University of Duhok

College of Languages
Department of Translation
First Year
Grammar 1

Week 3-4
Present perfect and Past Perfect
Angela O. Zaya
PhD in TESOL
Present Perfect:
 Present Perfect is used to talk about the past and present together. It tells us something about the present.
It describes past events which are connected to the present.
❑ Past events that have a result in the present. E.g. Helen has broken her pencil.
❑ Events that started in the past and are not finished. E.g. I have lived here for ten years.
❑ Events finished a moment ago. E.g. We have just eaten our lunch.
❑ How many things are completed so far. E.g. I’ve read a hundred pages of this book.
 Affirmative and Negative Sentences:
• He, she, it + has (not) + p.p. Subject V. to have Past participle Complement
• I, you, we, they + have (not) + p.p. Tom has left the country
➢ Interrogative: They have not finished their project
• Has + he, she, it + p.p.? V. to have Subject Past participle Complement
• Have + I, you, we, they + p.p.? Has Tom left the country?
Have not they finished their project?
Present Perfect and Past Simple with for:

 Present perfect with for is used to talk about an action or state which continuous from
the past to the present.
• Lana has been in London for two weeks.

➢ Past simple with for is used to talk about an action or state in a period of time which is
finished.
• Lana was in London for two weeks.
Time phrases with the Present Perfect:
 Often, there is no time phrase with the present perfect. We don’t know exactly when
the actin happened. When we use time phrases with the present perfect, they don’t
give a definite time.

❑ Just: a short time ago. Only a moment ago.

• The train has just left.
❑ Already: before now / expected. Sooner than expected.
• They have already sold 12 million copies.
• have you already done your homework?
❑ Yet: before now. The speaker is expected something to happen.
• He has not found a sponsor yet.
• Has the program started yet?
Time phrases with the Present Perfect:
❑ Recently: at a time immediately before the present .
• Janet has recently talked to him.
❑ Lately: not long ago.
• I have seen her lately.
❑ Ever: at any time.
• Have you ever done any charity challenges?
❑ Never: at no time.
• I have never been there.
❖ We also use the present perfect with time phrases that refer to a time that is still in
progress.
• I have not seen him this morning. ( = this morning isn’t finished)
• Daniela has done very well so far. ( = up to now)
Present Perfect Continuous:
 Present perfect continuous: is used to talk about actions that started in the past
and continue to the present:
• She has been working as a doctor for 40 years.

 Since is used to talk about points of time from the present to the past.
It answers the question with how long.
 For is used to talk about periods of time from the present to the past.
It answers the question with how long.

➢ How long have you been teaching?

• I have been teaching English since 2009.
• I have been teaching English for 10 years.
Present Perfect Continuous:
 Present perfect continuous: is also used to talk about an activity that has recently stopped or
just stopped. There is a connection with now:
• You are out of breath. Have you been running? (= you are out of breath now)
• Paul is very tired. He has been working very hard. (= he is tired now)
• Why are your clothes dirty? What have you been doing?
•
Present Perfect Continuous:
 Present continuous: is not used to talk about actions that started in the past
and continue to the present:
• I am learning English since last year.
• I have been learning English since last year.

 The following phrases often occur with the present perfect continuous,
but don’t need for or since.
• All my life
• All morning
• All day
• All week
• All month
• All year
Some verbs (e.g. know, like, believe) are not normally used in the continuous:

• I have known about the problem for a long time. (not I have been knowing)

• How long have you had that camera? (not have you been having)
Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous:
Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous:
Present Perfect Continuous and Present
Perfect Simple:
 In many cases, we can use the present perfect simple and the present prefect
continuous with for and since with no real difference in meaning:
• I have been living in this house for over a year.
• I have lived in this house for over a year.

 But if a verb describes a state (for example like, love, be, have, see, know).
we cannot use the continuous form.
• They have known each other for more than 50 years.
• They have been knowing each other for more than 50 years.

 If we mention a number or quantity, we normally use the simple form.

• I have made six phone calls today.
• I have been making six phone calls today.
Time phrases with the Past Simple:

 Past Simple is used to talk about actions or states which are finished.
We often use the following time words.
❑ In 2004, on Saturday, at 6:30 yesterday.
❑ Last weekend, five years ago.
❑ When I was ten years old.

Subject Past verb Complement Time words

Lara and Martin first met Eight years ago
I lived in America when I was child.
Present Perfect and Past Simple:
Present Perfect and Past Simple:
Present Perfect and Past Simple:
Present Perfect and Past Simple:
Present Perfect (Continuous) and Past Simple:
Past Perfect:
 Past Perfect: is used to show that one action happened before another in the past,
and that first action finished before the second action started.
• He had been to the bank and he was on his way home.

 Affirmative and Negative Sentences:

• He, she, it + had (not) + p.p. Subject V. to have Past participle Complement

• I, you, we, they + had (not) + p.p. Tom had left the country.
They had not finished their project.
➢ Interrogative:
• Had + he, she, it + + p.p.? V. to have Subject Past participle Complement
• Had + I, you, we, they + p.p.? Had Tom left the country?
Had they finished their project?
Past Perfect:
 Past perfect: is used with because / as / so to explain a past situation.
• Liza felt ill because she had eaten so much.

• Silvana was very upset because she had lost her purse.

• She was very sorry to leave as she had enjoyed her time.

• It had been a very long day, so I went to bed early.

• I had forgotten all my money at home, so I could not buy anything.

 To show that two actions happened at the same time, we use the past simple with when.
• I woke up when the telephone rang.

 If the sequence of events is clear from the context, it is not always necessary to use the past
perfect.
• A robber appeared and pointed a gun at him.
Past Perfect:
 We use the past perfect with the past simple when we talk about two actions or
events in the past. We always use the past perfect for the action that happened
first. We can link the two actions using a time expression.

• When (after) Sam had paid the bill, we left the restaurant and went home.

• When (after) Luke had done his homework, he watched TV.

• Before we left the restaurant, Sam had paid the bill.

• When the police arrived to arrest him, Thompson had left.

• When I got downstairs, the phone had stopped ringing.

• The phone had stopped ringing when I got downstairs.

Past Perfect:
• After the exams had finished, they had a party.
(= The exams finished, and then they had a party.)

• We had dinner after Mum had phoned.

(= Mum phoned, and then we had dinner.)

• James had gone into hospital the day before I arrived.

(= James went into hospital, and then I arrived.)

 The party couldn't start until Kate had arrived.

(= Kate arrived, and then the party could start.)
Past Perfect:

The past perfect is often used with verbs of thinking like think, know, be
sure, realize, remember, suspect, understand, etc.

• I thought I’d seen the film before, but I hadn’t.

• David knew he’d seen her somewhere before.

• Ellen was sure she hadn’t locked the door.

• When I got home, I realized I’d lost my wallet.

• The inspector suspected that the thief had used a special key.
Past Perfect:
The uses of conjunction (when):
• When + past simple , past continuous.
• When I got home, she was cooking dinner.

• When (after) (because/as) + past perfect , past simple.

• When Sam had done his homework, he watched TV.

• When (before) (so) + past simple , past perfect.

• When the bank realized their mistake, the man had spent the money.

• When (while/as) + past continuous, past simple.

• When she was getting some money, she dropped her phone.

• When (and) + past simple , past simple.

• When I heard the crash, I ran to the end of the street.
Narrative Tenses:
 Past Simple: is used to talk about the main events in a story.
• We went back to the restaurant as fast as we could. We explained our mistake to the
manager, apologized and finally paid the bill.

 Past Perfect: is used to talk about actions happened before the main events in a story.
• When the bank realized their mistake, the man had spent the money.

 Past Continuous: is used to talk about actions in progress at a certain time in the past.
We often use it to describe the background situation in a story.
• I was walking to work yesterday when someone rushed past me in the street.
Past Perfect Continuous:
 Past perfect continuous: is used to show that an action that started in the past
continued up until another time in the past.

 Unlike the present perfect continuous, which indicates an action that began in the past
and has continued up to the present, the past perfect continuous indicates something
that began in the past, continued in the past, and also ended at a defined point in the
past.

E.g. He had been drinking milk out the carton when Mom walked into the kitchen.
E.g. I had been working at the company for five years when I got the promotion.
Past Perfect Continuous:
Past Perfect Continuous:
Some verbs (for example, know and like) are not normally used in the
continuous:

•We were good friends. We had known each other for years.
(not had been knowing)

•I was surprised when Lisa cut her hair. She’d had long hair since I first
met her. (not she’d been having)
Have / have got:
Have / have got:
Have / have got:
Used to:
 Used to: is used to talk about:
1. actions that happened many times in the past (habits).
• He used to wait for me at the school gates.
2. feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc. in the past.
• I used to be afraid of the dark.

❑ Affirmative, Negative, and Interrogative Sentences:

S. + used to + V. + Comp. - I used to live in Paris when I was young.
S. + didn’t use to + V. + Comp. - She didn’t use to like vegetables. (She used not to like…)
Did + S. + use to + V. + Comp? - Did you use to have a dog when you were a child?
Used to:
 Notice that the habit or state is probably not true now.
• We used to have a dog called Tilly. (= but we don’t have a dog now)
 Or it may be true now.
• I didn’t use to like sport at school. (= but I like it now)
❖ The past simple can always be used instead of used to.
• We had a dog called Tilly.
• I didn’t like sport at school.
❖ Do not use used to for actions that happened only once.
• I went to Spain in 2009.
• I used to go to Spain in 2009.
Used to:
Used to: