10 Present perfect continuous and simple (I have been doing and I have done) Study this example situation: I ve been painting my bedroom. I ve painted my bedroom. There is paint on Kate s clothes. She has been painting her bedroom. Has been painting is the present perfect continuous. We are thinking of the activity. It does not matter whether it has been finished or not. In this example, the activity (painting the bedroom) has not been finished. Her bedroom was green. Now it is yellow. She has painted her bedroom. Has painted is the present perfect simple. Here, the important thing is that something has been finished. Has painted is a completed action. We are interested in the result of the activity (the painted bedroom), not the activity itself. Compare these examples: My hands are very dirty. I ve been repairing my bike. Joe has been eating too much recently. He should eat less. It s nice to see you again. What have you been doing since we last met? Where have you been? Have you been playing tennis? My bike is OK again now. I ve repaired it. Somebody has eaten all the chocolates. The box is empty. Where s the book I gave you? What have you done with it? Have you ever played tennis? C We use the continuous to say how long (for something that is still happening): How long have you been reading that book? Lisa is writing emails. She s been writing emails all morning. They ve been playing tennis since 2 o clock. I m learning rabic, but I haven t been learning it very long. We use the simple to say how much, how many or how many times: How much of that book have you read? Lisa is writing emails. She s sent lots of emails this morning. They ve played tennis three times this week. I m learning rabic, but I haven t learnt very much yet. D Some verbs (for example, know/like/believe) are not normally used in the continuous: I ve known about the problem for a long time. (not I ve been knowing) How long have you had that camera? (not have you been having) For a list of these verbs, see 4. For have, see 17. ut note that you can use want and mean in the present perfect continuous: I ve been meaning to phone Jane, but I keep forgetting. 20 Present perfect simple s 7 8 Present perfect continuous 9 Present perfect + for/since s 11 12
Exercises 10.1 Read the situation and complete the sentences. Use the verbs in brackets. 1 Tom started reading a book two hours ago. He is still reading it and now he is on page 53. He has been reading for two hours. (read) He has read 53 pages so far. (read) 2 Rachel is from ustralia. She is travelling round Europe at the moment. She began her trip three months ago. She for three months. (travel) six countries so far. (visit) 3 Patrick is a tennis player. He began playing tennis when he was ten years old. This year he won the national championship again for the fourth time. the national championship four times. (win) since he was ten. (play) 4 When they left college, Lisa and Sue started making films together. They still make films. They films since they left college. (make) five films since they left college. (make) 10 10.2 For each situation, ask a question using the words in brackets. 1 You have a friend who is learning rabic. You ask: (how long / learn / rabic?) How long have you been learning rabic? 2 You have just arrived to meet a friend. She is waiting for you. You ask: (wait / long?) Have 3 You see somebody fishing by the river. You ask: (catch / any fish?) 4 Some friends of yours are having a party next week. You ask: (how many people / invite?) 5 friend of yours is a teacher. You ask: (how long / teach?) 6 You meet somebody who is a writer. You ask: (how many books / write?) (how long / write / books?) 7 friend of yours is saving money to go on a world trip. You ask: (how long / save?) (how much money / save?) 10.3 Put the verb into the more suitable form, present perfect simple (I have done) or continuous (I have been doing). 1 Where have you been? Have you been playing (you / play) tennis? 2 Look! (somebody / break) that window. 3 You look tired. (you / work) hard? 4 (you / ever / work) in a factory? No, never. 5 Liz is away on holiday. Is she? Where (she / go)? 6 My brother is an actor. (he / appear) in several films. 7 Sorry I m late. That s all right. (I / not / wait) long. 8 Is it still raining? No, (it / stop). 9 (I / lose) my phone. (you / see) it anywhere? 10 (I / read) the book you lent me, but (I / not / finish) it yet. It s very interesting. 11 (I / read) the book you lent me, so you can have it back now. 12 This is a very old book. (I / have) it since I was a child. 21
11 How long have you (been)? Study this example situation: 20th Wedding nniversary Dan and Jenny are married. They got married exactly 20 years ago, so today is their 20th wedding anniversary. They have been married for 20 years. We say: They are married. (present) but How long have they been married? (present perfect) (not How long are they married?) They have been married for 20 years. (not They are married for 20 years) We use the present perfect to talk about something that began in the past and still continues now. Compare the present and the present perfect: Paul is in hospital. present but He s been in hospital since Monday. (= He has been...) he is (not Paul is in hospital since Monday) do you know she is waiting Do you know each other well? but but but Have you known each other for a long time? (not Do you know) She s waiting for somebody. She s been waiting all morning. Do they have a car? How long have they had their car? present perfect he has been have you known she has been waiting past now C D I have known/had/lived etc. is the present perfect simple. I have been learning / been waiting / been doing etc. is the present perfect continuous. When we ask or say how long, the continuous is more usual (see 10): I ve been learning English for six months. It s been raining since lunchtime. Richard has been doing the same job for 20 years. How long have you been driving? Since I was 17. Some verbs (for example, know/like/believe) are not normally used in the continuous: How long have you known Jane? (not have you been knowing) I ve had a pain in my stomach all day. (not I ve been having) See also s 4 and 10C. For have, see 17. You can use either the present perfect continuous or simple with live and work: Julia has been living / has lived here for a long time. How long have you been working / have you worked here? ut use the simple (I ve lived / I ve done etc.) with always: I ve always lived in the country. (not always been living) We say I haven t done something since/for (present perfect simple): I haven t seen Tom since Monday. (= Monday was the last time I saw him) Sarah hasn t phoned for ages. (= the last time she phoned was ages ago) 22 I haven t since/for 8 Present perfect continuous s 9 10 For and since 12
Exercises 11 11.1 re the underlined verbs right or wrong? Correct them where necessary. 1 en is a friend of mine. I know him very well. OK 2 en is a friend of mine. I know him for a long time. I ve known him 3 Sarah and dam are married since July. 4 The weather is awful. It s raining again. 5 The weather is awful. It s raining all day. 6 I like your house. How long are you living there? 7 Gary is working in a shop for the last few months. 8 I don t know Tom well. We ve only met a few times. 9 I gave up drinking coffee. I don t drink it for a year. 10 That s a very old bike. How long do you have it? 11.2 Read the situations and write questions from the words in brackets. 1 friend tells you that Paul is in hospital. You ask him: (how long / be / in hospital?) How long has Paul been in hospital? 2 You meet a woman who tells you that she teaches English. You ask her: (how long / teach / English?) 3 You know that Jane is a good friend of Katherine s. You ask Jane: (how long / know / Katherine?) 4 Your friend s brother went to ustralia some time ago and he s still there. You ask your friend: (how long / be / in ustralia?) 5 Tom always wears the same jacket. It s a very old jacket. You ask him: (how long / have / that jacket?) 6 You are talking to a friend about Joe. Joe now works at the airport. You ask your friend: (how long / work / at the airport?) 7 friend of yours is having guitar lessons. You ask him: (how long / have / guitar lessons?) 8 You meet somebody on a plane. She says that she lives in Chicago. You ask her: (always / live / in Chicago?) 11.3 Complete s answers to s questions. 1 Paul is in hospital, isn t he? Yes, he has been in hospital since Monday. 2 Do you see nn very often? No, I haven t seen her for three months. 3 Is my married? Yes, she married for ten years. 4 re you waiting for me? Yes, I for the last half hour. 5 You know Mel, don t you? Yes, we each other a long time. 6 Do you still play tennis? No, I tennis for years. 7 Is Joe watching TV? Yes, he TV all evening. 8 Do you watch TV a lot? No, I TV for ages. 9 Do you have a headache? Yes, I a headache all morning. 10 drian is never ill, is he? No, he ill since I ve known him. 11 re you feeling ill? Yes, I ill all day. 12 Sue lives in erlin, doesn t she? Yes, she in erlin for the last few years. 13 Do you go to the cinema a lot? No, I to the cinema for ages. 14 Would you like to go to New Yes, I to go to New York. York one day? (use always / want) 23
12 For and since When? and How long? We use for and since to say how long something has been happening. We use for + a period of time (two hours, six weeks etc.): I ve been waiting for two hours. We use since + the start of a period (8 o clock, Monday, 1999 etc.): I ve been waiting since 8 o clock. for two hours since 8 o clock two hours ago now 8 o clock now for two hours 20 minutes five days a long time six months 50 years a week ages years Sally has been working here for six months. (not since six months) I haven t seen Tom for three days. since 8 o clock Monday 12 May pril 2001 Christmas lunchtime we arrived I got up Sally has been working here since pril. (= from pril until now) I haven t seen Tom since Monday. It is possible to leave out for (but not usually in negative sentences): They ve been married (for) ten years. (with or without for) They haven t had a holiday for ten years. (you must use for) We do not use for + all (all day / all my life etc.): I ve lived here all my life. (not for all my life) You can use in instead of for in negative sentences (I haven t... etc.): They haven t had a holiday in ten years. (= for ten years) Compare when? (+ past simple) and how long? (+ present perfect): : When did it start raining? : It started raining an hour ago / at 1 o clock. : How long has it been raining? : It s been raining for an hour / since 1 o clock. : When did Joe and Carol first meet? : They first met a long time ago. when they were at school. : How long have they known each other? : They ve known each other for a long time. since they were at school. C We say: or It s It s been (= It is) (= It has been) a long time six months (etc.) since something happened It s two years since I last saw Joe. or It s been two years since (= I haven t seen Joe for two years) It s ages since we went to the cinema. or It s been ages since (= We haven t been to the cinema for ages) How long is it since Mrs Hill died? or How long has it been since? (= When did Mrs Hill die?) 24 How long have you (been)? 11
Exercises 12.1 Write for or since. 1 It s been raining since lunchtime. 2 Sarah has lived in Paris 1995. 3 Paul has lived in razil ten years. 4 I m tired of waiting. We ve been sitting here an hour. 5 Kevin has been looking for a job he left school. 6 I haven t been to a party ages. 7 I wonder where Joe is. I haven t seen him last week. 8 Jane is away. She s been away Friday. 9 The weather is dry. It hasn t rained a few weeks. 12 12.2 Write questions with how long and when. 1 It s raining. (how long?) How long has it been raining? (when?) When did it start raining? 2 Kate is learning Japanese. (how long / learn?) (when / start?) 3 I know Simon. (how long / you / know?) (when / you / first / meet?) 4 Rebecca and David are married. (how long?) (when?) 12.3 Read the situations and complete the sentences. 1 It s raining. It s been raining since lunchtime. It started raining at lunchtime. 2 nn and Jess are friends. They first met years ago. They ve known each other for years. 3 Mark is ill. He became ill on Sunday. He has Sunday. 4 Mark is ill. He became ill a few days ago. He has a few days. 5 Sarah is married. She s been married for a year. She got. 6 You have a headache. It started when you woke up. I ve I woke up. 7 Sue has been in Italy for the last three weeks. She went. 8 You re working in a hotel. You started six months ago. I ve. 12.4 Write s sentences using the words in brackets. 1 : Do you often go on holiday? : No, I haven t had a holiday for five years. 2 : Do you often see Laura? : No, I about a month. 3 : Do you often go to the cinema? : No, a long time. 4 : Do you often eat in restaurants? : No, ages. Now write s answers again. This time use It s since. 5 (1) No, it s five years since I had a holiday. 6 (2) No, its 7 (3) No, 8 (4) 25
13 Present perfect and past 1 (I have done and I did) Study this example situation: Tom is looking for his key. He can t find it. He has lost his key. (present perfect) This means that he doesn t have his key now. Ten minutes later: Now Tom has found his key. He has it now. Has he lost his key? Did he lose his key? No, he has found it. Yes, he did. He lost his key (past simple) but now he has found it. (present perfect) The present perfect (something has happened) is a present tense. It always tells us about the situation now. Tom has lost his key = he doesn t have his key now (see 7). The past simple (something happened) tells us only about the past. If somebody says Tom lost his key, this doesn t tell us whether he has the key now or not. It tells us only that he lost his key at some time in the past. Do not use the present perfect if the situation now is different. Compare: They ve gone away. They ll be back on Friday. (they are away now) They went away, but I think they re back at home now. (not They ve gone) It has stopped raining now, so we don t need the umbrella. (it isn t raining now) It stopped raining for a while, but now it s raining again. (not It has stopped) C You can use the present perfect for new or recent happenings: I ve repaired the washing machine. It s working OK now. Sally has had a baby! It s a boy. That s great news. Usually, you can also use the past simple: I repaired the washing machine. It s working OK now. Oh, that s good. Use the past simple (not the present perfect) for things that are not recent or new: Mozart was a composer. He wrote more than 600 pieces of music. (not has been has written) My mother grew up in Italy. (not has grown) Compare: Did you know that somebody has invented a new type of washing machine? Who invented the telephone? (not has invented) We use the present perfect to give new information (see 7). ut if we continue to talk about it, we normally use the past simple: : Ow! I ve burnt myself. : How did you do that? (not have you done) : I picked up a hot dish. (not have picked) : Look! Somebody has spilt something on the sofa. : Well, it wasn t me. I didn t do it. (not hasn t been haven t done) 26 Past simple 5 Present perfect s 7 8 Present perfect and past 2 14 merican English ppendix 7
Exercises 13 13.1 Complete the sentences using the verbs in brackets. Use the present perfect where possible. Otherwise use the past simple. The office is empty now. 1 2 Everybody (go) home. I can t get in. I ve lost (lose) my key. 3 4 I meant to call you last night, but I (forget). HELEN Helen (go) to Egypt for a holiday, but she s back home in England now. 5 re you OK? 6 Yes, I (have) a headache, but I m fine now. Can you help us? Our car (break) down. 13.2 re the underlined parts of these sentences right or wrong? Correct them where necessary. 1 Did you hear about Sue? She s given up her job. OK 2 My mother has grown up in Italy. grew 3 How many poems has William Shakespeare written? 4 Ow! I ve cut my finger. It s bleeding. 5 Drugs have become a big problem everywhere. 6 Who has invented paper? 7 Where have you been born? 8 Ellie isn t at home. She s gone shopping. 9 lbert Einstein has been the scientist who has developed the theory of relativity. 13.3 Put the verb into the correct form, present perfect or past simple. 1 It stopped raining for a while, but now it s raining again. (it / stop) 2 The town where I live is very different now. It has changed a lot. (it / change) 3 I studied German at school, but most of it now. (I / forget) 4 The police three people, but later they let them go. (arrest) 5 What do you think of my English? Do you think? (it / improve) 6 : re you still reading the paper? : No, with it. You can have it. (I / finish) 7 for a job as a tourist guide, but I wasn t successful. (I / apply) 8 Where s my bike? outside the house, but it s not there now. (it / be) 9 Quick! We need to call an ambulance. an accident. (there / be) 10 : Have you heard about en? his arm. (he / break) : Really? How? (that / happen) : off a ladder. (he / fall) 27
14 Present perfect and past 2 (I have done and I did) Do not use the present perfect (I have done) when you talk about a finished time (for example, yesterday / ten minutes ago / in 2005 / when I was a child). Use a past tense: It was very cold yesterday. (not has been) Paul and Lucy arrived ten minutes ago. (not have arrived) Did you eat a lot of sweets when you were a child? (not have you eaten) I got home late last night. I was very tired and went straight to bed. Use the past to ask When? or What time?: When did your friends arrive? (not have arrived) What time did you finish work? Compare: Present perfect Tom has lost his key. He can t get into the house. Is Carla here or has she left? Past simple Tom lost his key yesterday. He couldn t get into the house. When did Carla leave? Compare: Present perfect (have done) I ve done a lot of work today. We use the present perfect for a period of time that continues until now. For example: today / this week / since 2007. unfinished today Past simple (did) I did a lot of work yesterday. We use the past simple for a finished time in the past. For example: yesterday / last week / from 2007 to 2010. unfinished yesterday past now past now It hasn t rained this week. It didn t rain last week. Have you seen nna this morning? (it is still morning) Did you see nna this morning? (it is now afternoon or evening) Have you seen Tim recently? Did you see Tim on Sunday? I don t know where Lisa is. I haven t seen her. (= I haven t seen her recently) : Was Lisa at the party on Sunday? : I don t think so. I didn t see her. We ve been waiting for an hour. (we are still waiting now) We waited (or were waiting) for an hour. (we are no longer waiting) Jack lives in Los ngeles. He has lived there for seven years. Jack lived in New York for ten years. Now he lives in Los ngeles. I have never played golf. (in my life) I didn t play golf last summer. It s the last day of your holiday. You say: It s been a really good holiday. I ve really enjoyed it. fter you come back from holiday you say: It was a really good holiday. I really enjoyed it. 28 Past simple 5 Present perfect s 7 8 Present perfect and past 1 13
Exercises 14.1 re the underlined parts of these sentences right or wrong? Correct them where necessary. 1 I ve lost my key. I can t find it anywhere. OK 2 Have you eaten a lot of sweets when you were a child? Did you eat 3 I ve bought a new car. You must come and see it. 4 I ve bought a new car last week. 5 Where have you been yesterday evening? 6 Lucy has left school in 1999. 7 I m looking for Mike. Have you seen him? 8 Have you been to Paris? Yes, many times. 9 I m very hungry. I haven t eaten much today. 10 When has this book been published? 14 14.2 Make sentences from the words in brackets. Use the present perfect or past simple. 1 (it / not / rain / this week) It hasn t rained this week. 2 (the weather / be / cold / recently) The weather 3 (it / cold / last week) It 4 (I / not / read / a newspaper yesterday) I 5 (I / not / read / a newspaper today) 6 (Emily / earn / a lot of money / this year) 7 (she / not / earn / so much / last year) 8 (you / have / a holiday recently?) 14.3 Put the verb into the correct form, present perfect or past simple. 1 What s Madrid like? I don t know. I haven t been (I / not / be) there. 2 When (I / get) home last night, (I / be) very tired and (I / go) straight to bed. 3 : (you / see) Lisa recently? : Yes, (I / saw) her a few days ago. 4 I m tired. (I / not / sleep) well last night. 5 The bus drivers were on strike last week. (there / be) no buses. 6 Mr Lee (work) in a bank for 15 years. Then (he / give) it up. Now he works as a gardener. 7 Mary lives in Dublin. (she / live) there all her life. 8 : (you / go) to the cinema last night? : Yes, but (it / be) a mistake. The film (be) awful. 9 My grandfather (die) before I was born. (I / never / meet) him. 10 I don t know Karen s husband. (I / never / meet) him. 11 It s nearly lunchtime, and (I / not / see) Martin all morning. I wonder where he is. 12 Where do you live? In oston. How long (you / live) there? Five years. Where (you / live) before that? In Chicago. nd how long (you / live) in Chicago? Two years. 14.4 Write sentences about yourself using the ideas in brackets. 1 (something you haven t done today) I haven t eaten any fruit today 2 (something you haven t done today) 3 (something you didn t do yesterday) 4 (something you did yesterday evening) 5 (something you haven t done recently) 6 (something you ve done a lot recently) dditional exercises 2 4 (pages 303 04), 14 15 (pages 310 11) 29
15 Past perfect (I had done) Study this example situation: at 10.30 at 11.00 PUL ye! SRH Hi! Sarah went to a party last week. Paul went to the party too, but they didn t see each other. Paul left the party at 10.30 and Sarah arrived at 11 o clock. So: When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul wasn t there. He had gone home. Had gone is the past perfect (simple): I/we/they/you he/she/it had (= I d etc.) (= he d etc.) gone seen finished etc. The past perfect simple is had + past participle (gone/seen/finished etc). Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past: Sarah arrived at the party. This is the starting point of the story. Then, if we want to talk about things that happened before this time, we use the past perfect (had ): When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul had already gone home. Some more examples: When we got home last night, we found that somebody had broken into the flat. Karen didn t want to go to the cinema with us because she d already seen the movie. t first I thought I d done the right thing, but I soon realised that I d made a big mistake. The man sitting next to me on the plane was very nervous. He hadn t flown before. or He had never flown before. Compare the present perfect (have seen etc.) and the past perfect (had seen etc.): Present perfect Past perfect past have seen now Who is that woman? I ve seen her before, but I can t remember where. We aren t hungry. We ve just had lunch. The house is dirty. They haven t cleaned it for weeks. had seen past now I wasn t sure who she was. I d seen her before, but I couldn t remember where. We weren t hungry. We d just had lunch. The house was dirty. They hadn t cleaned it for weeks. C Compare the past simple (left, was etc.) and the past perfect (had left, had been etc.): : Was Tom there when you arrived? : Yes, but he left soon afterwards. Kate wasn t at home when I phoned. She was at her mother s house. : Was Tom there when you arrived? : No, he had already left. Kate had just got home when I phoned. She had been at her mother s house. 30 Past perfect continuous 16 Irregular verbs (gone/seen etc.) ppendix 1
Exercises 15.1 Read the situations and write sentences from the words in brackets. 1 You went to Sue s house, but she wasn t there. (she / go / out) She had gone out. 2 You went back to your home town after many years. It wasn t the same as before. (it / change / a lot) 3 I invited Rachel to the party, but she couldn t come. (she / arrange / to do something else) 4 You went to the cinema last night. You got to the cinema late. (the film / already / start) 5 It was nice to see Daniel again after such a long time. (I / not / see / him for five years) 6 I offered Sue something to eat, but she wasn t hungry. (she / just / have / breakfast) 15 15.2 For each situation, write a sentence ending with never before. Use the verb in brackets. 1 The man sitting next to you on the plane was very nervous. It was his first flight. (fly) He d never flown before. 2 Somebody sang a song. I didn t know it. (hear) I 3 Sam played tennis yesterday. He wasn t very good at it because it was his first game. (play) He 4 Last year we went to Mexico. It was our first time there. (be there) We 15.3 Use the sentences on the left to complete the paragraphs on the right. These sentences are in the order in which they happened so (a) happened before (b), (b) before (c) etc. ut your paragraph begins with the underlined sentence, so sometimes you need the past perfect. 1 (a) Somebody broke into the office during We arrived at work in the morning and the night. found that somebody had broken (b) We arrived at work in the morning. into the office during the night. So (c) We called the police. the police. 2 (a) Laura went out this morning. I went to Laura s house this morning and (b) I rang her doorbell. rang her doorbell, but no (c) There was no answer. answer. out. 3 (a) Jim came back from holiday a few days ago. (b) I met him the same day. (c) He looked very well. I met Jim a few days ago. just holiday. very well. 4 (a) Kevin sent Sally lots of emails. Yesterday Kevin from (b) She never replied to them. Sally. very surprised. (c) Yesterday he got a phone call from her. lots of emails, (d) He was very surprised. but. 15.4 Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done) or past simple (I did). 1 Was Paul at the party when you arrived? No, he had gone (go) home. 2 I felt very tired when I got home, so I (go) straight to bed. 3 The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody (go) to bed. 4 Sorry I m late. The car (break) down on my way here. 5 We were driving along the road when we (see) a car which (break) down, so we (stop) to help. before. dditional exercises 5 8 (pages 304 07) 31