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Present perfect: ever and never
A2 A2 grammar · lesson 7 of 25
The present perfect connects the past and the present. Here you learn to use it to talk about experiences in your life, without saying when they happened.
Form
have / has + past participle. Regular verbs add -ed (like the past simple): work → worked. Irregular verbs have their own form, so learn them in groups.
| Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|
| I / you / we / they have (‘ve) visited Rome. | I haven’t visited Rome. | Have you visited Rome? |
| he / she / it has (‘s) visited Rome. | She hasn’t visited Rome. | Has she visited Rome? |
Common irregular past participles: be → been, see → seen, eat → eaten, go → gone/been, do → done, write → written, meet → met, ride → ridden, fly → flown.
Ever and never
Use the present perfect for experiences at any time in your life up to now. We do not say when. Ever (= at any time) is used in questions. Never (= not at any time) makes the sentence negative.
Have you ever been to London?
I‘ve never eaten sushi.
Maria has visited Japan three times.
Has Ken ever ridden a horse? No, he hasn’t.
We‘ve never seen snow.
Sam has met a lot of interesting people.
Present perfect or past simple?
When you say when it happened, use the past simple. Often we ask with the present perfect and then give details in the past simple.
‘Have you ever been to Italy?’ ‘Yes, I went there last year.’
I‘ve seen this film. I saw it in 2024.
Common mistakes
✗ I have never went to Canada.
✓ I have never been to Canada.
✗ Have you ever see a whale?
✓ Have you ever seen a whale?
✗ I have visited Rome in 2023.
✓ I visited Rome in 2023.
✗ She have never flown.
✓ She has never flown.