1.We use the present perfect continuous to describe an action that started in the past and is still in progress. The emphasis can be on an ongoing action or a recurrent one.
They have been working for 16 hours straight. . (ongoing action)
Weve been waiting here since two oclock. . (ongoing action)
Shes been playing a lot of tennis recently. . (recurrent action)
Ive been taking French lessons for three years already. . (recurrent action)
Note: We use the present perfect to describe a state that started in the past and is still in progress.
I have known John for a long time. .
How long have you been here? ?
2.We use the present perfect continuous to talk about a recently finished activity and we can often see its results.
Hi. What are you doing? I have been working. . ? .
You look tired. Ive been working really hard. . .
Ive been running on the sixth floor. Thats why Im out of breath. , .
Exercise 1. Translate into English and comment on the use of the present simple, the present continuous, the present perfect, the present perfect continuous.
1. (to go back) ? 2. , . . 3. 쒺 (to make an unexpected announcement). 4. , . 5. ij (to be a great comfort to sb) , . 6. (to crease). 7. (Chris) . 8. . . ? 9. , (to ban). 10. (Jeff) .11. . () . 12. ³ . 13. ? 14. . . 15. (Rachel) . ? 16. . ³ ! 17. ? 18. . 19. , . 20. ? (to get through to sb) . 21. . 22. , , . 23. (to finish) , . 24. , (to be in for a service). 25. ³ - . 26. . 27. , . 28. . 29. ³ (alternate) . 30. , .
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THE PAST SIMPLE
Formation
We make the past simple by adding ed to the infinitive of regular verbs.
Example: He studied politics and economics at Yale.
He kicked the ball into the net.
For the affirmative past forms of common irregular verbs, see reference grammar books.
Example: I saw Jerome in the bank.
I went home early because I had a headache.
Questions are made by putting the auxiliary verb did before the subject. If it is the verb to be,we use was/were before the subject.
Example: Did you enjoy your time in Japan?
When were you born? I was born in 2000.
Negatives are made by putting not after the auxiliary. If it is the verb to be,we put not after was/were.
Example: Sorry Im late the bus didnt come on time.
The kids still werent full, so I gave them an ice cream each.
| Affirmative I worked you worked he/she/it worked we worked you worked they worked | Questions did I work? did you work? did he/she/it work? did we work? did you work? did they work? | Negative I did not work you did not work he/she/it did not work we did not work you did not work they did not work |
Passive forms
The past simple passive has the following structure:
| was/were + past participle |
Active: Tom repaired the car yesterday.
Passive: The car was repaired by Tom yesterday.
Active: They reported about ten new cases of bird flu yesterday.
Passive: Ten new cases of bird flu were reported yesterday.
Use of the past simple
1.We use the past simple to talk about facts that refer to some past time. We often use adverbs such as 2 minutes ago, in 2009, yesterday, the other day, last Friday, last night, yesterday morning etc.
I ran across Jim in town the other day. .
My brother called me from Spain last night. .
NB
If the context is clear, it is not necessary to give a past time reference.
Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa. ³ ˳.
The Vikings invaded Britain. ³ .
NB
We use the present perfect when we are thinking about past events together with their present results. However, we prefer the past simple when we want to focus on the person, thing or circumstances (because we are focusing on the past, not the present result).
Who let that cat in? ?
How did you get that bruise? ?
The Chinese invented paper. .
2. We use the past simple to talk about repeated actions in the past.
Bob smoked 20 cigarettes a day when he was young. .
She often came to my place. .
This use has the same meaning as used to.
I used to swim a lot in summer but I dont go swimming any more. , .
Samantha used to have headaches, now she feels quite well. , .
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3. We use the past simple to talk about a series of actions in the past.
I came home, made my coffee and sat down to watch TV. , .
She finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim. , , .
4. We use the past simple to talk about actions that happened for a long period of time.
We lived in London from 2005 to 2012. 2005 2012 .
I learned the Spanish language from 2005 to 2010. 2005 2010 .
5. We use the past simple to talk about parallel actions in the past (the focus is on the facts rather than duration).
Sally read to the children while Kevin washed up. , .
I cant remember how to answer this question. I must confess that I didnt listen while the teacher explained it to us. . , , .
6. We use the past simple (not the present perfect) to refer to a belief that has just been shown to be true or false.
Its not as tasty as I expected. , .
You are older than I thought. , .
