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present perfect

American  
[prez-uhnt pur-fikt] / ˈprɛz ənt ˈpɜr fɪkt /

noun

  1. a verb construction, in English made up of the present tense of the auxiliary verb have followed by the past participle of the main verb, used to express an action or state that is complete at the time of speaking or writing and that is thought of with regard to its current relevance or effect, such as I have finished the book now, so you can have it and She has been with me through thick and thin.

adjective

  1. designating a verb construction used to express an action or state that is complete at the time of speaking or writing and that is thought of with regard to its current relevance or effect.

present perfect British  

adjective

  1. grammar another term for perfect perfect

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of present perfect

First recorded in 1570–80

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If you are writing for a course in history, art history, philosophy, religion, or a related discipline in the humanities, you generally will use the present tense or the present perfect tense in signal phrases.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Lately I’ve been doing a deep dive into the origins of English grammar, specifically the difference between past participle and present perfect.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2020

Ziering: What we’ve seen and learned in studying this issue is that certain environments present perfect storm conditions.

From Salon • Nov. 22, 2015

On April 1 another story on the same experiment showed up in Neave’s local newspaper, phrased in the present perfect tense, as if the work had recently been carried out.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2015

The present perfect tense is formed by prefixing have to the past participle.

From Graded Lessons in English An Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room by Reed, Alonzo

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.