Test yourself!

THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Positive	Negative	Interrogative
I have been working He has been working She has been working It has been working We have been working You have been working They have been working	I have not been working He has not been working She has not been working It has not been working We have not been working You have not been working They have not been working	Have I been working? Has he been working? Has she been working? Has it been working? Have we been working? Have you been working?   Have they been working?
I’ve been working She’s been working	You haven’t been working He hasn’t been working	Who has been working? He has been working, hasn’t he?

Grammar Reference

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Inclusive	Exclusive
denotes an action which began in the past, has been going on up to the present and is still going on	denotes an action which was recently in progress, but is no longer going on at the present moment
It is usually used with: since, for, how long, since when
· I have been looking for my folder for the last 10 minutes.	· You look tired. You have been workinga lot.
It is rendered in Russian by the present.	It is rendered in Russian by the past.

Note:

The verbs not used in the Continuous form can not be used in the Perfect Continuous form either. In this case we use the Perfect form:

• I have known him since last year.

Exercise 1

Read and translate the following sentences. Explain the use of the Present Perfect Continuous Tense in each sentence.

1. The paralegal has been looking for the police report since morning.

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2. The attorney is very exhausted as he has been working with his clients for four hours.

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3. Have you been reading the client’s medical record long?

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4. How long have the lawyer and paralegal been discussing the status of important documents?

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5. Ann has been writing the application since lunch time.

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6. I have been making copies of all the correspondence since early morning.

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7. - What is she doing?

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- She is making up an agenda.

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- How long has she been working?

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- She’s been working on it since 10 o’clock.

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- Has she done much?

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- She’s already prepared half of it.

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8. - Has the prosecutor charged the offender with a crime?

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- No, he hasn’t.____________________________________________

- Why?___________________________________________________

- The investigators are still collecting additional evidence. They have been collecting it for 3 months already.

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9. The parties have been discussing the contract since lunch time.

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10. The offender has been giving his testimony for an hour already.

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Exercise 2

Read the situation and say how long something has been happening.

1. I’m signing the documents. I started signing them at 10 o’clock.

I …………………………………………………………… since 10 o’clock.

2. The secretary is looking for a form letter. She began looking 15 minutes ago.

The secretary…………………………………….……………for 15 minutes.

3. Mary is working for Butler and Evans Associates. She started working there on the 18^th of January.

Mary ……………………………………………….since the 18^th of January.

4. The witness for the defense is giving his evidence now. He started speaking 5 minutes ago.

The witness for the defense ……………………………………for 5 minutes.

5. The investigators are collecting the evidence. They arrived to the crime scene 20 minutes ago.

They ……………………………………………...…………. for 20 minutes.

6. The employees are suing their company. They began suing in August.

They ………………………………………….……since August.

7. Mr. Smith is a paralegal. He began working as a paralegal 2 years ago.

He ………………………………………………………….……. for 2 years.

8. The attorney is looking through the correspondence. He began to do it at 11 o’clock.

He …………………………………………………………. since 11 o’clock.

9. The prosecutor is asking questions of the witnesses. He started half an hour ago.

The prosecutor ……………………………………...……….for half an hour.

10. The public organizations are discussing a new local law. The discussion began a month ago.

The public organizations ……………………………….……… for a month.

Exercise 3

Open the brackets using the Present Continuous Tense or the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

1. I (to try) ____________________ to recall all the details since you spoke to me in court. In fact, I (to try) __________________ to do it right now.

2. “There’s a man sitting at the first table near the door. He (to look) ________________ at us,” she said. “He is, but what of it?” – “I (to meet) _________________him everywhere of late”.

3. Ever since the University days I (to think of) ______________ starting my own business. Now I (to prepare) _______________ all the necessary documents.

4. “Where is my client?” – “She (to talk) _____________ to a policeman”. – “What has happened?” – “She (to drive) ­­­­_____________ without a license”.

5. The clerk of the court (to type) ________________ with small intervals ever since she came back from the court.

6. There is nobody to be afraid of in that room. You (to read) ________________ detective stories again?

7. He had barely entered the room when his secretary said: “Somebody (to ring)________________ for you for the last ten minutes.”

8. “What the jurors (to do) ________________?” “They (to listen) _____________________ to the evidence all morning.”

9. Andy (to read) _________________ up statistics on the juvenile delinquency as he (to study) ________________ this problem for 2 years.

10. I (to stay) ___________________ with some American colleagues in Chicago. I (to stay) _______________with them for two weeks now. I (to have) _______________ a great time here. I (to take) _________________ the opportunity to improve my English.

Exercise 4

Open the brackets using the Present Perfect Tense or the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

1. I (to work) ________________________ with the preliminary documents since I came to work. Now I (to sign) __________________ the intake memo.

2. Those people (to wait) ________________ for the judge for the last fifteen minutes. I’m afraid they don’t know that he (to leave) _____________ for trial.

3. What (to happen) ________________ to the secretary? I (to ring) ________________ her up the whole evening and nobody (to answer) __________________.

4. I (to practice) ________________ law long, but I (not to deal) _________________ with such a complicated case for all these years.

5. “You (to complete) ____________________ your research at last,” he said. “I (to wait) _______________ for the results long”.

6. “How long you (to know) _________________________ about this offence?” - “I (to know) ____________________about it since last Friday.”

7. She (to study) _________________ Legal English for a year and (to learn) _______________ many legal words and expressions by now.

8. They (to settle) ___________________ this case for about a month but they (not to come) ______________________ to an agreement yet.

9. The jurors (to conduct) ___________________deliberations on the verdict for an hour already but they (not to come) _______________ to any decision.

10. “I know what you (to think) _________________of these last days,”- he said. “You (to make) up your mind?” __________________________

11. I (to tell) _________________ you so for years but you never (to pay) ____________________ attention to my words.

12. The lawyer (not to see) _________________ his client since the court acquitted him of misusing his company’s money.

Exercise 5

Read the situations and write down questions from the words in brackets.

1. Your neighbor tells you that her husband is in prison. You ask her: (how long /to be/ in prison?)

How long has your husband been in prison?

2. You meet a man who tells you that he teaches Civil Law. You ask him: (since when /to teach/ Civil Law?) ________________________________________________________________

3. You know that Steve is a paralegal of Judge Simpson’s. You ask him: (how long /to know/Judge Simpson?) ________________________________________________________________

4. The judge wears the same wig. It’s a very old wig. You ask him: (how long /to have/ that wig?) ________________________________________________________________

Jane is serving in the police force. You ask her: (since when /to serve/ in the police force?) __________________________________________________________________ Exercise 6

Make up your own story about your friend. Try to use in your story the Present Indefinite, the Present Perfect, the Present Continuous and the Present Perfect Continuous Tenses. This story is done for you.

…Mary has been trying to pass the Bar Council exams for 5 years. She has taken them eleven times but she has failed them every time. Mary has always wanted to become a judge that is why she has been reading up for the exams all this time. It has cost her about 800 pounds already. She is taking her exam again next week.

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Exercise 7

Translate the sentences from Russian into English, concentrating on the choice between the Present Indefinite, the Present Continuous, the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous Tenses.

1. Чем сейчас занимается Джанин? – Она уже два часа готовит перечень документов, относящихся к делу.

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2. Как давно вы изучаете юридический английский язык? – Я изучаю его два года и уже выучил много терминов из различных областей права. Я хочу работать за границей.

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3. Детектив занимается расследованием этого запутанного дела уже три недели и достал множество неопровержимых улик.

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4. Помощник по правовым вопросам заполняет информационную анкету? – Нет, он ее уже заполнил и сейчас складывает всю корреспонденцию в папку с досудебными документами. Ему также необходимо подготовить договор об оплате услуг для клиента.

5. Уже два года он судится (to sue) с компанией Great Cars Incorporated, но пока не выиграл дело.

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6. Адвокат и его клиент еще не закончили обсуждать вопрос о судебных издержках (legal fees). Они обсуждают его уже час.

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7. Я никогда не встречался с этим адвокатом и хочу послушать его выступление в суде.

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8. Вы давно переводите договор об авансовом гонораре адвоката за ведение дела? – Я перевожу ее с обеда. Мне удалось перевести уже две страницы. Сейчас я работаю над последним параграфом.

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9. Присяжные только что вынесли вердикт под присягой, и судья сейчас зачитывает приговор. Он выступает уже десять минут.

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10. Где адвокат этого клиента? Он ждет его уже 20 минут. – Господин Томпсон беседует со своим помощником в соседнем кабинете.

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Test yourself!

1. Match each term on the left with its definition on the right:

1.intake memo	a. a letter which is printed many times and sent to many different people
2.fee agreement	b. a document that police officers write in order to report a crime
3.retainer agreement	c. a list of things that need to be done in a certain order
4.form letter	d. a contract between an attorney and client for retention of the attorney’s services
5.agenda	e. a document containing information about your health
6.medical record	f. an container where papers, letters and emails can be kept and organized
7.folder	g. a document that outlines an attorney’s cost and expenses
8.police report	h. a questionnaire or set of notes that a lawyer writes for a new client

2. Insert a preposition where necessary:

1) Please, open a file _________ our client, Mr. Smith. I need some more information.

2) Does the file contain _________ the intake memo?

3) Don’t mail the documents ________ Ms. Flow.

4) Have you made _______ the agenda yet?

5) Return these documents to them along ________ our standard form letter, please.

6) Will we have everything we need _______ time?

7) Here is a contract _____________ a lawyer and a client.

8) The lawyer obtained these documents _______ other companies to help _________ the case.

9) I haven’t contacted __________ the hospital ______ my medical record.

10) Have there been any litigation ________ this company?

11) I haven’t checked _______ my paralegal ______ the status of those documents.

3. Translate the sentences from Russian into English without using a dictionary:

1) Вы уже прочли служебную записку? Она лежит на вашем столе с пятницы.

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2) Она долгое время пыталась отправить им стандартный бланк письма.

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3) Вся переписка находится в папке рядом с принтером.

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4) Они пока не позволили адвокату ознакомиться с медицинской карточкой его клиента.

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5) Гн. Рид только что подписал договор об оплате услуг своего адвоката.

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6) Вот список документов, которые необходимо приложить.

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4. Draw a descriptive semantic map showing kinds of preliminary documents. Comment on your map:

Glossary

preliminary	предварительный, вводный
fee	гонорар, взнос, сбор, оплата услуг
memo	заметка, докладная записка, служебная записка, письменная справка
currently	в данное время, в настоящий момент
agenda	предварительная повестка дня, пункты повестки дня
retainer agreement	договор об авансовом гонораре адвокату за ведение дела
form letter	бланк письма, стандартное письмо, письмо-заготовка, образец письма
intake memo	информационная анкета, анкетный бланк, опросник
bill	счет, квитанция
to obtain	получать, доставать
medical record	история болезни, медицинская карточка
demand package	перечень запрашиваемых документов, относящихся к делу
correspondence	корреспонденция, переписка, письма
pre-litigation	досудебный
folder	папка, скоросшиватель
to ensure	обеспечивать, гарантировать, ручаться
list	список, перечень, реестр
certain order	определенный порядок
to complete	заполнять, оформлять
service	услуги, обслуживание
to include	включать, содержать, состоять из, охватывать
to sign	подписывать, скреплять подписью
status	состояние, положение
to enclose	вкладывать, прикладывать, вкладывать в конверт, включать
to return	возвращать, вернуть
relevant	относящийся к делу, уместный, актуальный
the Bar Council	коллегия адвокатов
to acquit	выносить оправдательный приговор, оправдывать
testimony	свидетельские показания, доказательство
crime scene	место совершения преступления
juvenile delinquency	преступность несовершеннолетних, подростковое хулиганство
to come to agreement	прийти к соглашению, договориться
to conduct deliberations	проводить обсуждение членов совета присяжных
irrefutable	неопровержимый, неоспоримый

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