We use these questions to ask about experiences. We are asking about things that a person or people did in the past. We can use it to talk about life experiences or recent experiences.
- What good movies have you seen recently? (Recent experience)
- What musicals have you seen? (Life experience)
However, we cannot use a specific time with these questions (and all present perfect sentences and questions). If we want to include a specific time, then we should use the past tense.
- What countries did you visit?
- What countries did you visit last year?
- What countries have you visited?
What countries have you visited last year?
Question Word + have/has + subject + past participle…?
- What have you done today?
- Where has she gone?
- Why have you done that?
- How have you learned English so well?
The most common sentence patterns that we use are the following.
What + noun + have/has + subject + past participle…?
- What countries have you visited?
- What Korean food have you tried?
- What oceans have you seen?
- What Brad Pitt movies have you seen?
- What kind of juice have you never tried?
Which + noun + have/has + subject + past participle …?
We usually use “which” to give choices, but sometimes it is used the same way as “what + noun”.
- Which of these restaurants have you not tried?
- Which of these movies have you seen?
- Which countries have you been to?
- Which food have you tried at this place?
Bonus Tips and Points
1. When we use “never” we are always talking about life experiences. Use “have not” for recent experiences or life experiences.
- What countries have you never visited?
- What countries have you not visited so far on your trip?
- What countries have you not visited before?
Remember that we do not usually use “never” in yes/no questions. For yes/no questions, we should use “ever”.
Have you never been to China?- Have you ever been to Europe?
- Has he ever tried raw fish?
Note: I say that we do not usually use “never” for these questions because sometimes people will use “never” in this way when they are speaking. It is not grammatically correct, but they people still use it. They usually say it when they are surprised like, “Have you never tried this ice cream?”.
Real-World English Conversations
A) What countries have you visited?
B) I have been to China, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, and Kenya.
A) What flavors have you not tried?
B) I haven’t tried only the caramel flavor.
A) What musicals have you seen?
B) I have only seen one musical. I saw the Lion King in 2009.
A) What countries have you visited so far on your trip?
B) I have visited Mexico and Honduras.
A) Where will you go next?
B) I will visit Ecuador. I’ve never been there before, so I am excited to go.
A) What food have you never tried but want to try?
B) I’ve never had kimchi, but I want to try it.
A) What extreme sports have you tried?
B) I tried snowboarding once, but I didn’t like it. I won’t do extreme sports ever again.
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
