Study this example conversation.
Tom: Have you traveled a lot, Ann?
Ann: I have been to 41 different countries.
Tom: Really? Have you ever been to Indonesia?
Ann: Yes, I have visited Indonesia twice.
Tom: What about Malaysia?
Ann: No, I have never been to Malaysia.
We use the present perfect tense when we talk about a period of time that continues up to the present. Tom and Ann are talking about the places Ann has visited in her life (which is a period continuing up to the present). Here are some more examples:
- A: "Have you read Hamlet?" B: "No, I haven't read any of Shakespeare's play."
- How many times have you been to England?
- Julia really loves that movie. She's seen it six times.
- Martin has lived in England all his life. (= or Martin has always lived in England)
We often use "ever" and "never" with the present perfect tense:
Have you ever eaten caviar?
Have you ever had a car?
We often use the present perfect tense after a "superlative":
What a boring movie! It's the most boring movie I have ever seen.
You have to use the present perfect tense with "This is the first time ...; It's the first time ...; etc." Study this example situation:
- Kevin is driving a car. He is very nervous and very unsure because it's his first time behind the wheel of a car. You can say: This is the first time he has driven a car. (not ... drives ...); or he has never driven a car before.
Here are some more examples:
- George has lost her passport again. It's the second time he has lost it.
- Is this the first time you have been in the hospital?
Use the present perfect tense to say that you have never done something or that you haven't done something during a period of time that continues up to the present:
- We have never smoked.
- They haven't smoked for two years.
- He hasn't smoked since November.
- Susan hasn't sent me an email nearly a month.
- Arthur has never driven a bus.