Engl

i
sht
enses

Pr
esentper
fectsi
mpl
eandcont
inuous

Pr
esentper
fectsi
mpl
e
For
m
Posit
ivest
atement:Ihavecooked,
Ihavewr i
tten, Hehascooked,Hehaswrit
ten(
I'
ve
cooked,He'
scooked)
Negati
vestatement:Ihavenotwor
ked( Ihav
en' tworked)
,Hehasnotworked(Hehasn'
t
worked)
Questi
on:Hav eyouworked?
Negati
vequest i
on:Haveyounotworked?(Hav en'
tyouwor ked?
)

Use
Thepr
esentper
fectcombi
nest
hepastandpr
esent
.

1.Weuset hepresentperfectsimplef
oract
ionsorst
atest
hatst
art
edi
nthepastandst
il
l
continue.
Wehav eli
vedheresi nce2001.
Shehasknownmef ormor ethantwo
years.Ihaven'
tseenhersi nce
Chri
stmas.
Howl onghav etheybeenher e?

I
tisoft
enusedwithexpr
essionsindi
cati
ngthattheact i
vi
tybegani
nthepastandcomesupt
o
now,suchas:
for10years,
since1995,allweek,al
lthetime,al
ways,
lat
ely
,recent
ly.
..
Wehav eal
waysworkedinYork.(
West il
lworkinYor k.
)
I
thasbeenquitecol
dlat
ely.(
Iti
sstil
lcol
d.)

Ift
heacti
vi
tyst
artedinthepastandendedi nthepastwecannotusethepresentper
fect
.
Ihavesmokedfor5y ears.(
presentper
fect-Isti
l
lsmoke.
)
Ismokedfor5years.(pastsi
mpl e-Ismokedfrom 2000t
o2005,thenIst
opped.)

2.Weuseitt
odescri
beanexper
iencet
hathappenedi
nthepast(
thet
imei
snotgi
ven)
,butt
he
eff
ect
sareimport
antnow.
ShehasbeentoLondon.(
AndsosheknowsLondon.)

Compar
e:
Ihav
eal
readybeentoGreece.(
exper
ience-AndIwanttogosomewher
eel
senow.
)
Ihav
ebeeninGreecef
ortwoweeks.(stat
e-Iam st
li
ll
inGreece.
)

Whenweuset histensetoexpresssomeexper
ience,
wecanusef
oll
owi
ngadv
erbs-ev
er,
nev
er,
alr
eady,oft
en,occassional
y,y
et,befor
e..
..
..
Hav eyouevertri
edit?
Shehasnev erreadthis
book.Wehav en'tseenit
yet.
Hav eyoufal
lenoffabike
yet?Ihaven'
tmether
before.
3.Thepresentper
fectsi
mpleisusedforpastact
ivi
ti
est
hathaveapresentr
esul
t.
Thebushasn'tarr
ived.(
Itdi
dnotarr
ivedonti
meandwear estil
lwai
ti
ngnow.)
Ihaveboughtanewhouse.( Idi
ditl
astmonthanditmeansthatnowIhaveanew
addr
ess.
)Forsuchact
ivi
ti
esweof
tenuset
heseadv
erbs-y
et,
alr
eady
,just
.
Theyhaven'tfi
nishedtheirhomewor ky
et.(
Theycan'
tgooutnow.)
Hasshesi gnedityet?(CanIt aket
hedocument?
)
I
'veal
readysentt helet
ter.(Therei
snoneedtogotothepost-
off
ice.
)
Wehav ejustheardthenews.( Weknowabouti
t.
)

Pr
esentper
fectv
s.pastsi
mpl
e
Wi t
ht hepr esentperfectwedonotspeci f
ywhent heactionhappened.I
fwegi
vethetimeori ti
s
clearfrom t hecontextthatwement i
onacer tai nti
mei nthepast,wemustusethepastsimple.
Hav ey ouhadbr eakfast?But:Didy ouhavebr eakf astatthe
hotel?I'v
er eady ourlett
er.But:Ireadyourletterlastnight.
Theyhav etoldme.But Theyt
: oldmewhenwemet .
Hav ey ouhadt heoper ati
on?But :Whendi dyouhav etheoperati
on?
Inthepr esentper f
ectweexpr esst hatsomet hinghappenedi nthepastwhi
chisimportantnow.
Thet i
mei snotrelevant.
Inthepastt ensethet i
meoft heact i
onisrelev ant.

Pr
esentper
fectv
s.pr
esentsi
mpl
e
Thepr esentperf
ectisusedf oract
ionsthatbeganinthepastandcont i
nueatpresent
.It
expresseshowl ongtheactionhasbeen.
Thepr esentsimplei
susedf oractionsthatarer
epeatedatpresent
.Itexpr
esseshowof tent
he
acti
onhappens.
Shehaswor kedhereforalongt i
me.But :Sheworkshereevery
day.Howl onghav eyouwor kedher e?But:Howoftendoyouwor k
here?

Pr
esentper
fectcont
inuous
For
m
Posit
ivest
atement:Ihavebeencooki
ng,Hehasbeencooki ng
Negati
vestatement:Ihav
enotbeencooking(Ihav
en'tbeencooking)
,Hehasnotbeen
cooki
ng
Questi
on:Hav eyoubeencooki
ng?
Negati
vequest i
on:Haveyounotbeencooki
ng?(Haven'tyoubeencooki
ng?)

Use
1.Weuset hepresentperf
ectconti
nuousforev
ent
sthatbegani
nthepast
,ar
econt
inui
ngnow
andwi l
lpr
obabl
ycont i
nueinthefut
ure.
Ihavebeenplayi
ngtennissinceIwas6y ear
s
old.Shehasbeenwor ki
ngher ef
or15years.

2.Weuseitf
oracti
onsthatbegani
nthepastandhav
eonl
yjustf
ini
shed.
I
'v
ebeenskii
ngallday
.I'
m sotir
ed.
Hell
o!We'
vebeenwaiti
ngforyousi
nce5o'cl
ock.

Pr
esentper
fectsi
mpl
evs.pr
esentper
fectcont
inuous
1.I
nsomesituati
onswecanusebot htensesandt
her
eispracti
cal
l
ynodi
ff
erencei
n
meani
ng.Thecontinuousismoreusuali
ntheEngl
i
shlanguage.
I
thasrai
nedforalongt i
me.
I
thasbeenraini
ngforalongti
me.
Ver
bswhi
chcanbeusedi
nthi
swayi
ncl
ude-l
ear
n,l
i
ve,
sleep,
rai
n,si
t,wor
k,wai
t,st
ay.
..
2.Somet imest hesi mplef orm candescr i
beaper manentstat
e, whi
lethecontinuousfor
ma
tempor aryactivi
ty.
Ihavel ivedher ef orteny ears.Itismyper manentaddr ess.
Ihavebeenl i
vingher efort eny ears.AndnowIam goi ngt omov e.
Somev erbscannotexpr esst hisdiffer
ence,becausetheyarenotnor mall
yusedi nthe
continuoust enses( ver
bsofsenses-f eel
,hear
,see;verbsexpressi
ngemot ions-li
ke,l
ove,
admi re, wish;verbsofment alstate-know, r
emember ,mean,recognize;ver
bsofpossession-
belong, own, owe; auxi
li
ar i
es-can, mustandbe, haveinsomecases; others-appear,
concern,
seem, sound. ..
).Theymustbeusedi nthesimpleform.
Wehav eal wayshada
dog.I'veknownhi m
since1997.
3.Verbst hatexpressasi ngl
eact i
on( f
ind,
start
,stop,l
ose,br
eak..
.)arenotusedi
nthe
continuousf orm.
They'vest art
edthe
fi
ght.I'
vel ostmy
purse.
4.Therei sadi f
ferencebetweenasi ngleacti
onint hepr
esentperf
ectsimpleandcont
inuous.
Ihavepai ntedthehal l
.(Ihavecompl et
edmywor k.
)
Ihavebeenpai nti
ngt hehall
.(ThatishowIhav espenttheday,butitdoesnotmeanthatIhave
fi
nishedmyj ob.)

5.Asingl
eact
ioninthepresentperf
ectconti
nuouscomesupt otheti
meofspeaking.Butit
i
sdiff
erentwi
ththesimpletense.
She'
sbeencookingdinner.(
Sheissti
ll
inthekit
chen.Shehasjustf
ini
shedorshewillcont
inue
cooki
ng.)
Shehascookeddinner.(
Wedonotknowwhen.Yest erdayorv
eryrecent
ly?Ther
esultis
i
mportant.
)

6.Wecanonl yusethepresentperf
ectcontinuousf
oruni
nter
rupt
edactions.
I
'vebeenv i
sit
ingNewYorkf oracoupleof
years.Shehasbeenwrit
inglett
erssinceshe
gotup.
I
nt hesesentenceswedescribeoneuninter
ruptedi
ncompl
eteact
ivi
ty.

Ift
heacti
onisrepeat
edori nt
errupt
ed(wedescri
beanumberofcompl
etedi
ndi
vi
dual
act
ions)
,
wemustuset hesimpl
ef orm.(seealsot
hepasttenser
ules)
.
Ihavevi
sit
edNewYor kthreeti
mes.
Shehaswr i
tt
enfourl
ett
er ssi
nceshegotup.