(b) since over ten years
(c) for over ten years
(d) since she is ten
15 “Let’s invite John for dinner. He ______ a proper meal since his wife ______ on a business trip.”
(a) hasn’t cooked / went
(b) didn’t cook / has gone
(c) hasn’t cooked / has gone
(d) hasn’t cook / went
16 “I don’t want to go to ‘The Red Tomato’. That is the worst pizza I ______.”
(a) have ever taste
(b) ever tasted
(c) have never tasted
(d) have ever tasted
17 “Why don’t we go to the new French bakery? I ______ there twice and the croissants are lovely.”
(a) have been
(b) went
(c) have be
(d) have gone
18 “I’m not sure if I like oysters. I ______ them before.”
(a) have ever actually eaten
(b) have never actually eaten
(c) actually never ate
(d) have never actually ate
19 “I am really craving dumplings. I haven’t had any ______.”
(a) since my trip to China
(b) for my trip to China
(c) during my trip to China
(d) since my trip of China
20 “Let’s go to the vegan place. I ______ a good plant-based burger ______ years.”
(a) didn’t have / for
(b) haven’t had / since
(c) haven’t had / for
(d) haven’t got / since
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 Key: (b) Have you ever eaten
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Present Perfect is used to ask about life experiences up to now. “Ever” means “at any time in your life”.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) is a Common Mistake; learners often use Past Simple instead of Present Perfect for experiences. (d) is a Structural Error (missing V3 “eaten”). (a) is a Meaning Trap; it asks about a general habit, but “before” points to a past experience.
2 Key: (d) have never tried
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: We use “have/has never + V3” to say we lack an experience up to the present moment.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) is a Common Mistake (using Past Simple). (b) is a Structural Error (“hasn’t never” is a double negative and “has” is wrong for “I”). (a) is a Meaning Trap (Present Continuous means “I refuse to try it ever”, which contradicts wanting to try it tonight).
3 Key: (c) since
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Since” is used with a specific starting point in time (last month).
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (confusing “for” and “since”). (b) is a Structural Error (wrong preposition). (d) is a Meaning Trap (it means “during last month” but ignores the time from then until now).
4 Key: (b) has never liked
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Third-person singular “Mark” takes “has”. The sentence describes a state that started in the past and continues now.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (d) is a Structural Error (wrong auxiliary “have”). (c) is a Meaning Trap (“ever liked” makes it a positive statement, contradicting “we should choose a different place”).
5 Key: (d) for
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “For” is used with a period/duration of time (five hours).
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (using “since” instead of “for”). (c) is a Structural Error (wrong preposition for perfect tenses). (b) is a Meaning Trap (“ago” is only used with Past Simple).
6 Key: (a) Has she ever been
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Been” is used to mean someone went to a place and came back (an experience).
- Distractor Analysis: (c) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (d) is a Structural Error (V1 instead of V3). (b) is a Meaning Trap (“gone” means she is still at the restaurant right now, which doesn’t fit asking about a past experience).
7 Key: (c) for a long time
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “A long time” is a duration, so it requires “for”.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (using “since”). (d) is a Structural Error (“times” should be singular here). (b) is a Meaning Trap (grammatically wrong tense after “since”, should be “were”).
8 Key: (d) tried / haven’t eaten
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: First action is a specific past time (“once in 2015” -> Past Simple). Second action spans from then until now (“since then” -> Present Perfect).
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (reversing the tenses). (c) is a Structural Error (wrong auxiliary “hasn’t” for “I”). (a) is a Meaning Trap (Present Simple “try” ignores the 2015 past context).
9 Key: (c) haven’t eaten
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Recently” is a key signal word for Present Perfect to describe actions happening near the present.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (d) is a Structural Error (using V2 “ate” instead of V3 “eaten”). (a) is a Meaning Trap (“have never eaten” means in my entire life, contradicting “recently”).
10 Key: (a) Have you tried
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Asking about an experience without stating exactly when it happened.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (c) is a Structural Error (V1 instead of V3). (d) is a Meaning Trap (Present Continuous asks what you are doing exactly right now).
11 Key: (c) since
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Since” can be followed by a Past Simple clause to show the starting point of the period.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (using “for” with a point in time). (b) is a Structural Error (“when” is generally not used as a preposition of time for Present Perfect). (d) is a Meaning Trap (“after” changes the grammatical structure needed here).
12 Key: (b) have ever had
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Present Perfect + “ever” is strictly used after superlative adjectives (the best, the worst).
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (d) is a Structural Error (missing V3). (c) is a Meaning Trap (“have never had” contradicts “This is the best”).
13 Key: (a) has been closed
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Describes a state that started at 8 PM and continues to the present.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) is a Common Mistake (learners often use Present Simple with “since”). (b) is a Structural Error (wrong auxiliary “have”). (d) is a Meaning Trap (“has closed” refers to the action of closing, but we want to emphasize the ongoing state).
14 Key: (c) for over ten years
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Over ten years” is a duration/amount of time, requiring “for”.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (using “since” with a duration). (a) is a Structural Error (missing the plural ‘s’ on “years”). (d) is a Meaning Trap (“is” should be “was” for a past starting point).
15 Key: (a) hasn’t cooked / went
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Main clause uses Present Perfect (hasn’t cooked). The clause after “since” uses Past Simple (went) to mark the starting point.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (reversing the required tenses). (d) is a Structural Error (missing V3 “cooked”). (c) is a Meaning Trap (using Present Perfect after “since” is grammatically invalid here).
16 Key: (d) have ever tasted
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Superlative (“the worst”) must be followed by Present Perfect + “ever”.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (a) is a Structural Error (V1 instead of V3). (c) is a Meaning Trap (“never” makes no logical sense with “That is…”).
17 Key: (a) have been
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Have been” means you visited a place and returned, which equals an experience.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple disconnects the past event from the present suggestion). (c) is a Structural Error (missing V3). (d) is a Meaning Trap (“have gone” means you are still at the bakery, which makes no sense if you are asking someone to go there now).
18 Key: (b) have never actually eaten
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Correct form to describe lacking an experience up to now.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (d) is a Structural Error (using V2 “ate” instead of V3 “eaten”). (a) is a Meaning Trap (“have ever eaten” in a positive sentence is grammatically awkward and doesn’t fit the context of “I’m not sure”).
19 Key: (a) since my trip to China
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “My trip to China” is a specific event/point in time in the past, so we use “since”.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) is a Common Mistake (“for” cannot be used with a specific point in time). (d) is a Structural Error (wrong preposition “of” China). (c) is a Meaning Trap (“during” means you didn’t eat them WHILE in China, which breaks the logic of craving them now).
20 Key: (c) haven’t had / for
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Negative Present Perfect (haven’t had) combined with “for” + duration (years).
- Distractor Analysis: (a) is a Common Mistake (Past Simple). (b) is a Structural Error (using “since” with a duration). (d) is a Meaning Trap (“haven’t got” is wrong in meaning; we need “have” as a main verb meaning “eat”).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Form: Present Perfect uses Have / Has + Past Participle (V3/ed).
- Use has for He/She/It. Use have for I/You/We/They.
- Asking about Experiences:
- Use Ever in questions to mean “at any time in your life” (Have you ever eaten sushi?).
- Use Never to mean “not at any time in your life” (I have never tried it).
- Use Ever after superlatives (This is the best food I have ever had).
- Been vs. Gone:
- Have been: Went to a place and came back (Experience).
- Have gone: Went to a place and is still there.
- For vs. Since:
- Use For + a period/duration of time (for 5 hours, for ten years, for a long time).
- Use Since + a specific starting point in the past (since 2015, since last month, since I moved here).