Present Perfect Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A2
You cannot find your keys and you are asking your family for help. Read the sentences carefully and choose the best option (a, b, c, or d) to complete each situation.
1 “I can’t find my keys anywhere. ______ them?”
(a) Did you see
(b) Have you seen
(c) You have seen
(d) Do you see
2 “Oh no, I can’t leave the house. I think I ______ my car keys.”
(a) lost
(b) have lost
(c) have lose
(d) am losing
3 “I know they are in the living room. ______ under the sofa yet?”
(a) Are you looking
(b) Did you look
(c) Have you look
(d) Have you looked
4 “My sister is helping me. She ______ everywhere in the kitchen, but nothing is there.”
(a) searched
(b) have searched
(c) has searched
(d) searches
5 “I don’t have my keys. I haven’t seen them ______ this morning.”
(a) for
(b) since
(c) from
(d) in
6 “We ______ for the keys for 20 minutes, but we still can’t find them.”
(a) have looked
(b) looked
(c) have look
(d) look
7 “Has Dad come home ______? Maybe he took my keys by mistake.”
(a) already
(b) just
(c) yet
(d) still
8 “I am so stressed. I haven’t had my keys ______ yesterday afternoon.”
(a) since
(b) for
(c) when
(d) ago
9 “Mom ______ my bedroom, but the keys are not on the desk.”
(a) already checked
(b) have already checked
(c) has yet checked
(d) has already checked
10 “______ my blue jacket? I think my keys are in the pocket.”
(a) Did anyone see
(b) Has anyone seen
(c) Have anyone seen
(d) Does anyone see
11 “I can’t open the door. I think I ______ my keys inside the house!”
(a) left
(b) have leaved
(c) have left
(d) have forgotten
12 “I am still looking in the hallway. I haven’t found the keys ______.”
(a) yet
(b) already
(c) still
(d) just
13 “We have been in the living room ______ an hour, looking everywhere.”
(a) since
(b) for
(c) in
(d) during
14 “I ______ the car, and they are not on the seats. Where could they be?”
(a) just checked
(b) have just check
(c) have checked just
(d) have just checked
15 “I don’t know where my keys are. I haven’t ______ them since I came home.”
(a) didn’t see
(b) hasn’t seen
(c) seen
(d) never seen
16 “Tom can’t help us look for the keys. He ______ to the supermarket.”
(a) has gone
(b) went
(c) have gone
(d) has been
17 “This is the worst morning I ______! First I woke up late, and now I can’t find my keys.”
(a) ever had
(b) have ever have
(c) have never had
(d) have ever had
18 “I ______ any of my keys ______ I got back from the store. Can you help me look?”
(a) searched / for
(b) haven’t found / since
(c) have searched / since
(d) didn’t find / since
19 “I ______ all my bags, but the keys are still missing.”
(a) already emptied
(b) have already empty
(c) have already emptied
(d) haven’t emptied
20 “Don’t cry. I am sure you ______ them. They must be here in the house somewhere.”
(a) haven’t lost
(b) didn’t lose
(c) hasn’t lost
(d) don’t lose
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) Have you seen
Why it’s correct: You are asking about an action from the past that affects the present moment (you need the keys now).
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: “Did you see” focuses only on the past and doesn’t connect to the present problem.
- (c) Structural Error: Statement word order instead of question.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “Do you see” asks if they are looking at the keys exactly right now.
2 (b) have lost
Why it’s correct: The action of losing the keys happened in the past, but the result (you don’t have them) is true right now.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple ignores the present consequence.
- (c) Structural Error: Missing V3 (lost).
- (d) Meaning Trap: Present Continuous implies the action is happening right this second.
3 (d) Have you looked
Why it’s correct: Asking about a completed checklist item in the search process using “yet”.
Distractor Analysis:
- (b) Common Mistake: Past Simple with “yet” is incorrect.
- (c) Structural Error: Missing the ‘ed’ (V3 form).
- (a) Meaning Trap: Present Continuous asks what you are doing right now, not what you have completed.
4 (c) has searched
Why it’s correct: “She” takes “has”. The search is finished, and the present result is that nothing was found.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (b) Structural Error: “have” is plural, wrong for “She”.
- (d) Meaning Trap: Present Simple means she does it as a daily habit.
5 (b) since
Why it’s correct: “This morning” is a specific starting point in time.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: “for” is used for durations, not starting points.
- (c) Structural Error: “from” is not used as a Present Perfect time marker here.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “in” is used for Past Simple (e.g., “in the morning”).
6 (a) have looked
Why it’s correct: The action started in the past and continues up to the present moment (“for 20 minutes”).
Distractor Analysis:
- (b) Common Mistake: Past Simple implies the looking is completely finished and unrelated to the present.
- (c) Structural Error: Missing ‘ed’ (V3 form).
- (d) Meaning Trap: Present Simple is for routines.
7 (c) yet
Why it’s correct: “Yet” is used in questions to ask if an expected event (Dad coming home) has happened up to now.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: “already” is for positive sentences.
- (b) Structural Error: “just” belongs between the auxiliary and main verb, not at the end.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “still” is used before the negative auxiliary, not at the end of a question.
8 (a) since
Why it’s correct: “Yesterday afternoon” is a specific starting point in the past.
Distractor Analysis:
- (b) Common Mistake: “for” is for durations.
- (c) Structural Error: “when” is not a preposition of time for Present Perfect.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “ago” is strictly for Past Simple.
9 (d) has already checked
Why it’s correct: “Mom” takes “has”. “Already” is placed correctly to show the action is completed.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple with “already”.
- (b) Structural Error: “have” is wrong for “Mom”.
- (c) Meaning Trap: “yet” cannot be used in a positive sentence like this.
10 (b) Has anyone seen
Why it’s correct: “Anyone” is a singular pronoun and takes “has”. Asking about an experience up to now.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (c) Structural Error: “Have” is wrong for “anyone”.
- (d) Meaning Trap: Asks if they are physically seeing it right now.
11 (c) have left
Why it’s correct: We use “leave” when we mention the place we accidentally put something (“inside the house”). V3 of leave is “left”.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (b) Structural Error: “leaved” is not a word.
- (d) Meaning Trap: You can say “I have forgotten my keys”, but if you mention the place, you must use “leave”.
12 (a) yet
Why it’s correct: Goes at the end of a negative sentence to show the search is still unsuccessful up to now.
Distractor Analysis:
- (b) Common Mistake: “already” is used in positive sentences.
- (c) Structural Error: “still” goes before “haven’t”.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “just” cannot be used at the end like this.
13 (b) for
Why it’s correct: “An hour” is a duration (length of time), requiring “for”.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: “since” is for starting points.
- (c) Structural Error: “in” is incorrect for Present Perfect duration.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “during” must be followed by an event (like “during the movie”).
14 (d) have just checked
Why it’s correct: “Just” goes between “have” and V3 to show the action happened a few seconds/minutes ago.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (b) Structural Error: Missing ‘ed’ (V3 form).
- (c) Meaning Trap: Wrong word order.
15 (c) seen
Why it’s correct: Completes the negative Present Perfect structure (haven’t + V3).
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Mixing Past Simple (“didn’t”) into a Present Perfect sentence.
- (b) Structural Error: “hasn’t” is wrong for “I”.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “never” means in your whole life, which doesn’t fit the context of coming home today.
16 (a) has gone
Why it’s correct: “Has gone” means he went to the supermarket and is still there (which is why he can’t help you look).
Distractor Analysis:
- (b) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (c) Structural Error: “have” is wrong for “He”.
- (d) Meaning Trap: “has been” means he went and came back, so he would be able to help you.
17 (d) have ever had
Why it’s correct: Use Present Perfect + “ever” after a superlative adjective (“the worst morning”).
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (b) Structural Error: Using V1 instead of V3
- (c) Meaning Trap: “never” logically contradicts the sentence.
18 (b) haven’t found / since
Why it’s correct: Negative Present Perfect showing a state up to now. “I got back” is a Past Simple clause acting as a starting point, requiring “since”.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple + “for” is wrong here.
- (c) Structural Error: Structurally okay, but “I have searched any of my keys” is grammatically wrong (you search for keys).
- (d) Common Mistake: Past Simple with “since”.
19 (c) have already emptied
Why it’s correct: “Already” shows the action is done, with the present result that the bags are empty but the keys are still missing.
Distractor Analysis:
- (a) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (b) Structural Error: Missing ‘ed’ (V3 form).
- (d) Meaning Trap: If you “haven’t emptied” them, you wouldn’t know the keys are missing from them.
20 (a) haven’t lost
Why it’s correct: Negative Present Perfect. Assures that the past action of losing them permanently has not happened.
Distractor Analysis:
- (b) Common Mistake: Past Simple.
- (c) Structural Error: “hasn’t” is wrong for “you”.
- (d) Meaning Trap: Present Simple implies it’s a routine.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Form: Present Perfect uses Have / Has + Past Participle (V3/ed).
- Example: I have lost my keys. (Action in the past, result is I don’t have them now).
- Lost vs. Looked vs. Found:
- Use this tense for the whole process of losing and finding things because the result is what matters now.
- I have lost them. -> I have looked everywhere. -> I haven’t found them yet.
- Important Signal Words for Searching:
- Already: The search in a specific place is complete (I have already checked the car).
- Yet: The search is incomplete (I haven’t found them yet).
- Just: The search finished seconds ago (I have just looked under the sofa).
- For vs. Since:
- Use For with a duration of time (for 20 minutes, for an hour).
- Use Since with a specific starting point in the past (since this morning, since yesterday, since I came home).
- Leave vs. Forget:
- If you say where the item is, you must use leave (V3: left).
- Correct: I have left my keys in the car.
- Incorrect: I have forgotten my keys in the car.