Listen to the Lesson
We use this sentence pattern to talk about things that we did in the past. We use it a lot to talk about experiences.
- I have eaten raw fish.
- I have tried snowboarding two times.
We cannot use a specific time with this sentence pattern (present perfect tense).
- I saw the movie. (okay)
- I saw the movie yesterday. (okay)
- I have seen the movie. (okay)
I have seen the movie yesterday.
Subject + have/has + past participle…
- I have tried kimchi.
- I have studied abroad in Australia.
- Mark has tried skydiving.
- They have climbed Mt. Fuji.
- She has visited every country in Europe.
With this sentence pattern (present perfect tense), we often use the verb “to be” (been) instead of “to go” (gone).
- I have been to China.
- She has been to Brazil.
- We have been to this restaurant.
- He has been to New York City.
We cannot tell a specific time with this pattern, but we can tell how many times we have done something in a particular period of time.
- I have been to England 3 times in my life.
- I have seen that movie many times.
- She has been here a few times.
- He has eaten sushi once.
- Greg has been to my house a few times.
- They have been snowboarding many times.
- We have been here twice in the last year.
- They have gone fishing 3 times this year.
Bonus Tips and Points
1. This sentence pattern commonly uses the words: recently, before, already.
- I have recently been to Japan.
- I have been to Japan recently.
- I have been to Russia before.
- I have already finished my work.
2. Don’t forget about contractions. Remember contractions are more common when speaking.
- I’ve been to this place many times.
- He’s been to Finland a couple of times.
- They’ve been here before.
Real-World English Conversations
A) Have you ever been to Germany?
B) Yes, I have been there. It was lovely.
A) I want to try bungee jumping.
B) Mark has tried bungee jumping a few times. He says it is fun, but a little scary.
A) I have been to this restaurant before. The service is terrible.
B) Let’s go somewhere else then.
A) Does Sally know Tim?
B) I think she has met him before, but I will ask her.
A) Have you finished your project yet?
B) No. I haven’t finished it yet. Hopefully, I will finish before the weekend.
A) I haven’t tried the new restaurant in the neighborhood. Have you?
B) Do you mean the new Mexican restaurant?
A) Yes.
B) I’ve been there a few times. It is pretty good.
A) I haven’t seen you for a while. What have you been up to?
B) I have been working hard these days. So, I haven’t had much time to hang out with my friends.
A) Let’s get dinner together one night when you are not busy.
B) Sounds good. I think I’ll have some time next week. I will call you.
Use these free English lessons to learn the most common sentence patterns in the English language. If you learn these sentence and questions well, it will help you speak English well. Study the lessons thoroughly, practice making your own sentences, and come back to review often. If you do these three steps, your English speaking will improve quickly and you will be able to have natural English conversations.
English Sentence Patterns for Speaking Index
