The main uses of Present Perfect

To talk about single or repeated events which have or haven't happened:

• at an unspecified time in the past - the fact that sth has happened is more important than when it happened - The human race has come a long way

• in the recent past - especially with adverbs like just, yet, already etc.

• in the current time period - today, this year etc.

• during our lifetime up until now - especially with words like ever and never.

• during a specified period up until now - especially with for and since

The main uses of Past Simple

To talk about single or repeated events which happened or didn't happen:

• at a specified time in the past - yesterday, last year, when he was a child etc.

• about people who are no longer alive or situations which are obviously in the past - Dickens wrote a lot of novels. The Romans built a lot of roads.

• during a period which is finished - especially with for.

A note on past and current time periods

Expressions like yesterday, last week and the year before are sometimes referred to as past time periods, while today and this week are referred to as current time periods.

We usually use Past Simple with past time periods and Present Perfect with present time periods. But these are flexible. For example, if it's 1 pm and I haven't had lunch yet, I might consider that it's still morning, so I might use Present Perfect and say - I haven't had any coffee this morning, even though technically 'this morning' has finished.

Conversely when I get home, although it's still 'today', I probably consider my working day to be over and I might use Past Simple and say - I had so much work to do today.

So far

We use so far to mean up until now in a period that is not yet finished. It is often used with numbers or amounts, which we could reasonably expect to increase by the end of the given period; or with situations that could change later.

• We've sold ten contracts so far this week. (and we hope to sell some more)

• So far today, I've had 50 emails. (and no doubt I'll get more)

• We've had no replies so far. (but there's still time)

• How much have you done so far? (I don't expect you to have finished yet)

• Have you enjoyed it so far? (you might change your mind later)

Last week etc and the last week etc

Careful with time expressions like last week/month/year etc. and the last week/month/ year etc. They sound similar, but have different meanings and take different tenses:

• last week - the previous Monday to Sunday (or however you define your week)
- I read three books last week - Past Simple

• the last week - the seven days up until and including today
- I've read four books in the last week. - Present Perfect

The expression the past week has the same meaning as the last week - I've read four books in the past week. Plural expressions such as in the last / past few weeks are also used with Present Perfect.

Recently, lately

The adverbs recently and lately have very similar meanings. Recently is a bit more immediate than lately. And we seem to use lately especially for longer actions - I've been reading a lot of her books lately. Also, we don’t use lately after a verb in Past Simple, except for the construction - it was only lately that...

Note - just, recently

Although recently is usually used with Present Perfect, it can also be used with Past Simple. And the same is true of just, although sometimes the meaning can change slightly.

In your lifetime up until now

We often use Present Perfect without specifying a time - Have you seen 'The Rocky Horror Show'? - and when asking how often somebody has done something - How many times has your mother seen 'The Sound of Music'? - meaning during their lifetime up till now. We often use these adverbs: ever, never, before, often, once etc.

Note - never

Note that although we usually use never with Present Perfect, it can also be used with Past Simple - All the time he lived here, he never came to see us once.

Discussing experiences with Present Perfect and Past Simple

We often use Present Perfect to ask sb generally about an experience, and then switch to Past Simple when we start talking about specifics.

A past period up until now

We use Present Perfect to talk about how long a present situation has lasted, or how many times sth has happened in a given period. We often use these prepositions: for, since

• There hasn't been a school in this village for twenty years now.

• He's worked here since leaving university.

• She's been a nurse for all her working life.

• How many times have you been to the cinema in the last year?

When stressing how long sth has been happening we often use Present Perfect Continuous, but when talking about how often sth has happened, we must use Present Perfect Simple:

• I've been writing emails all morning.

• I've written twenty emails this morning

We also use Present Perfect to talk about change over a given period:

• This town has changed a lot since I was a boy.

• Over the last few years, the rich have become much richer.

• It's got a lot colder in the last few days.

Note - We can also use for with Past Simple (or Past Perfect) to talk about finished periods in the past. We can also use since to talk about past periods, but we only use it with Past Perfect. Note that in this case we use Past Simple for the time reference, even though it was before the period we describe with Past Perfect.

• She lived in France for ten years and then moved to Switzerland.

• He (had) worked at ACME Computers for ten years before joining us.

• Ever since he was a boy, he had liked playing with model trains.

• I bumped into Charles the other day. I hadn't seen him since we were at university together.

Latest News!

News reports about recent events are often in Present Perfect:

And here is today's News:

The EU Commission have announced new measures to help the Euro

Unemployment levels have reached a new high

There have been heavy snowfalls in Scotland

This use of Present Perfect gives more immediacy to the news item. When they start to talk about the details, they usually switch to a past tense:

There have been heavy snowfalls in Scotland. Hundreds of people were stranded in their cars last night as blizzards swept through central Scotland. Several roads were blocked, and the snow also disrupted train services.

We do the same when we give news to other people:

Have you heard? Dan has resigned.

Aunty Sally has bought a new car.

I've signed up for evening classes in Italian.

Again, when we go into details, we often change to past tenses, or a mixture of the two if we introduce new information:

Have you heard? Dan has resigned. Apparently he handed in his resignation yesterday. It seems that he has been head-hunted by the opposition. They contacted him last week and offered him a job with a rather better package than he gets here. And he went for it like a shot.

Fill the gaps with the verbs given in brackets in the correct form, Past Simple or Present Perfect

Given (учитывая) all the hype, you might be forgiven for thinking that with the iPhone, Apple (1) (introduce) the first smartphone - in other words a phone which also has some of the features of a computer. But in fact smartphones (2) (be) around since the nineties.

The first smartphone (3) (be) probably the IBM Simon, which (4) (go) on sale in 1993 and even (5) (have) a rudimentary touchscreen. In 2000 the Ericsson first (6) (use) the term 'smartphone' in the marketing of their R380, which (7) (be built) on an open operating system - Symbian, which now Nokia (8) (announce) it is dropping in favour of Windows Phone.

In the same year Nokia (9) (release) the 9210 communicator, also with the Symbian o.s. and a colour screen. The later communicators (10) (pioneer) many of the features which (11) (since become) associated with smartphones, including built-in camera, Wi-Fi and GPS. But these phones (12) (be) very expensive, and although the clamshell design with its physical keyboard (13) (be) popular with business executives, to this day it (14) (remain) very much a niche product.

Then (15) (come) the more consumer-orientated Nokia 95 with 3G, and from that time Nokia (16) (lead) the smartphone market, in terms of sales, until it (17) (be eclipsed) by Android in 2011.

But Nokia (18) (not have) the market to themselves. In the early 2000s, Symbian's old rival Palm (19) (bring) out the Treo range, and until very recently Blackberry's email oriented devices (20) (dominate) the world of business mobiles.

When 3G (21) (arrive) in Britain in 2003, the public quickly (22) (take) up the new service, but experts noticed that they (23) (not seem) to be so keen to use the special features that 3G (24) (offer), such as video and internet access.

Since then the smartphone scene (25) (change) completely, of course, with an estimated 40% of adults in the UK now owning one. It (26) (be) undoubtedly the arrival of the iPhone which first (27) (alert) people to the real potential of smartphones, but it (28) (be) the continuing, phenomenal rise of Android that (29) (bring) the smartphone to a wider market today.

And although earlier Windows phone systems (30) (be) not so popular, their latest, Windows Phone, (31) (impress) at least some of the experts. And by ditching Symbian, Nokia (32) (now throw) in their lot with Microsoft.

Meanwhile, the BBC iPlayer (33) (make) watching TV on a computer increasingly popular, and the iPlayer app for mobiles (34) (be) a great success. People reading newspapers or surfing the net on their mobiles (35) (become) a common sight on public transport.

But it's strange to think that the iPhone (36) (only be) with us since 2007, and that Android only (37) (really start) to make inroads in 2010. It has been quite a rollercoaster of a ride.

But perhaps the greatest surprise (38) (be) the rise of the tablet. When Steve Jobs first (39) (announce) the iPad, most of the comments were along the lines of - 'Yes, it's very pretty, but who's going to use it, and what's it for?' And now everyone wants to get in on the act. But nobody - as of January 2012 - (40) (yet manage) to produce that elusive creature - the iPad killer.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1262