Present perfect simple and progressive Meaning You can use both present perfect simple and present perfect progressive to link the past and present. Present perfect simple Use the present perfect simple to emphasise the result of finished actions in the past and to talk about the number of times something has happened. I’ve finished painting the room. Do you like it? I’ve only smoked two cigarettes today. You usually use it with ‘short-action’ verbs, for example: start, lose, buy … I’ve just started an English course. Present perfect progressive You can use the present perfect progressive to talk about unfinished or recently finished activities. You also use it to emphasise how long something has been happening, or that it’s been happening a lot. I’ve been painting my room. Do you like it so far? I’ve been waiting for five hours. (emphasise duration) I’ve been calling all day. (emphasise repetition) You usually use present perfect progressive with ‘longaction’ verbs, for example: try, play, rain, learn … I’ve been learning English for a long time. Some verbs are not usually used in progressive forms. They are sometimes called ‘state’ verbs because they’re used to talk about states rather than actions: e.g. verbs referring to: ■■ thoughts (believe, know, remember, understand, etc.) ■■ emotions (like, love, hate, prefer, etc.) ■■ senses (see, hear, smell, taste, etc.) ■■ ownership (have, own, possess, etc.) Form Present perfect simple: have / has + past participle I’ve just begun putting together the presentation. Present perfect progressive: have / has + been + -ing She’s been playing tennis for an hour now. Practice Complete the sentences with the present perfect simple or progressive of the verb in brackets. 1 I (play) tennis all afternoon and I’m exhausted. 2 I (have) two bars of chocolate today. I feel really guilty. 3 I (look) for a birthday present for Carolina, but I can’t seem to find anything. 4 We (decorate) the front room and the kitchen. We just need to do the bathroom now. 5 I (work) on this project for two months. 6 I (finish) the presentation. Do you want to have a look? 7 I (learn) English for three years now, and I still can’t have a conversation. Unit 7 Narrative verb forms Meaning Use the past simple to talk about things that are in the past and finished. I dropped your camera. I’m sorry. I met my girlfriend in 2012. Use the past progressive to talk about an action that was in progress at a time in the past. You often use the past progressive to explain the background to another past event or action. My father was working in Spain in 1990. My mother was teaching in a school there when she met my father. Use the past perfect to refer to an earlier event in the past. I went to the shop after school and bought loads of food for the party. I didn’t realise my mother’d already done the shopping this morning. Form Past simple Where did you go last night? I went to a party. I didn’t enjoy it. Did you stay long? Yes, I did. No, I didn’t. Past progressive What were you doing? I was cycling to school. I wasn’t going fast. Were you using a mobile? Yes, I was. No, I wasn’t. Past perfect Where had you been? I’d been in a café. I hadn’t realised how late it was. Had you tried to ring? Yes, I had. No, I hadn’t. 188 G Grammar reference and practice Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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