ESL Grammar: PRESENT PERFECT TENSE (3) – How Many Times?

In this ESL grammar lesson, students practicing using the present perfect tense to talk about how many times they have done something.

ESL Grammar: The Present Perfect Tense for Frequency

The present perfect tense is ideal for describing actions that have occurred multiple times up to the present moment. It highlights the number of times something has happened without specifying exact times.

Structure:

• Affirmative: Subject + have/has + past participle + (how many times)
  • Example: I have visited New York three times.
• Negative: Subject + have/has + not + past participle + (how many times)
  • Example: She has not gone to the beach this year.
• Interrogative: Have/has + subject + past participle + (how many times)?
  • Example: Have you ever been to a concert?

Common Phrases:

• “How many times”: Used to ask about the frequency of an action.
  • Example: How many times have you tried that dish?
• “Never”: To indicate that something has not happened at all.
  • Example: I have never seen that movie.
• “Ever”: Used in questions to ask about any time up to now.
  • Example: Have you ever eaten sushi?

The English grammar lesson below teaches students to talk about how many times they have done something using the present perfect tense, in a clear and simple manner that is easy for ESL learners to understand. Our series of ESL grammar lessons on subjects and verbs introduce these concepts and reinforce them through helpful and instructive exercises.

This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many more English grammar lessons focusing on advanced aspects of English grammar (past continuous tense, present perfect tense, present perfect continuous tense, passive voice, embedded questions, relative clauses) in our comprehensive, intermediate- to advanced-level ESL grammar textbook Great, Great Grammar! (Book 3: Tenses and More!).