To make negative statements in the Present Perfect Continuous, use:

 

have/has not (haven’t/hasn’t) + been + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular	Plural
I haven’t been running You haven’t been running He/she/it hasn’t been running	We haven’t been running You haven’t been running They haven’t been running

 

I haven’t been eating all day. I am very hungry.

Vicky hasn’t been sleeping last night and now she looks drowsy.

We haven’t been talking to each other since last Friday.

 

The Present Perfect Continuous is used to talk about a continuing activity in the past that still influences the present moment. This activity might just have stopped or might still be happening:

 

I have been painting the house all day. I am exhausted (past activity affects the present moment).

 

He‘s been fixing his car. He’s covered in oil (while fixing is still taking place).

 

To make the Present Perfect Continuous, use: 

 

have/has + been + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular	Plural
I have been skating You’ve been skating He/she/it has been skating	We’ve been skating You’ve been skating They’ve been skating

 

I’ve been cooking all evening. Now I have to do the dishes.

Jane’s been running for almost an hour. She is very tired.

 

How do you choose between the Present Perfect and Past Simple?

 

Tense	Usage
Present Perfect	Recent actions and events which are connected with the present
Past Simple	Recent actions and events in finished time periods (last week, yesterday, at the weekend, etc)

 

Present Perfect:

 

Jack has lived in Madrid for 10 years so far (and he still lives there).

I’ve just finished reading this book, it’s so amazing (this happened recently and now I share my impressions).

 

Past Simple:

 

Mary called a taxi and left home at 10 o’clock yesterday (finished period of time).

The sun shone all day on Monday (finished period of time).

 

Generally speaking, the Past Simple is used to talk about something that happened at a definite time in the past (yesterday, last week, ago, then, when, etc.). The Present Perfect is used when a particular time is not specified.

 

Past Simple	Present Perfect
I saw a great movie yesterday.	I haven’t seen that movie.
John didn’t climb Mount Everest that year.	Alison has climbed Mount Everest twice.
Margaret ate too much last night.	Tom hasn’t eaten curry before.

 

Use the Present Perfect to talk about an event or situation which began in the past and continues now.

In such statements we often use time expressions with since and for, e.g. for a week, since yesterday, for a long time, since 2010:

 

I love my new office, I’ve worked there for five months already.

Today we celebrate our anniversary, we’ve been married since 2007.

 

Quite often the Past Simple is used immediately after the Present Perfect. In such cases we use the Past Simple to give more details or information:

 

Have you been to Russia?

Yes, I have. I visited Moscow last May.

 

I‘ve lost my watch. I put it on the table and now I can’t find it.

 

Timothy has passed his exam. He got 80%.

 

To make questions in the Present Perfect, use:

 

Have/Has + subject + the past participle form of the verb

 

Singular	Plural
Have I visited? Have you visited? Has he/she/it visited?	Has he visited? Has she visited? Have they visited?

 

Has she seen the latest James Bond movie?

It’s 11 o’clock already. Have you cleaned up your bedroom?

Have you been in France? No, I haven’t.

 

Note: in short positive answers to the Present Perfect questions we use only full forms of have/has. In short negative answers we can also use short forms.

 

Have you read this book?

Yes, I have (No, I haven’t).

 

Has he ever played golf?

Yes, he has (No, he hasn’t).

 

We often use the adverb “ever” when asking questions about events in people’s lives. In such questions we put “ever” before the past participle:

 

Have you ever been to Australia?

Has she ever tried your cooking?

Have they ever met each other?

 

Use “How long…?” to ask for how much time a situation has continued:

 

 

How long has she lived in Rotterdam?

She has lived in Rotterdam for six years.

 

 

To make negative statements in the Present Perfect, use:

 

have/has + not + past participle

 

Singular	Plural
I have not (haven’t) visited You haven’t visited He/she/it hasn’t visited	We haven’t visited You haven’t visited They haven’t visited

 

Jim hasn’t phoned me yet. I’ve been waiting since morning.

I’m not ready to go. I haven’t had a shower yet.

They haven’t danced together for 2 years.     

 

We use the Present Perfect to talk about actions or events in the past that still have an effect on the present moment.

 

The taxi has arrived (and it is here).

I have broken that cup (it is broken now).

Where is Ann? She’s gone to the mall (she is still there).

 

To make the Present Perfect, use:

 

have/has + the past participle form of the verb

(See the section on past participle for more information).

 

Singular	Plural
I have visited You have visited He/she/it has visited	We have visited You have visited They have visited

 

Note: in everyday speech and informal writing we usually use the short form of have/has.

 

I have no cash, I’ve spent it on DVDs.

My team’s just won and I’m very happy.

 

The past participle forms of regular verbs end in “-ed”:

 

work  → I’ve worked

play → he’s played

finish → they’ve finished

 

But many common verbs have irregular past participle forms, like in the examples below:

 

do → done eat → eaten read → read see → seen

make → made find → found speak → spoken come → come

 

For a full list of irregular verbs, see the corresponding section.

 

We often use the Present Perfect to talk about a recent event or action. Use the adverbs “just” and “already” to emphasise that the event or action is recent and happened before now:

 

The train from New-Delhi has just arrived.

I’ve just finished watching the game.

They’ve already finished their trip.

 

We also use the Present Perfect when we think about the past and present together. We use it for past actions or events that are linked to the present (started in the past and are still happening now):

 

I’ve lived in this house for 20 years (I started to live in this house 20 years ago and still live here now).

Jack’s lost his hat (he lost his hat recently and still can’t find it now).

She’s been a famous singer since 2010 (and she still is).

 

To make questions in the Past Continuous, use:

 

Was/Were + subject + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular	Plural
Was I singing? Were you singing? Was he/she/it singing?	Were we singing? Were you singing? Were they singing?

 

Was it snowing yesterday at 5 o’clock?

Were you still skating in the park when Jemma called you?

Were the boys working in the garden when their uncle came round for a coffee?  

 

Note: in short positive answers to the Past Continuous questions we use only full forms of was/were. In short negative answers we can also use short forms of was/were.

 

Were you reading a book?

Yes, I was (No, I wasn’t).

 

Was he playing football at that moment?

Yes, he was (No, he wasn’t).

 

Were they staying at their parents?

Yes, they were (No, they weren’t).  

 

We use the Past Continuous to talk about actions or events that were in progress at a particular time in the past:

 

Jane was reading a book when I came in.

This time last week I was hiking in the Alps.

They were playing football all weekend.

 

To make the Past Continuous, use:

 

was/were + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular	Plural
I was walking You were walking He/she/it was walking	We were walking You were walking They were walking

 

The Past Continuous is often used to describe what was going on when a particular event happened or to give the reason for a past event. That event is usually put in the Past Simple:

 

We were eating lunch when somebody knocked on the door.

The last time I saw him, he was washing his car.

She didn’t go out because she was working late.

I forgot about my meal because I was talking on the phone.

 

We often use the Past Continuous to describe the background of a story. For example, we can talk about the weather or what people were doing before the story (event, action) started:

 

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. Children were playing in the street. Suddenly a heavy grey cloud appeared in the sky.