English tenses II

English tenses II

English tenses II

Have a look now at the perfect tenses in English: present perfect, present perfect continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous. Remember what you learned last year: the use of these tenses is sometimes different in both languages.

TENSE	USE	EXAMPLES	SIGNAL WORDS
Present perfect	• to put emphasis on the result • to express an action that is still going on • to express an action that stopped recently • for a finished action that has an influence on the present • for an action that has(n't) taken place before	He has studied two units She has lived here for two years I have made coffee I have lost my keys I have never been to Canada	since, for, ever, just, never, yet, so far, till now, up to now, already, recently, lately
Present perfect continuous	• to emphasise the duration or continuous course of an action • temporary situation • an action that has just stopped	I have been running for an hour I have been living here for a month I have been watching a film on TV	How long , since, for, so far, up to now,
Past perfect	• For past actions or situations which happened before anther past action or situation • For events before a specific time in the past	When I arrived, they had gone to bed By 12:30 they had finished lunch	already, by ..., until that day
Past perfect continuous	• to emphasise the duration or course of an action which happened before another past action	The flowers were wet because it had been raining	for, the whole day,