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III. The Present Perfect Continuous vs. The Present Perfect

I. The Pronunciation | IV. Nouns Used only in the Plural | I. The Formation | V. Articles with Nouns in the Possessive Case | General Characteristic | II. Degrees of Comparison | IV. The Use of the Present Indefinite | III. The Use of Present Continuous. | IV. Verbs Not Used in the Continuous Forms. | V. The Present Continuous vs. The Present Indefinite. |


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The Present Perfect Continuous is used: The Present Perfect is used:
when it does not matter whether something has been finished or not. We are interested in the activity
  • I've been polishing the car.
when the important thing is that something has been finished. We are interested in the result of the activity
  • I have polished the car.
mostly for shorter, temporary actions and situations
  • That man has been standing on the corner all day.
  • I haven’t been working very well recently.
to talk about longer-lasting or permanent situations  
  • For 900 years the castle has stood on the hill above the village.
  • He has worked for years.
 
for an activity which is still happening (How long?)
  • How long have you been reading this book?
for a completed action (How much/ how many/ how many times?)
  • How many pages have you read?

 

IV. The Present Perfect Continuous and the Present Perfect as Variants

The Present Perfect Continuous The Present Perfect
1) with 'live' and 'work'
· John has been living in London for a long time. · How long have you been working here? · John has lived in London for a long time. · How long have you worked here?
2) for actions repeated over a long period of time
  • I have been collecting stamps since I was a child.
  • I have collected stamps since I was a child.

PAST TENSES

The past tense refers an action to the past. Therefore it is primarily the tense of narration.

 

The Past Indefinite Tense

I. The Formation

Regular verbs form the Past Indefinite by adding the suffix '-ed' to the Infinitive without the particle 'to'. The Past Indefinite form of the irregular verbs should be remembered.

In interrogative sentences the auxiliary verb 'to do' in the Past Indefinite is placed before the subject. The notional verb is used in the infinitive without the particle 'to'.

In negative sentences the negative particle 'not' is placed between the auxiliary verb and the notional one.



 

II. The Use

1) The Past Indefinite is used to denote completed actions in the past (the actions are cut off from the present). It is also used to denote past states or habits.

 

Note 1: The action may be momentary (a single action completed in the past) or prolonged (occupying a whole period of time now over).

 

Note 2: The time of the action may be indicated by adverbials of past time (yesterday, a week ago, last year, the other day), may be implied in the situation through the mention of the place or other attending circumstances.

 

Note 3: Sometimes reference is made to a particular action which is definite in the mind of the speaker and the hearer (without mentioning the time or the place of the action). Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a question and answer in the Present Perfect.

-I have been to the opera.

-Did you enjoy it?

 

2) Past Indefinite is used to denote a succession of past actions. They may be either single completed actions or actions of some duration occupying a whole period of time. Sometimes the actions follow immediately after each other, or one action causes a result.

3) The Past Indefinite is used to denote repeated, habitual actions in the past.

4) The Past Indefinite is used to denote an action going on at the past moment with statal verbs and certain durative verbs (sit, stand, lie, hang, shine, gleam, talk, speak, wear, carry, walk and some others). In such cases the attention is focused not on its progress but it is the fact as such or the manner in which the action is presented that matters.

 

Note 4: When we speak of inanimate things the Past Indefinite is the norm with the verbs mentioned above.

 

5) The Past Indefinite is used to denote future actions viewed from the past. It occurs:

a) in clauses of time, condition and concession:

b) when we describe plans, schedules, programes, etc. viewed from the past:

 

III. 'used to + infinitive', 'would + infinitive'

In English there are special means of expressing the idea of recurrent or permanent actions in the past.

'would + infinitive' expresses the idea of a past custom. It is typical only of literary style. It is found only in past time contexts and serves to express only recurrent actions.

'used to + infinitive' expresses the idea of a past action or state and implies contrast between the past and the present – what was typical in the past is no longer true at present.

 

Note 1: Two negative forms and two interrogative forms are possible with 'used to'.


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