Le Present Perfect en anglais | 4ème

What is the Present Perfect?

Le Present Perfect est un temps qui fait le lien entre le passé et le présent. Il exprime une action passée qui a un rapport avec le moment présent.

Present Perfect

Temps verbal qui relie une action ou un état passé au moment présent. Il insiste sur le résultat ou la conséquence d'une action, pas sur le moment où elle s'est produite.

Formation du Present Perfect

Sujet + HAVE/HAS + participe passé (past participle)

Forme affirmative

Pronom	Auxiliaire	Participe passé
I / You / We / They	have	visited
He / She / It	has	visited

EXEMPLE

I have finished my homework.
She has visited London.
They have eaten breakfast.

Contractions

I have → I**'ve**
You have → You**'ve**
He has → He**'s**
She has → She**'s**

EXEMPLE

I**'ve** seen that movie.
He**'s** already left.

Forme négative

Sujet + HAVE/HAS + NOT + participe passé

have not → haven't
has not → hasn't

EXEMPLE

I haven't finished yet.
She hasn't called me back.

Forme interrogative

HAVE/HAS + sujet + participe passé ?

EXEMPLE

Have you seen my keys?
Has she arrived yet?

Le participe passé (Past Participle)

Verbes réguliers

Pour les verbes réguliers, le participe passé = base verbale + -ED

Base	Past participle
work	worked
play	played
visit	visited
watch	watched

Verbes irréguliers

⚠️

Les verbes irréguliers ont un participe passé spécial qu'il faut apprendre par cœur !

Base	Prétérit	Participe passé
be	was/were	been
have	had	had
do	did	done
go	went	gone
see	saw	seen
eat	ate	eaten
take	took	taken
write	wrote	written
speak	spoke	spoken
give	gave	given
know	knew	known
come	came	come
make	made	made
buy	bought	bought
find	found	found

Quand utiliser le Present Perfect ?

1. Expérience de vie (sans date précise)

On parle d'une expérience vécue dans sa vie, sans dire quand.

EXEMPLE

I have visited Paris. (J'ai visité Paris - dans ma vie)
She has never eaten sushi. (Elle n'a jamais mangé de sushi)
Have you ever been to Japan? (Es-tu déjà allé au Japon ?)

Mots clés : ever (déjà), never (jamais), before (avant)

2. Action récente avec résultat présent

L'action est terminée mais son résultat est visible maintenant.

EXEMPLE

I have broken my phone. (= mon téléphone est cassé maintenant)
She has lost her keys. (= elle n'a pas ses clés maintenant)
He has just arrived. (= il est là maintenant)

Mots clés : just (vient de), already (déjà), yet (déjà/encore)

3. Action qui continue dans le présent

Une action commencée dans le passé et qui continue.

EXEMPLE

I have lived in Paris for 5 years. (= j'y vis toujours)
She has known him since 2015. (= elle le connaît toujours)

Mots clés : for (depuis + durée), since (depuis + date/moment)

FOR vs SINCE

FOR + durée : for 3 days, for 2 hours, for a long time
SINCE + point de départ : since Monday, since 2020, since I was 10

Present Perfect vs Prétérit

⚠️

Present Perfect : lien avec le présent, pas de date précise
Prétérit : action terminée, souvent avec une date/moment précis

Present Perfect	Prétérit
I have seen that film.	I saw that film yesterday.
She has visited London.	She visited London in 2019.
Have you ever been to Spain?	Did you go to Spain last summer?

EXEMPLE

Comparaison :

❌ I have seen him yesterday. (FAUX - date précise = prétérit) ✓ I saw him yesterday.

✓ I have seen him. (OK - pas de date) ✓ Have you ever seen a ghost? (OK - expérience de vie)

Les mots clés du Present Perfect

Mot	Signification	Exemple
ever	déjà (questions)	Have you ever been to London?
never	jamais	I have never seen snow.
just	vient de	She has just arrived.
already	déjà	I have already finished.
yet	encore (négatif) / déjà (questions)	I haven't done it yet.
for	depuis (durée)	I've lived here for 3 years.
since	depuis (date)	I've known her since 2015.

Practice

Complete with the Present Perfect:
- She _______ (visit) New York three times.
- I _______ (never/eat) Indian food.
- _______ you _______ (finish) your homework yet?
Choose Present Perfect or Prétérit:
- I (have seen / saw) this movie last week.
- She (has worked / worked) here since 2018.
- They (have gone / went) to Spain in July.
Complete with FOR or SINCE:
- I've known him _______ 10 years.
- She's been here _______ 9 o'clock.

Points clés à retenir

Present Perfect = HAVE/HAS + participe passé
Utilisation : expérience, résultat présent, action qui continue
Pas de date précise avec le Present Perfect
FOR + durée / SINCE + point de départ
Verbes irréguliers : apprendre la 3ème colonne par cœur
Yet, already, just, ever, never = indices du Present Perfect