I haven’t been playing that game

Present Perfect Continuous: negative

 

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 long. 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.

 

 

 

I’ve been doing my homework for an hour

Present Perfect Continuous: statements

 

We use the Present Perfect Continuous 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’ve been skating

You’ve been skating

He/she/it’s been skating

 We’ve been skating

You’ve been skating

They’ve been skating
  • I’ve been cooking this evening. Now I have to do the dishes.
  • Jane’s been running her first marathon today, and she is very happy with her net time.

 

Was it raining?

Past Continuous: questions

 

To make questions in the Past Continuous, put ‘was/were‘ before the subject and add 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.

 

  • – Yes, he was (No, he wasn’t).
  • – Yes, I was (No, I wasn’t).

 

  • – Was he playing football at that moment?
  • – Yes, he was (No, he wasn’t).

 

  • – Were they staying with their parents?
  • – Yes, they were (No, they weren’t).  

 

You weren’t listening

Past Continuous: negative

 

To make negative statements in the Past Continuous, use:

was/were + not + the “-ing” form of the verb:

 

Singular Plural
I was not talking

You were not talking

He/she/it was not talking

 We were not talking

You were not talking

They were not talking

 

  • Peter wasn’t doing his homework when his father came in.
  • Rebecca was angry with her children because they weren’t sleeping when she arrived.    

She was reading a book

Past Continuous: statements

 

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.
  • – Did they have time to see the sights of Rome? – Not really. They were playing football all weekend.

 

To make the Past Continuous, we 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 laughing and playing in the street. Suddenly a heavy grey cloud appeared in the sky.

 

I have broken a cup – I broke many of them

Present Perfect or Past Simple?

 

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 phoned for a taxi and left home at 10 o’clock yesterday (finished period of time).
  • The sun shone all 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 in 2016. 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%.

Mixed Conditionals

We use mixed conditionals when the time of the “if” or condition clause is not the same as the time in the result or main clause.

There are two main types of mixed conditional sentences:

  1. Present Result of a Past Condition
  2. Past Result of a Present or Continuing Condition

 

Present Result of a Past Condition

 

We use this type of sentence to refer to an unreal past condition and its probable present result. More simply, we use it to explain a situation which is not real both in the past and in the present.

 

  • If you had followed the rules, we wouldn’t be in trouble. (but you didn’t follow the rules – in the past – and now we’re in trouble)

 

For these sentences, we use the past perfect in the “if”/condition clause and the present conditional in the result/main clause.

 

If Clause (Condition) Main Clause (Result)
If + past perfect Present conditional (would + verb)

 

Note: The order of the clauses does not matter. But when the condition clause comes first, we put a comma after it. If the main clause comes first, we don’t need a comma.

 

For example:

  • If you had listened to me, you wouldn’t get sick. (but you didn’t listen to me – in the past – and now you are sick)
  • I would have a better job if I had tried harder. (but I didn’t try harder, and now I don’t have a better job)

We can also use modals like might and could in the main clause instead of would.

For example:

  • You might have more money if you had worked more hours.
  • If we had invested in that company, we could be millionaires by now.

 

Past Result of a Present or Continuing Condition

 

This type of mixed conditional sentence refers to an unreal present situation and its probable – yet unreal – past result.

 

We use it to explain conditions that are contrary to the present reality and results that are contrary to the past reality. The time in the condition clause is now or always while the time in the main clause is before now.

 

In this type of sentences, we use simple past in the condition (the “if” clause) and the perfect conditional in the main/result clause.

 

If Clause (Condition) Main Clause (Result)
If + simple past Perfect conditional (would have + past participle)

 

For example:

  • If we knew about the project, we would have helped.
  • I would have touched the snake if I wasn’t afraid of them.

 

Again, we can use modals like might and could instead of would in the result clause.

 

For example:

  • She could have climbed the wall if she were stronger.
  • I might have invited her to my baby shower if we were friends.

 

Would you like tea?

Article: zero

 

No article – the so-called ‘zero article’ – is put before plural and uncountable nouns that have a general meaning.

  • Tea is mostly imported from India and Sri Lanka.
  • Cats drink milk.
  • I like comics.

 

We can use the zero article (no article) in the following ways:

 

1. with plural nouns that are not specific:

  •  I see flowers in the vase.
  • We have bananas in the kitchen.

 

2. to talk about places and institutions whose purpose is clear to everyone:

  • Children start school in September.
  •  It’s time to go to bed, kids!

 

3. to talk about names of places:

  •  London is the capital of Great Britain.
  •  You’ll see many beautiful sights all over Vienna.
Note: Some places, specifically some countries, do have the definite article ‘the‘ in front of them, i.e. the United Kingdom (the UK), the USA (the United States of America), the Netherlands, etc.

 

4. with plural nouns to talk about a class of things in general:

  • Cheetahs run faster than any mammal. (the whole species in general, not particular cheetahs)
  • Rivers always flow into seas and oceans.

 

5. with the names of persons. (Of course, we can still use ‘the’ to differentiate between two or more persons that might have the same names):

  •  Yesterday I saw Tim Smith.
  • Was it the Tim Smith who visited our meeting last Friday or someone else?

 

6. with other determiners:

  •  I need some information.
  •  My house is next to the bus stop.

 

7. with uncountable or abstract nouns:

  •  Do you like coffee?
  •  Art is subjective.

*The other articles include ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’.

 

I liked the book you gave me

Article: definite

 

We use the definite article ‘the’ in front of countable and uncountable nouns to talk about specific things, the only one of its kind, things everyone knows about, or, to refer back to something that’s already been mentioned.

  •  The window in my room is open. (specific window “in my room”)
  •  Did you buy your notebook in the shop near our college?  
  •  I love this cafe; the croissants here are delicious. (refers to specific croissants of this cafe)

 

We can use ‘the’ in the following ways:

 

1. to refer back to a person or thing that has already been mentioned earlier or that is known from the context:

  • There is an early train to London, so I suggest that we take the train. (refers back to ‘an early train’)
  •  This is a cat. The cat is grey, and its paws are white. (refers back to ‘a cat’)
  • There are an apple and a pear on a plate. I will take the apple.

 

2. before superlative forms:

  •  This is the best restaurant in the city.
  •  Michael prefers only the oldest artifacts for his collection.
  •  What is the biggest lake in the world?

 

3. before ordinal numbers and the words ‘first’, ‘last’, ‘right’, ‘wrong’, ‘only’:

  •  This is the first time I’ve been here.
  •  You are the best!
  •  She is the only woman I love.

 

4. with common expressions such as: in the morning; in the evening; in the afternoon; to/at the cinema/theater/movies; to/at the shop/market/store:

  •  Let’s go to the theater tonight.
  •  They came in the evening and stayed for half an hour.
  •  I’m running to the store. Do you need anything?

 

More common expressions that use ‘the’:

●  all the same

●  by the way

●  in the afternoon/night

●  on the one hand/on the other hand

●  on the right/on the left

●  on the whole

●  the day after tomorrow

●  the day before yesterday

●  (one or) the other

●  play the (piano/violin)

●  to tell the truth

 

5. before one of a kind or unique things (names of places, planets, unique titles, etc.):

  •  Look at the moon; it’s so beautiful tonight.
  •  Tim is traveling across the Atlantic Ocean.
  •  The Pope is visiting Brazil next month.

 

6. to refer to specific things that are defined by a phrase, (often a relative clause), immediately following the noun:

  •  The novel I read yesterday was pretty interesting. (not any novel, but the one I read yesterday)
  • The movie that I saw earlier will be on TV next week.
  •  The muffins that they sell here are absolutely delicious.

 

7. with adjectives that act as nouns to describe a whole class or group of people or things:

  • These luxurious estates are owned by the rich.
  • People in our town always help the poor.
  • The elderly always try to teach the young.

 

Note: We use the indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ when the noun is not specific, known, or in any other case not mentioned above. But, sometimes we do not use an article at all. For certain uncountable nouns or when a noun is used to refer to a whole group or category, we do not use an article. We call this the zero article.

 

I can see a bird

Article: indefinite

 

Articles are small words used to show whether a noun they precede has a general or specific meaning. We use articles before most nouns.

 

There are three types of articles:

  1. Indefinite: ‘a/an’
  2. Definite: ‘the’
  3. Zero: no article

 

A/An

 

We use the indefinite article – ‘a/an’ – mostly with countable nouns to talk about general things. If the noun refers to one of many of its kind or is non-specific, we use the indefinite article.

  •  Mary is a teacher. (Profession in general meaning)
  •  Peter works in an office. (General type of workplace, not a specific office)
  •  Is there a school in your village? (School in general, not a particular school)

 

Note: We use ‘a’ before words that begin with a consonant (with a few exceptions):

  • a tree, a ball, a pupil, a dog

We use ‘an’ before words that begin with a vowel or vowel sound:

  • an apple, an engineer, an hour (vowel sound), an honour (vowel sound)

 

Basically, we use ‘a/an’ in the following ways:

 

1) to talk about a general thing among many of its type:

  •  I’m planning to buy a car next month. (type and make of that car are not known)
  •  Jane would like to have a pet. (not specific)
  •  Is there a bank near here?

 

2) to talk about jobs and occupations:

  •  Mary is a student and Tom is a teacher.
  •  Shakespeare was a writer.
  •  When I grow up, I want to become a doctor.

 

3) with singular countable nouns to talk about only one person or one thing:

  •  Juliette has a brother.
  •  Do you want a piece of cake?
  •  A cat plays with a ball.

 

4) to talk about something for the first time:

  •  I bought a new pen for you, Charlie. Don’t forget to put the pen* into your school bag.

*When we mention the pen again, we use the definite article the.

 

5) in certain structures such as ‘this is/that is’, ‘there is/there was’, ‘such a/what a’:

  •  This is an important meeting.
  •  What a tasty cake!
  •  He is such a nice man.

 

Some/Any

 

In positive statements with plural nouns, use ‘some’ instead of ‘a/an’.

  •  There are some books on the shelf.
  •  I see some runners crossing the street.

 

In questions and negative statements with plural nouns that are non-specific, we use ‘any’ instead of ‘some’:

  •  Are there any cafes in your town?
  •  Are there any places of interest on this street?
  •  There aren’t any leaves left on the tree.
  •  On Mondays there aren’t any visitors in our museum.