Present Perfect Simple

Hi you!

Among the things we did this week that has just come to an end, you learnt more about a new tense: The Present Perfect Simple. As its name itself indicates, this is a tense that refers back to the past but extends somehow to the present time. As usual, I'm leaving here the summary of all I told you in class.

Form
Affirmative: Subject + HAVE/HAS + past participle
Negative: Subject + HAVEN'T/HASN'T + past participle
Question: HAVE/HAS + subject + past participle ?
Short Answers: Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.

Examples:You have seen that film many times.
They haven't worked with this company.
Has Mark played chess? No, he hasn't.

Remember that the past participle is formed by adding the -ed suffix to the infinitive form if the verb is regular, and if it is irregular you need the third form of the verbs in the irregular verbs list.

Use 1: Personal experiences and past actions that happened at an unspecified time.
I've lived in England.
People have travelled to the Moon, but they haven't been to Mars.
Have you watched a live football match?

Use 2: Finished action with an influence on the present.
She has had a shower.
We have cooked dinner.
They've lost their keys.

Use 3: With periods of time.
I've known him for long.
John hasn't seen his wife since his father's death.
We've studied English for fifteen years.

The Present Perfect is often used with time particles such as since (indicating the starting point of a period, Spanish desde) and for (indicating the period of time itself, Spanish desde hace).
since 2000, since I started university, since last Monday, since five o'clock.
for ten years , for seven months, for three days, for forty minutes.
Other adverbs which usually go with the Present Perfect Simple are just (acabar de), already (ya), yet (ya, todavía), still (aún, todavía), ever (alguna vez, jamás). Look at the examples below and notice the position of these particles in the sentence:
The headmaster has just gone to his office.
I've already done my homework.
The children still haven't got up.
The children haven't got up yet.
Have you had a shower yet?
This is the best film that I have ever seen.
Have you ever been to Britain?



For practice:Exercise1, Exercise2, Exercise3, Exercise4.

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Past tense review

Last week we revised the past simple, past continuous and past perfect. We stated that the past simple is used for past actions that are finished at a defined moment. The important thing is the action is completed and we know when it happened. Similarly, in the past continuous we know when the action takes place, but the action is uncomplete. So, it expresses an unfinished action at a defined moment in the past. Remember that if the time is not mentioned, the present perfect is used, mostly with periods of time or expressing personal experiences. When we referred to the past perfect I told you that it doesn't often appear in isolation, that's to say, it comes with subordinate clauses with the past simple. It expresses a past action that happened before another action in the past, I mean, it's the past in the past. The action that happened first is expressed with the past perfect, whereas the action that is nearer the present time is in the past simple. Look at these examples:

(A) Tom went to Madrid last week.
(B) The children were doing their homework at 9 o'clock.
(C) Tom has gone to Madrid.
(D) We couldn't get a hotel room because we hadn't booked in advance.

In sentence (A), the action is finished and we know when the action happened, so past simple must be used. Then in (B), at that defined time (nine o'clock) the children were in the middle of a process, they hadn't finished doing their homework, so past continuous is used. However in (C) we don't know when it happened, it may refer to a personal experience, or the result of it affects the present. In example (D), the action that happened first (book a room) is in the past perfect, and that which happened later (get a room) is in the past simple.

Used to

Hello learners:

Today in class we reviewed both the structures and uses of two different constructions: 'Used to' and 'Be/Get Used to'. Remember 'used to + infinitive' expresses past habits that are no longer true in the present. This idea is possible as well through 'usually + past simple' or the more literary one 'would always + infinitive' (typical in narratives). 'Would always' isn't employed with states. Never forget that 'used to' is only possible in the past. In order to express this idea in the present, you need to use 'usually + present simple.' The negative for 'used to' is the expected form 'didn't use to', although some people also use 'usedn't to', which grammatically is correct but a little bit archaic in use.

However, 'be/get used to + verb-ing' expresses that you are in the habit of doing something and thus you're accustomed to doing that something. This structure also admits a noun phrase instead of a verb. Remember it is possible in any tense, present, past, future. Look at these examples:

(A) I used to play the bass as a child.
I usually played the bass as a child.
I would always play the bass as a child.

(B) I'm not used to driving on the left.
She didn't get used to American food.
You'll be used to working overnight.

All the sentences in (A) have the same meaning: "you played the bass when you were a child, but you don't any more." The third sentence here is more literary and it would be used in narrative contexts. The examples in (B) are a bit different in meaning with respect to the previous group. You see the verbs are in different tenses, and also they are followed either by a gerund ('driving', 'working') or by a noun phrase ('American food'). In all of them the sense is similar, to be or get accustomed to something or to doing something.

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For practice: Exercise1, Exercise2, Exercise3, Exercise4, Exercise5.