Use:
Use present perfect continuous in two situations.
1) You started something in the past and you are still doing it now.
I’ve been working all morning (and I’m still working now).
2) You have just finished doing something. The effects of this activity can still be seen.
I’ve been gardening, so my hands are dirty.
Form:
Form the present perfect continuous in this way.
Positive and Negative
| I, you, we, they he, she, it | have / haven’t ‘ve /’ve not has / hasn’t ‘s / ‘s not | been | verb + ing |
Examples: You’ve been eating chocolate. I’ve not been sleeping well.
Questions
| Have Has | I, you, we, they he, she, it | been | verb + ing? |
Examples: Have you been drinking? Has Emily been seeing her ex-boyfriend?
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
Present Perfect
Use:
1) The present perfect tense is often use to tell up-to-date news.
‘Great news! Jane has had a baby!’
But you cannot use the present perfect with phrases relating to finished time.
‘Great news! Jane has had a baby yesterday!’
So, to ask about and give more details, you need to use the past simple.
‘Great news! Jane has had a baby!’
‘When did she have it?’
‘She had it last night!’
2) The present perfect can be used with phrases relating to unfinished time, such as:
this week, today, this year
I’ve seen Roger twice this week.
That’s the second time I’ve seen that film this year.
3) The present perfect is often used in sentences with these words:
just, yet, already, ever, never
I’ve just finished the report.
Karen has finished the book already.
I haven’t finished the report yet.
I’ve never been to Spain. Have you ever been?
4) The present perfect is used to describe periods of time that start in the past and continue until the present. It is often used with for and since.
I’ve lived here for five years.
James has worked here since last summer.
The present perfect and past simple may appear in the same sentence:
I’ve lived here since I was a child.
Tom has been unemployed since he left the factory.
Past Simple Use: The past simple can be used with phrases relating to finished time, such as: yesterday, last week, last month, in 2010, two weeks ago
Jemma left the company six weeks ago.
I emailed Tony last week.
Form: Present Perfect
Positive
| I / you / they / we he / she / it | have / ‘ve has / ‘s | past participle |
Negative
| I / you / they / we he / she / it | haven’t / ‘ve not hasn’t / ‘s not | past participle |
Questions
| Have Has | you / they / we he / she / it | past participle? |
Past Simple
Positive
| I / you / they / we / he / she / it | past tense verb |
Negative
| I / you / they / we / he / she / it | didn’t | infinitive verb |
Questions
| Did | you / they / we / he / she / it | infinitive verb? |
Reported Speech
Use:
Use reported speech to talk about what another person said in the past.
Eve: ‘I went to the party on Friday night’.
James: ‘Eve said that she had gone to the party on Friday night’.
Form:
1) When reporting speech, the verb in the sentence may shift to a past tense.
| am / is / are | changes to | was / were |
| “ I am fine. ” | She said that she was fine. | |
| present simple | changes to | past simple |
| “ I like it. ” | He said he liked it. | |
| present continuous | changes to | past continuous |
| “ She’s sleeping. ” | He said that she was sleeping. | |
| will | changes to | would |
| “ I’ll be there. ” | You said that you’d be there. | |
| can | changes to | could |
| “ I can come to the meeting. ” | You said that you could come to the meeting. | |
| past simple | changes to | past perfect |
| “ I did the shopping. ” | Tom said that he had done the shopping. | |
| present perfect | changes to | past perfect |
| “ I’ve read that book. ” | I told him that I’d read the book. | |
| past continuous | changes to | past perfect continuous |
| “ She was walking home alone. ” | He said that she had been walking home alone. | |
| present perfect continuous | changes to | past perfect continuous |
| “ I’ve been working, ” | I told him that I’d been working. |
2) To report speech, use He / She / I said (that)...
You can also use He / She told me (that)...; I told him / her (that)...
3) Don’t use quotation marks (“) when reporting speech.
4) References to times in the past also may need to change when using reported speech, if that time is no longer the same.
| this morning / week / month | → | that morning / week / month |
| yesterday | → | the previous day |
| last week / month | → | the previous week / month |
| ago | → | earlier / previously |
| tomorrow | → | the following day |
| next week / month | → | the following week / month |
Simple passive
Use:
The passive voice is used:
a) When the object of a sentence is more important than the subject
The city was destroyed by the volcano.
b) When the subject of the sentence is unknown.
This cheese was made in Canada.
It is common in formal and scientific writing.
Form:
You can use the passive voice in all tenses. Use the correct form of be + the past participle of the verb.
| Present Simple: I you / they / we It / She / he | am are is | Past participle taken given built made eaten brought cooked left... | The workers collect the rubbish of Wednesdays. => The rubbish is collected on Thursdays. |
| Past Simple: you / they / we I / It / She / he | were was | People built the castle over 800 years ago. => The castle was built over 800 years ago. | |
| Present Perfect: I / you / they / we It / She / he | have been has been | Someone has taken my book! => My book has been taken! | |
| Past Perfect: I / you / they / we / it / she / he | had been | When we arrived at the airport, someone had resold our tickets. => When we arrived at the airport, our tickets had been resold. | |
| Modals I / you / they / we / it / she / he | can be will be would be must be should be could be | You must wear a hard hat in this area. => Hard harts must be worn in this area. |
To mention who caused the action, use by.
The bins were emptied by the cleaning staff.
