Learn the conjugations for the verb "to have." The conjugation for "to have" is either "has" or "have": I have, you have, they have, she has, he has and it has.
Learn how to form the past participle of regular English verbs. The past participle for regular English verbs is formed by taking the base of the verb and adding "-ed." For example, the past participle for the verb "to play" is "played" and the past participle for the verb "to start" is "started."
Memorize the past-participle for irregular verbs. For non-native speakers, this is the most difficult part of the present perfect tense -- there is no rule; you must memorize the irregular past participles (see Resources). Some examples of irregular past participles are: "to go" -- gone; "to see" -- seen; "to fly" -- flown.
Form the present-perfect tense by combining the auxiliary verb with the past participle. For example, if you want to state that you played the piano recently, you would use the present-perfect tense and state: "I have played the piano." Similarly, you could indicate that your friend flew by plane to see you, and she is still visiting as you speak, by stating: "My friend has flown from Germany to visit." In both examples, combining "to have" with a participle (have played/has flown) forms the present-perfect tense.
Use the present-perfect tense in the proper context. The present-perfect tense should be used to indicate that an event has occurred in the recent past and it is completed, or that an event has occurred in the past but is continuing presently. "The concert has started" must be said after it begins, but before it ends. Similarly, the sentence, "We haven't gone to Egypt lately" indicates recent past activity (as the use of the word "lately" suggests).
Use the present-perfect tense when you use certain signal words. Words such as "yet," "never," "already," or "since" can be used with the present-perfect tense. Memorize the signal words so that you know to use the present-perfect tense. For example: "You have never seen snow." or "They have already gone to Quebec."