Main Uses of the Past Continuous Tense

A. We use the past continuous to say that someone was in the middle of doing
something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before
this time but hadn’t finished.

Little Mary came in. She was eating an ice-cream cone.

This time last year I was living in Brazil.

The past continuous does not tell us whether an action was finished or not.
Perhaps it was finished, perhaps not.

Tom was cooking dinner. = He was in the middle of cooking the
dinner and we don’t know whether he finished cooking it.

Tom cooked the dinner. = He began and finished it.

B. We often use the past continuous (I was doing) and the past simple (I did)
together to say that something happened in the middle of something else, in
other words when a shorter action interrupted a longer one:

Tom burnt his hand when he was cooking the dinner.

It was raining when I got up.

But to say that one thing happened after another (in other words there is a
sequence of actions), use the past simple:

Yesterday evening Tom was having a bath when the phone rang.
He got out of the bath and answered the phone.

Other Uses of the Past Continuous Tense

А. We can use the Past Continuous for repeated actions which are temporary,
only for a period:

My car was serviced. I was travelling to work by bus that week.

When we talk about longer, more permanent situations we use the Simple
Past. Compare:

It happened while I was spending my holiday in Africa.
I spent ten years in Africa when a child.

В. We can use the Past Continuous for a past arrangement.

I was busy packing things as I was leaving for the country.

С. Sentences with always, continuously, etc., in the Past Continuous mean ‘very
often’ or ‘too often’:

Do you remember Tom? ~ He was always quoting Shakespeare.

D. Another use of the Past Continuous is to stress that an activity was in
progress at every moment during a period of time:

They were quarrelling the whole time they were together.

E.The Past Continuous is not the normal tense for talking about repeated or
habitual actions. The Past Simple is usually used with this meaning:

I rang the bell six times.

However, the Past Continuous is possible if the repeated actions form a
‘background’ for the main action: At the time he wrote his first review he
was going to the theatres a lot and was also visiting art exhibitions.

THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

(SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS)

Form

The present perfect simple is formed with the present tense of have + the
past participle:

I have worked. I have not worked. Have you worked? Haven’t you work?

He has worked. He has not worked. Has he worked? Hasn’t he work?

The present perfect continuous is formed by the present perfect of the verb
to be + the present participle:

I have been working I haven’t been working have you been working?

He has been working He hasn’t been working Has he been working?

This tense is a sort of mixture of present and past. It always implies a strong
connection with the present and is chiefly used in conversations, letters,
newspapers and television and radio reports.

2. The Present Perfect Used for Past Actions Whose Time is not
Definite

A. The present perfect is used for recent actions when the time is not mentioned:

I have read the rules but I don’t understand them.

Have you seen my passport? - Yes, I have.

Yes, I saw it on your desk a minute ago.

B. Recent actions in the present perfect often have results in the present:

I’ve lost my key. (=I haven’t got it now.)

The lift has broken down. (=We have to use the stairs.)

C. It can also be used for actions which occur further back in the past, provided
the connection with the present is still maintained, i.e. the action could be
repeated in the present:

John Carter has written a number of short stories means that he is
still alive and can write more.

But if John Carter is dead we would say:

John Carter wrote a number of short stories.

3. The Present Perfect Used for Actions Occurring in an Incomplete
Period

A. An incomplete period may be indicated by todayor this
morning/afternoon/evening/week/month/year/centuryetc.

Note that the present perfect can be used with this morning only up to about
one o’clock, with this afternoon up to about five o’clock and so on because
after that time they become completed periods and actions occurring in them
must be put into the simple past:

(at 11 a.m.) Tom has rung up three times this morning.

(at 2 p.m.) Tom rang up three times this morning.

(at 4 p.m.) I haven’t seen Tom this afternoon.

(at 6 p.m.) I didn’t see Tom this afternoon.

The present perfect used with an incomplete period of time implies that the
action happened or didn’t happen at some undefined time during this period:

Have you met Ann today? (at any time today)

But if we know that an action usually happens at a certain time of our
incomplete period we use the simple past tense. If my alarm clock normally
rings at 7 o’clock, I might say at breakfast:

My alarm clock didn’t ring this morning.

B. lately, recently used with the present perfect also indicate an incomplete
period of time and mean ‘at any time during the last week/month etc.’ Note
that both latelyand recentlyare used in negative and interrogative sentences
but in affirmatives recently is generally used:

Has he been here lately/recently?

He hasn’t been here lately/recently.

but: He has been here recently.

C. The present perfect can be used similarly with ever, never, always,
occasionally, often, several times:

-Have you ever fallen off a horse?

-Yes, I’ve fallen off quite often/occasionally.

D. The present perfect used with for and since:

1. for is used to say how long something has lasted.

for used with the present perfect denotes a period of time extending into

the present:

We have lived in London for ten years. (and still live there)

for used with the past simple denotes a terminated period of time:

We lived in London for ten years. (but we don’t live there now)

for can be omitted, especially after be, live and wait:

We’ve waited for you an hour.

for(denoting time) is not used before expressions beginning with all:

They’ve worked all night.

2. sinceis used if we say when something started in the following ways:

since + a point in time means ‘from that point to the time of speaking’:

She has been here since six o’clock.

We’ve been friends since 1975.

since + clause, in which the present perfect or the simple past can be
used depending on the meaning:

I’ve known her since we were children. (we aren’t children any more)

I’ve known her since I’ve lived here. (and still live here)

since, or ever since, adverb:

We had a letter last week. We haven’t heard about him since.

He had an accident last year and has been off work ever since.

4. The Present Perfect (Simple and Continuous) Used for Actions
and Situations Continuing up to the Present

A. When we want to talk about actions or situations which started in the past and
have continued up to the present, we often use the present perfect to show the
connection between past and present.

B. The present perfect continuous is used especially for more temporary actions
and situations; when we talk about more permanent situations, we prefer the
present perfect simple.

I’ve been living in Sally’s flat for the last month.

My parents have lived in Bristol all their lives.

C. Study these examples:

D. Remember that a number of verbs are not normally used in the continuous
form, but that some of these can be used in this form in certain cases.

I have never had such a beautiful ring.

but She has been having a bath for an hour.

I haven’t seen you for ages.

but Tom has just come from the airport. He’s been seeing off his mother.

In addition, the verb want is often used in the present perfect continuous, and
wish is also possible:

Thank you so much for this perfume. I’ve been wanting it for ages.

The present perfect continuous tense does not exist in the passive. The
nearest passive equivalent of a sentence such as They have been repairing the
road would normally be The road has been repaired lately (present perfect
passive), which is not exactly the same thing.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2384