Which sentence illustrates the present perfect tense?

• A. The cat has gone home.
• B. The cat goes home.
• C. The cat went home.
• D. The cat will go home.

Answer: (A)

The present perfect tense connects a past action to the present, using has or have plus the past participle of the verb. The sentence The cat has gone home uses has plus the past participle gone, showing an action that happened before now with relevance to the present—the cat is at home now or has completed the act of going home. The other sentences don’t fit: The cat goes home is present simple, describing a habit or general truth; The cat went home is simple past, a completed action at a definite past time; The cat will go home expresses a future action.