English present perfect & present perfect continuous

English present perfect & present perfect continuous

Introduction/ review

Dear students,
We will be revisiting the present perfect tense to make sure that you are all ready for the upcoming grammar tests, and also as an introduction to the next tense: The present perfect continuous.
Please watch this video about the present perfect before next class:

Use of present perfect

When should we use the present perfect?

Unfinished Actions
1: We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that
started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' and we
need 'since' or 'for'. We often use stative verbs.
-I've known Karen since 1994.
-She's lived in London for three years.
-I’ve worked here for six months.
'Since' and 'For'
We use 'since' with a fixed time in the past (2004, April 23rd, last year). The fixed time
can be another action, which is in the past simple (since I was at school, since I arrived).
-I've known Sam since 1992.
-I've liked chocolate since I was a child.
-She's been here since 2pm.
We use 'for' with a period of time (2 hours, three years, six months).
-I've known Julie for ten years.
-I've been hungry for hours.
-She's had a cold for a week.

Finished Actions
2: Life experience. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person’s
life. We don't say when the experience happened, and the person needs to be alive now.
We often use the words ‘ever’ and ‘never’ here.
-I have been to Tokyo.

-They have visited Paris three times.

-We have never seen that film.



3: With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today). The period of time is still
continuing.
-I haven't seen her this month.
-She's drunk three cups of coffee today.
-I’ve already moved house twice this year!
We CAN’T use the present perfect with a finished time word.

-I’ve seen him yesterday.



4: A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result). We often use the present
perfect to talk about something that happened in the recent past, but that is still true or
important now. Sometimes we can use the past simple here, especially in US English.
-I've lost my keys (so I can't get into my house).
-She's hurt her leg (so she can't play tennis today).
-They've missed the bus (so they will be late).



5: We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently, even
if there isn’t a clear result in the present. This is common when we want to introduce news
and we often use the words ‘just / yet / already / recently’. However, the past simple is also
correct in these cases, especially in US English.
-The Queen has given a speech.
-I’ve just seen Lucy.
-The Mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.

Been and Gone
In this tense, we use both 'been' and 'gone' as the past participle of 'go', but in slightly
different circumstances.
We use 'been' (often when we talk about life experience) to mean that the person we’re
talking about visited the place and came back.
-I've been to Paris (in my life, but now I'm in London, where I live).
-She has been to school today (but now she's back at home).
-They have never been to California.
We use 'gone' (often when we are talking about an action with a result in the present) to
mean that the person went to the place and is at the place now.
-'Where's John?' 'He's gone to the shops' (he's at the shops now).
-Julie has gone to Mexico (now she's in Mexico).
-They've gone to Japan for three weeks (now they're inJapan).

To make the present perfect tense, use:

 

 

have / has + the past participle

Make the past participle by adding (for example, 'play' becomes 'played')

There are a few verbs that change their spelling when you add 'ed' (for example, 'study' becomes 'studied')

We also have some completely irregular verbs

List of irregular verbs
List of irregular verbs

The present perfect continuous

Please watch the video about the present perfect continuous

Uitleg van de present perfect continuous

When we should use the present perfect continuous

Unfinished Actions

1: To say how long for unfinished actions which started in the past and continue to the
present. We often use this with ‘for’ and ‘since’.
-I've been living in London for two years.
-She's been working here since 2004.

-We've been waiting for the bus for hours.



This use is very similar to how we use the present perfect simple, and often it’s possible to
use either tense. Of course, with stative verbs, we can’t use the present perfect continuous.
-I’ve been here for hours.
-NOT: I’ve been being here for hours.



2: For temporary habits or situations. The action started in the past and continues to the
present in the same way as with use number 1, but we don’t answer the questions about ‘how
long’ so clearly. Instead, we use a word like ‘recently’.
-I’ve been going to the gym a lot recently.
-They’ve been living with his mother while they look for a house.
-I’ve been reading a lot recently.
This is very similar to the use of the present continuous for temporary habits and often either

tense is possible.



Finished actions
3: Actions which have recently stopped (though the whole action can be unfinished) and have
a result, which we can often see, hear, or feel, in the present. We don’t use a time word here.

-I'm so tired, I've been studying.

-I've been running, so I'm really hot.

-It's been raining so the pavement is wet.



The present perfect simple has a very similar use, which focuses on the result of the action,
whereas the present perfect continuous focuses on the action itself

To make the present perfect continuous tense:

 

Preseent perfect of 'be'+ verb -ing

Let's see what you've remembered

Let's practice

Om verder te oefenen met de present perfect en present perfect continuous kan je de volgende links gebruiken:

Present perfect oefeningen

Present perfect continuous oefeningen

Present perfect + present perfect continuous oefeningen

Test je kennis

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