Grammar2Easy

Present perfect with how long; simple past with when; since and for

A) Use the simple past (I did) to ask or say when something happened:

·         A: When did it start raining?

·         B: It started raining at one o'clock / an hour ago.

·         A: When did Joe and Carol first meet?

·         B: They first met when they were in college / a long time ago.

Use the present perfect (I have done / 1 have been doing) to ask or say how long something has been happening (up to the present):

·         A: How long has it been raining?

·         B: It's been raining since one o'clock / for an hour.

·         A: How long have Joe and Carol known each other?

·         B: They've known each other since they were in college / for a long time.

B) Since and for

We use both since and for to say how long something has been happening:

·         I've been waiting for you since 8 o'clock.

·         I've been waiting for you for two hours.

We use since when we say the beginning of the period (8 o'clock).

We use for when we say the period of time (two hours).

·         She's been working here since April. (= from April until now)

She's been working here for six months. (not since six months)

·         I haven't seen Tom since Monday. (= from Monday until now)

 I haven't seen Tom for three days. (not since three days)

We do not use for in expressions with all (all day / all morning / all week / all my life, etc.):

·         I've lived here all my life. (not for all my life)

C) Note the structure How long has it been since .. ?:

·         A: How long has it been since you had a vacation?

·         B: It's been (= it has been) two years since I had a vacation. (= I haven't had a vacation for two years.)

·         It's been ages since Aunt Helen visited us. (= She hasn't visited us for ages.)

Present Perfect continuous (I have been doing) or Present Perfect Simple (I have done?

A) Study this example situations:

 C) Some verbs are not used in the continuous form, for example know. You have to say have known (not have been knowing). For a list of these verbs see Unit 3b.

(A) Study this example situation:

Is it raining?

No, it isn't, but the ground is wet.

It has been raining.

This is the present perfect continuous tense:

I/we/they/you have (= I've, etc.)  been doing 

he/she/it has (= he's, etc.) been doing

We use the present perfect continuous when we talk about an action that began in the past and has recently stopped or just stopped.

Here are some examples:

It is raining now. It began to rain two hours ago, and it is still raining.

It has been raining for two hours.

We often use the present perfect continuous in this way, especially with how long, for, and since.

 Here are some more examples:

• Have you been working hard today?
  
• How long have you been studying English?
  
• They've been waiting here for over an hour.
  
• I've been watching television since 2:00.
  
• George hasn't been feeling very well lately .
  

 You can also use the present perfect continuous (with how long, for, and since) for actions repeated over a period of time:

• She has been playing tennis since she was eight.
  
• How long have you been smoking?
  

 For more information about the present perfect + since/for, see Units 18~19. For the dif­ference between the present perfect simple and present perfect continuous, see Units 17-18.

Present Perfect (I have done)

(A) Study this example situation:

Tom is looking for his key. He can't find it. 

He has lost his key.

"He has lost his key" means that he lost it a short time ago and he still doesn't have it.

This is the present perfect (simple) tense:

I/we/they/you have (= I've, etc.) lost

he/she has (= he's, etc.) lost

I (etc.) haven't lost

he/she hasn't

has he/she lost

have you (etc.) lost?

We form the present perfect with have/has + the past participle. The past participle often ends in -ed (opened, decided), but many important verbs are irregular (lost, written, done, etc.). See Appendix 2.

(B) When we use the present perfect, there is a connection with the present:

· I've lost my key. (= I don't have it now.)

· Jim has gone to Canada. (= He is in Canada or on his way there now.)

(C) We often use the present perfect to give new information or to announce a recent happening:

· I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

· Did you hear about Jim? He's gone to Canada.

You can use the present perfect with just (= a short time ago):

· "Would you like something to eat?" "No, thanks. I've just had lunch."

· Hello, have you just arrived?

Use the present perfect with already to say something has happened sooner than expected:

· "Don't forget to mail the letter." "I've already mailed it."

· "When is Tom going to start his new job?" "He has already started."

Note that you can also use the simple past (I did I I lost, etc.) in the above situations.

· I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

· "Would you like something to eat?" "No thanks. I just had lunch."

· "Don't forget tomai! the letter." "I already mailed it."

(D) Study the difference between gone to and been to:

· Beth is on vacation. She has gone to Italy. (= She is there now or she is on her way there.)

· Tom is back from his vacation. He has been to Italy. (= He was there, but now he has come back.)

(See also Unit 114.)

For the present perfect see also Units 14-19.

For the present perfect and simple past see Units 19-20.

Past continuous (I was doing)

A) Study this example:

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:

- This time last year I was living in Brazil.

- What were you doing at 10 o'clock last nigh?

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

- Tom was cooking the dinner. (past continuous) = He was in the middle of cooking the dinner and we don't know whether he finished cooking it.

- Tom cooked the dinner (past simple) = He began and finished it.

C) 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:

- Tom was burnt his hand when he was cooking the dinner.

- I saw Jim in the pub. He was drinking gin and talking to the barman.

- It was raining when I got up.

- While I was working in the garden, I hurt my back.

But to say that one thing happened after another, 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.

Compare:

- When Tom arrived, we were having dinner. (past continuous) = We had already started dinner before Tom arrived.

- When Tom arrived, we had dinner. (past simple) = Tom arrived and then we had dinner.

Note: There are some verbs (for example know) which are not normally used in continuous tenses.

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Past simple (I did)

A) Study this example : 

                      -            I very much enjoyed the party.

                      -            Mr. Edwards died ten years ago.

                      -            When I lived in Manchester, I worked in a bank. 

B) Very often the past simple ends in -ed :

                      -            We invited them to our party but they decided not to come.

                      -            The police stopped me on my way home last night.

                      -            She passed her examination because she studied very hard. 

But many important verbs are irregular.This means that the past simple does not end in -ed. For Example:

leave    → left              We all left the party at 11 o’clock.

go        → went           Yesterday I went to London to see a friend of mine.

cost      → cost            This house cost $35,000 in 1980. 

The past of the verb be (am/is/are) is was/were :

I was angry because      Tom and Ann were late.                                               

C) In past simple questions and negatives we use did/didn’t + the infinitive (do/open/rain etc.):

                           It rained                      did it rain?                 It didn’t rain

                      -            Ann           : Did you go out last night, Tom?

                     -            Tom           : Yes, I went to the cinema. But I didn’t enjoy the film.

                     -            When did Mr. Edwards die?

                     -            What did you do at the week-end?

                     -            We didn’t invite her to the party, so she didn’t come.

                     -            Why didn’t you phone me on Tuseday? 

Note that we normally use did/didn’t with have:

                     -            Did you have time to write the litter?

                     -            I didn’t have enough money to buy anything to eat. 

But we do not use did with the verb be (was/were):

                     -            Why were you so angry?

                     -            They weren’t able to come because they were very busy.

When and If sentences (When I do … If I do ……..)

A) Study this example:

- I'll send you a postcard when I'm on holiday. (not 'when I will be')

- When the rain stops, we'll go out. (not 'when the rain will stop')

 The same thing happens after:

while               after                 before              until / till                      as soon as

- Can you look after the children while I am out? (not 'will be')

- Before you leave, you must visit the museum. (not 'will leave')

- Wait here until I come back. (not 'will come')

B) You can also use the present perfect (I have done) after when / after / until etc. to show that the first action will be finished before the second:

- When I've read this book, you can have it.

- Don't say anything while Tom is here. Wait here until he has gone.

It is often possible to use present simple or present perfect:

- I'll come as soon as I finish.

Or                    I'll come as soon as I've finished.

- You'll feel better after you have something to eat.             

Or        You 'll feel better after you've had something to eat.

C) After if we also use the present simple I do for the future:

- It's raining. We'll get wet if we go out. (not 'if we will go')

- Hurry up! If you don't hurry, we'll be late. (not 'if we wont' hurry').

Be careful not to confuse when and if.

Use when for things which are sure to happen:

- I'm going shopping this afternoon. If I go shopping, I'll buy some food.

- If it rains this evening. I won't go out. (not 'when it rains')

Don't worry if I'm late tonight. (not 'when I'm late')

- If he doesn't come soon, I'm not going to wait. (not 'when he doesn't come').