Present Perfect — Negative

When do we use it?

Saying you have never done something,

explaining something that has not happened yet,

and correcting a wrong assumption.

I have never eaten insects — not even once.

She has not finished her report yet.

We have not met before, I think.

How can we apply it?

Present Perfect Negative is built from 4 elements:

Subject + have / has + not + Past Participle (V3)

Use have not (haven't) with I / You / We / They — use has not (hasn't) with He / She / It.

⚠️ Same rule as Positive: always use V3 after have/has — never V2.

Examples

With I / You / We / They — use have not / haven't:

I / You / We / They + haven't + V3 — I haven't tried sushi. They haven't arrived yet.

With He / She / It — use has not / hasn't:

He / She / It + hasn't + V3 — He hasn't called. She hasn't finished yet.

Real-life sentences:

• I haven't read that book yet.

• My brother hasn't woken up yet.

• We haven't spoken in years.

• She has never won a competition.

• It hasn't rained this week at all.

• He hasn't replied to my message.

Signal words to watch for

These words are clues that Present Perfect Negative is the right tense:

not yet, never, so far, up to now, still not

I haven't finished yet. / She has never been to Europe. / We still haven't heard back.

⚠️ yet goes at the end of the sentence — not in the middle.

❌ I haven't yet finished my homework. ✅ I haven't finished my homework yet.

Common Mistakes

Using never + not together

❌ I have never not eaten rice. ✅ I have never eaten rice.

Never already means "not at any time" — adding not creates a double negative.

Forgetting yet at the end

❌ I haven't yet called him. ✅ I haven't called him yet.

Using V2 instead of V3

❌ She hasn't went home. ✅ She hasn't gone home.

Practice