Present Perfect – Present Perfect-Continuous

 

! Ex 1. Match the sentences 1-4 with the follow-up comments a-d. Explain the use of the tenses.                                                                                        

1. Roger is tired now. 2. Roger is a mechanic. 3. The car is ok now. 4. Roger is in the garage at the moment.

a. He fixes cars. b. He is fixing the car. c. Roger has fixed the car. d. He has been fixing the car.

! Ex 2. Can you explain the difference? Test yourself.

1. My hands are very dirty. I 've been repairing the car.
I 've repaired the car this week. It’s ok now.

2. Ann has been eating too much recently. She should eat less.
Somebody has eaten all my sweets. The box is empty.

3. How long have you been reading that book?
How much of that book have you read?

4. Tom is still writing letters. He ’s been writing letters all day.
He has written ten letters today.

5. They 've been playing tennis since 2 o'clock.
They 've played tennis tree times this week.

 

Ex 3. Make up sentences form the following words. Decide on the correct form of the verb.

 

1. He/take part/in many competitions. ______________________________________________

2. Open the window. Somebody/smoke/here. ________________________________________

3. She/write/four books. ______________________________________________

4. We/know/this family/for 10 years. ___________________________________________

5. You are out of breath. You/run? ____________________________________________

6. Look! The child/fall asleep. ___________________________________________

7. I/run out of money. Can you lend me some? _______________________________________

8. Father/write/children's poems/since/he retire. ______________________________________

Ex 4. Ask a question using the correct verb form.

 

1. She's training young athletes. How many athletes _______________________ (she / train)?

2. Ann is travelling in the east. How long _______________________________ (she / travel)?

3. Jerry translates books. How many books _____________________________ (he / translate)?

4. Jack translates from Japanese. How long ____________________________ (he / translate)?

5. They often visit the hospital. How many times __________________________ (they / visit)?

 

Ex 5. Put the verbs into Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous.

 

1. It’s the first time I _______________________ (ever / eat) octopus!

2. Sandy _________________________ (not see) his sister since she went to university.

3. They ____________________ (go) on holiday to Spain and won’t be back until the end of the month.

4. Poor Jane! She _________________________ (write) that essay for hours now and she still hasn’t finished!

5. _____________________________ (You / ever / meet) anyone famous?

6. I _______________________________ (try) to get in touch with Jenny all morning, but I can’t find her anywhere.

7. I ___________________________ (not finish) the book yet so I can’t tell you what happens.

8. ____________________________ (you / decide) where you are going this summer?

9. We ____________________________ (live) here for the last six years.

10. I ___________________________ (never / hear) such nonsense!

Ex 6. Open the brackets using Present Perfect, Present Perfect-Continuous or Past Simple.

 

1. Many people believe that our climate _____________________ (change) very markedly.

2. Those people _________________________ (wait) for the trolley for the last 15 minutes. They don't know that the electricity _______________________ (go out).

3. ___________________________ (We / meet) before?

4. I _______________________ (try) to catch the waiter's attention for 15 minutes now.

5. Are you partners? — Yes, we _____________________ (found) this company ten years ago and since then we _______________________ (work) together.

6. I ____________________________ (think) about it all day long today and I _____________________________ (just / make) a decision.

7.  _____________________________ (You / ever / do) such work? — Yes, actually, I _________________________ (do) it since I left the college.

8. I’m afraid you can’t drive the car. You ___________________________ (drink)!

9. Where _________________________ (I / leave) my mobile phone?! — But you _____________________________ (just / speak) on it.

10. How long _________________________ (he / have) this computer? — He ______________________ (buy) it two years ago.  

 

Ex 7. Open the brackets using Present Perfect, Present Perfect-Continuous or Past Simple.

 

1. He _____________________ (be) very busy lately. In fact, he ________________________ (work) all round the clock in the last two months.

2. Where is Olga? — She ___________________________ (fall) ill. She _________________________ (catch) a cold two days ago and now she’s feeling really bad.

3. The information __________________________ (come) just now. It’s very important. We ___________________________ (wait) for it since yesterday.

4. Are you hungry? — No, I ____________________________ (just / have) lunch. 

5. Look! At last I _______________________ (find) the site I __________________________ (look) for since morning!

6. You ______________________ (work) in the garden too long today. Let’s go into the house and have a nice cup of tea. And I ____________________ (bring) some tasty cakes for you.

7.  Why __________________________ (you / open) the window while I was out? — I __________________________ (want) to air the room.

8. ___________________________ (You / live) a happy life? — I think so, as all my life I _________________________ (do) only what I wanted.

9. He _____________________________ (try) to start his bike for half an hour already but so far he _________________________ (not manage) to do it. 

10. Who ____________________________ (use) my computer?

 

Ex 8. Translate into English using the correct tense form.

 

1. Александр Шилов – известный российский художник. Он пишет картины с детства. В основном он рисует портреты. Он создал около 500 портретов. Сейчас он работает над еще одним портретом. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Почему у тебя черные губы? Ты ел чернику? ______________________________________________________________________________

3. Какой чудесный запах! Бабушка приготовила яблочный пирог. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Я стою на остановке уже полчаса. ________________________________________________

5. Как долго вы их ждете? _________________________________________________________

6. Они давно обсуждают этот вопрос, но пока ничего не решили. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Ex 9. Translate into English using the correct tense form.

 

1. Почему твои волосы мокрые? – Я плавала. ______________________________________________________________________________

2. Мы не встречались с тех пор, как он уехал в Лондон. Но все это время мы переписываемся. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Где мои очки? Где я их опять оставил? Ну почему я их все время теряю? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Полиция следит за ним вот уже несколько дней, но пока еще не арестовала его. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Я здесь уже полчаса, а где ты был? ______________________________________________________________________________

6. У него есть небольшой бизнес. Он у него уже несколько лет. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Ты прочитал инструкцию к телефону? - Да, я сделал это минуту назад. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. И как давно эта история продолжается? – Все началось в прошлом году. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Past Simple – Past Perfect

 

! Ex 1. Compare the following sentences. Explain the difference.

 

1. We had dinner late yesterday.

2. At 8 o’clock yesterday we were having dinner.

3. By 8 o’clock yesterday we had had dinner.

4. When Alice came, we were having dinner.

5. When Alice came, we had dinner.

6. When Alice came, we had had dinner.

7. Alice wasn’t hungry because she had had dinner.

Ex 2. Put the verbs in brackets into Past Simple or Past Perfect.

 

1. We arrived at work in the morning and found out that somebody ______________________ (break into) the office during the night. So we ________________________ (call) the police.

2. I tried to phone Ann this morning, but there _______________________ (be) no answer. She _______________________ (go) out.

3. I decided to sell my car because I _________________________ (not use) it for years.

4. My friend missed his plane to New York last week. He was at the check-in when he _________________________ (remember) that he ______________________ (leave) his passport at home.

5. When you _______________________ (phone) me yesterday, I _______________________ (already / go) to bed.

6. When I opened the window, the cat _______________________ (jump) out.

7. Last week was very good. By Thursday, six customers ________________________ (place) their orders with us.

8. We ___________________ (not do) our work by 6 o’clock yesterday, so we had to stay late.

9. I was late for the meeting. When I ________________ (arrive) it ________________ (start).

10. She ________________ (to sign) the contract only after she ____________________ (read) it carefully.

11. I didn’t see Jane. She ____________________ (already / leave) when I ________________ (get) to the office.

12. He couldn’t pay the restaurant bill yesterday because he _______________ (lose) his wallet.

13. He ________________ (buy) a car after he _________________ (save) enough money.

14. He _______________ (to feel) sick because he __________________ (to eat) too much.