English Grammar in Use:
⚡️Further reading on the differences between the Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous Tenses⚡️
(1) I have been playing tennis for five years.
The tense is the Present Perfect Continuous Tense. The time phrase indicates the duration (five years). The combination of the tense and the time phrase forces us to read it as: "I have been playing tennis for five years now." This gives us the reading that the activity has been going on for five years up until now. It also implies that the activity is likely to keep continuing, at least in the immediate future.
(2) I have played tennis for five years.
The tense is the Present Perfect Simple. The time phrase is, again, "for five years". However, the sentence is different from (1). It doesn't force us to read the time part as "for five years up to now".
It's unclear exactly when exactly in the past the speaker has played tennis. All we know is that it happened before now, at least five years but before now not up to now. (In other words, it's possible to read the sentence as "At some point in my life, I've played tennis for five years.") It's unclear whether it has ended or not. It's also possible that it's been continued up until now, and possibly will continue into the future. The speaker says nothing explicitly, so we have a wider range of possible readings.
Having said that, the preferred reading, out of context, is: "I have played tennis for five years now." Which means nearly the same thing as (1). When we read both alternatives as "for five years now", the difference is very little. To demonstrate such a small difference, these examples can be helpful:
How long have you been playing tennis?
I've been playing tennis for five years.
Do you know how to play tennis?
Of course, I've played tennis for five years.
⚡️Further Notes on the differences between the Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous Tenses⚡️
♦️(1) When we want to express, ask or tell "how long" or the "time duration" of an action, the Present Perfect Continuous would be more natural:
a - He has been learning English since 2002.
b- They have been watching TV for two hours.
BUT REMEBER:
Some verbs express "state" not "action"; therefore, we use the Present Perfect Simple not the Continuous which "State Verbs" that we have discussed earlier in our course:
a- We have known each other since 2002.
b- I have had a car for two years.
To conclude:
- Dynamic implies change (action)
- Stative implies no change (state)
1. Most verbs in English are dynamic: work, live, eat, etc.
2. A small group of verbs are stative: (know, understand, etc.).
3. Exceptions to the rule: some verbs can be used in a dual sense i.e. a stative or a dynamic sense:
"be": although "be" is generally stative it can have a temporary dynamic sense: My boss is being nasty.
The verb <live> can be used in a stative sense when it means to "stay" or "be alive" i.e. a state: He didn't live to see the realization of his dream. All other meanings are dynamic.
The verb "come" is another example compare:
I come from Germany (stative: I am from Germany)
I am coming from Germany (dynamic: travelling).
It measures four metres. (stative)
He is measuring the car. (dynamic)
4. Sometimes you make a stative verb dynamic to add emphasis only:
I hope she...
I am hoping she.... (dynamic: hope very much).
Final Note:
The verbs "live", "work" and "smoke" are usually said to be treated as stative verbs not actions.
♦️(2) In negative sentences, it's more natural to use the Present Perfect Simple not the Present Perfect Continuous. If you remember, the Present Perfect Simple expresses an action that has started and finished or never happened before. The Continuous expresses an action that has started before now and has been continuing up until now.
So, there is no need to focus on the duration of a verb that is has not happened at all:
- I have not played music before. (correct)
- I have not been playing music before. (unnatural)
⚡️Further Notes on the differences between For and Since⚡️
The use of FOR
We use "For" when we measure the duration – when we say how long something lasts.
For + the length of a period of time
♦️To measure a period of time up to the present, we use the present perfect tense and not the present tense.
- I have known her for a long time. (Correct)
- I know her for a long time. (Incorrect)
- I have lived here for ten years. (Correct)
- I live here for ten years. (Incorrect)
♦️Notice: The present tense with "For" refers to a period of time that extends into the future.
- How long are you here for? (Until when in the future)
- How long have you been here for? (Since when in the past)
♦️Notice: In reality, we can use all verb tenses with "For":
- They exercise for two hours every day. (Simple Present)
- They are exercising for three hours today. (Present Continuous)
- He has lived in Moscow for a long time. (Present Perfect)
- He has been living in Turin for three months. (Present Perfect Continuous)
- I worked at the service station for five years. (Simple Past)
- He will be in hospital for at least a week. (Simple Future)
The use of SINCE
♦️"Since" gives the starting point of actions, events or states. It refers to when things began. After "since" you always see a Simple Past time marker (not a length of a period of time).
- She has been watching TV for three hours. ("three hours" is not a simple past time marker. It is a period of time. So, we must use "for" not "since".)
- She has been watching TV since 03:00 p.m. ("03:00 p.m." is a simple past time marker. So, we must use "since" not "for".)
♦️"Since" + a point in time (in the past), until now.
- I've been waiting since 7 o'clock.
- I have known him since January.
With since we use the present perfect tenses or the past perfect tenses.
- I have been here since 5 o'clock and I am getting tired.
- I had been working since 5 o'clock and I was getting tired.
♦️Since can also be used in the structure It has been + period of time + since.
- It has been two months since I last saw her. (Remember: "I last saw her" is simple past, so we use "since")
- It has been three years since the last earthquake.
♦️♦️♦️SUMMERIZATION♦️♦️♦️
♦️ "FOR" to mention a specific period (or duration) of time.
I have been a doctor for fifteen years. (duration = 15 years)
♦️"SINCE" to mention the starting point of a period of time (continues to now).
I have been a doctor since 1992. (starting point = 1992)
♦️ Both "For" and "Since" are most commonly used with the perfect tense - we don't use these expressions in the present tense.
- I have learnt Russian for three years. (correct)
- I learn Russian for three years. (incorrect)
♦️While we can use "For" in the Simple Past tense, we can't use "Since" in the Simple Past tense. "Since" can only be used in the perfect tenses.
- She went to Japan for three years. (correct)
- She went to Japan since 2003. (incorrect)
♦️ It worth mentioning that both "For" and "Since" have other meanings in English that are not associated with time.
- This is for you.
- Is this the train for London?
- Since you asked, I'll say yes.
- Since he didn't study, he didn't pass the exam.
⚡️Further Notes on the differences between Present Perfect and Past Simple⚡️
Remember:
1- We use the past simple for past events or actions which have no connection to the present.
❌ (Tom doesn't have his book now.) He lost it.
✅ (Tom has his book now.) He lost it.
2- We use the present perfect for actions which started in the past and are still happening now OR for finished actions which have a connection to the present.
❌ (Tom doesn't have his book now.) He lost it.
✅ (Tom doesn't have his book now.) He has lost it.
3- We CAN'T use the present perfect with a finished time word (specific time):
❌ I've been to the museum yesterday.
✅ I went to the museum yesterday.
4- The Present Perfect is connected in someway to the present while the Past Simple is not at all::
✅ She has gone to London. (She must be in London now).
✅ She went to London. (She may or may not be in London now).
5- We cannot use a specific time with the present perfect tense, but we can tell how many times.
- We have gone camping twice.
6- We can also tell the number of times with past tense sentences. We usually do this when we are telling the number of times and a specific time.
- I visited Australia two times in 2015.
7- Sometimes, the present perfect can be used for things that finished very recently. In these situations, we can use either the past tense or the present perfect tense.
Both "just or recently" can be used in the Present Perfect and Past Simple while the adverb "lately" can be used in the Present Perfect ONLY.
- The company just announced their sales results. (Past Tense)
- The company has just announced their sales results. (Present Perfect)
8- If there is no specific time, then we can use both. They have the same basic meaning.
- I went there.
- I have been there.
If you still have further questions, you can contact us via @EngGraBot.
⚡️Further Notes on the differences between Present Perfect and Past Simple⚡️
♦️ Use the simple past when the action started in the past, finished in the past, and is not continuing now.
♦️ Use the present perfect when the action started in the past and is continuing now (or even if it has finished, usually finishes in the recent past and has a result on now).
The simple past tells us that an action happened at a certain time in the past, and is not continuing anymore. It tells us when an action happened, so more information needs to be given with this verb form, such as when the action took place.
The present perfect tells us that an action started in the past and it is still happening now, or it is something that happens regularly. We may need more information to tell us how long it has been going on. It may also tell us that the time period it started in is still going on.
The following example sentences show the different meanings when using the two verb tenses.
♦️ The sun rose at 6:00 am.
(Simple Past: We know that the sun came up at a time in the past and it is not rising now. The sun may or may not be in the sky when this statement is made. The time is important to add.)
♦️ The sun has risen.
(Present perfect: We know that the sun already rose, and it is still in the sky now.)
♦️ Jackson ate lunch early.
(Simple Past: Eating lunch has started and ended in the past. Someone might say this when the time for eating lunch has also ended. Lunch happened early, and it is over now.)
♦️ Jackson has eaten lunch.
(Present Perfect: Jackson started and finished eating lunch in the past, but lunch time is still going on. Someone might say this when others are preparing to eat lunch, and they want to know whether Jackson will join them.)
♦️ Jeff was friends with Kelly when he was a kid.
(Simple Past: This tells us that Jeff is not friends with Kelly anymore, and the additional information tells us when he was friends with her in the past.)
♦️ Jeff has been friends with Kelly since he was a kid.
(Present perfect: This tells us that Jeff was friends with Kelly before now and is still friends with her now. The friendship is continuing, and the additional information tells us how long it has been going on.)
♦️ She lived in Paris for a year.
(Simple Past: This action started and finished in the past. She no longer lives in Paris. It is important to know the action lasted for a year.)
♦️ She has lived in Paris for a year.
(Present perfect: This action started in the past and is still going on now; it has not finished. She lives in Paris now, and additional information tells us how long she has lived there.)
♦️ Laila ran two marathons last year.
(Simple Past: We know Meg ran two marathons in the past, and the time period the action started in and finished in—last year—has ended.)
♦️ Laila has run two marathons this year.
(Present perfect: We know Meg started running marathons this year. However, this year has not ended and she may run more marathons before the end of the year.)
💫💫 The golden rule is that: 💫💫
1- Don't use the Present Perfect with specific past time.
2- Don't use the Present Perfect with finished time periods.
✅ John had breakfast this morning.
(We are now in the afternoon or evening. The morning period is finished.)
✅ John has just had breakfast this morning.
(We are still in the morning period.)
✅ Mozart composed more than 600 pieces of music.
(Mozart is dead, and he no longer composes music.)
❌ Mozart has composed more than 600 pieces of music.
(Mozart is dead but this sentence would suggest that he is still alive. That's why it is an incorrect sentence.)
⚡️Further reading on the uses of the Past Perfect Simple Tense⚡️
♦️ 1- An action that happened (or never happened) before another action in the past:
a- When we arrived, the film had started.
(= 1st the film started, 2nd we arrived)
b- My father retired last year. He had worked for the same company all his life.
(= 1st he worked, 2nd he retired)
c- I had never met her before yesterday's party.
(( We usually use the past perfect to make it clear which action happened first. Maybe we are already talking about something in the past and we want to mention something else that is further back in time. This is often used to explain or give a reasons for something in the past.))
a- It had felt ill in the night, so I didn't go to school.
(= 1st I felt ill, 2nd I did not go to school)
♦️ 2- An action that happened before a specific time in the past:
a- By 2000, many people had emigrated because of starvation.
(People had emigrated before 2000)
b- She had got married by the time she was 22 years old.
(She got married before she was 22 years old)
(( Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the past. The past perfect tells us 'how long', just like the present perfect, but this time the action continues up to a point in the past rather than the present. Usually we use 'for + time'. We can also use the past perfect continuous here, so we most often use the past perfect simple with stative verbs.))
a- When he graduated, he had been in London for six years.
(= He arrived in London six years before he graduated and lived there until he graduated, or even longer.)
b- On the 20th of July, I had worked here for three months.
♦️ 3- Third conditional + wish
To talk about unreal or imaginary things in the past. In the same way that we use the past simple to talk about unreal or imaginary things in the present, we use the past perfect (one step back in time) to talk about unreal things in the past. This is common in the 'third conditional' and after 'wish'.
a- She would have passed the exam if she had studied harder.
b- I wish I hadn't gone to bed so late!
♦️ chronological order of tenses with "before", "after" and "by"
- Simple Past after Past Perfect:
a- He watched TV after he had finished his homework.
- Past Perfect before Simple Past:
a- She had cooked before she went out with her friends.
- Past Perfect by Simple Past:
a- They had already left by the time we arrived.
♦️1- Remember:♦️
There is no need to use the Past Perfect with "before" or "after". We can use the Simple Past in both clauses because the relationship between the two actions is already clear with "before" and "after".
a- She had not finished cleaning the house before the guests arrived.
or
b- She did not finish cleaning the house before the quests arrived.
♦️2- Remember:♦️
With the adverb of time "when", if the Simple Past tense is used in both clauses, then the the verb in the "when-clause" is the verb that happens first:
a- When I arrived, we had dinner.
(1st- I arrived, 2nd we had dinner)
b- When I arrived home, my mother cooked dinner.
(1st- I arrived, 2nd my mother cooked)
But, when we use the Past Perfect in one of the two clauses, then the Past Perfect verb is the verb that happens first.
a- When I arrived, they had had dinner.
(1st- they had had dinner, 2nd I arrived)
b- When I arrived home, my mother had cooked dinner.
(1st- had cooked, 2nd I arrived)
♦️3- Remember:♦️
Don't use the Past Perfect Tense if you don't have a Simple Past Action / Time that you need to go further back in time before it.
- I had finished my homework. (seems unnatural)
- I had finished my homework before I watched TV. (more natural)
⚡️Further reading on the uses of the Past Perfect Continuous Tense⚡️
♦️ 1. Duration Before Something in the Past:
We use the past perfect continuous to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. "For five minutes" and "for two weeks" are both durations which can be used with the past perfect continuous. Notice that this is related to the Present Perfect Continuous; however, the duration does not continue until now, it stops before something else in the past.
a. They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived.
b. Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work.
♦️2. Cause of Something in the Past:
Using the past perfect continuous before another action in the past is a good way to show cause and effect.
a. The pavement was wet. It had been raining.
b. Sam gained weight because he had been overeating.
♦️3. Repeated Actions:
(We use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense for repeated actions to say for how long the action had been occurring before another past action i.e. with mentioning the duration of repetition):
a. I had been getting this magazine every week for a year before I unsubscribed.
b. She had been going to school every morning for two months before she travelled abroad.
⚡️Further reading on the differences between Have and Have got⚡️
♦️ 1- When we are talking about possession, relationships, illnesses and characteristics of people or things we can use either "have" or "have got":
* I have two sisters. ✅
* I have got two sisters. ✅
* She has blue eyes. ✅
* She has got blue eyes. ✅
♦️ 2- ONLY Have is correct when talking about actions, experiments or things that we do (In these cases, 'have got' is NOT allowed:
* I usually have dinner at 8 o’clock. ✅
* I usually have got dinner at 8 o’clock. ❌
* I have a shower every day. ✅
* I have got a shower every day. ❌
♦️ 3- "Have got" is for Spoken English
Use "have got" in spoken English.
Use "have" in your formal written English (business correspondence, etc.).
If you are writing an informal message to your friends - on Facebook, for example - "have got" is fine.
* I have got a car. (Informal) ✅
* I have a car. (More formal) ✅
♦️ 4- Note that "have got" is NOT the present perfect of "get".
With "have got" we don’t use helping verbs such as do and don’t to form questions and negatives:
+ He has got a beautiful house.
- He has not got a big house.
? Has he got a beautiful house?
While with "have" we do use the helping verbs "do or does" to form questions and negatives:
+ He has a beautiful house.
- He does not have a big house.
? Does he have a beautiful house?
♦️ 5- "Have got" only exists in the Present Simple Tense. We don’t use it in the continuous, past or future tenses.
* He has a problem. ✅
* He has got a problem. ✅
* He had a problem. ✅
* He had got a problem. ❌
* He will probably have a problem. ✅
* He will probably have got a problem. ❌
♦️NOTE-1:
"Have got" is NOT normally used in the simple past tense "had got"; it is not considered correct to say:
* Last year we had got a house in the city. ❌
Rather, "had" alone is used as the simple past. "Had got" is normally heard as an even more colloquial version of "have got".
♦️NOTE-2:
The "have" in "have got" is almost always contracted (e.g. I've got, he's got, John's got).
In the sense of to be obliged, the "have" is sometimes not contracted when "got" or the subject is stressed in the sentence:
* I have got to go there.
* I've got to go there.
(The two examples above are both common but "I've got to go there." is almost exclusively preferred in spoken English over "I have got to go there.").
♦️NOTE-3:
While "have got" and variants are common colloquial usage, in most cases the "got" is redundant and can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.
When "have got" or "has got" is used as the Present Perfect of get, then got should be retained.
Example: "She has got under my skin".
((In American English, one normally says "have gotten" or "has gotten" when forming the present perfect of "get", but nevertheless one uses "have got" or "has got" when the meaning is "to have".
In British English, "got" is employed in both usages.
⚡️Further reading on used to⚡️
♦️ We use "used to" when we refer to things in the past which are no longer true. It can refer to repeated actions or to a state or situation:
For example:
- I used to have long hair (but now I have short hair).
- He used to smoke (but now he doesn't smoke).
- They used to live in India (but now they live in Germany).
- He used to play football for the local team, but he’s too old now.
♦️ Negative: didn’t use to:
The negative of "used to" is most commonly "didn’t use(d) to". Sometimes we write it with a final -d, sometimes not. Both forms are common, but many people consider the form with the final -d to be incorrect, and you should not use it in formal writing:
- It didn’t use to be so crowded in the shops as it is nowadays.
- I didn’t used to like broccoli when I was younger, but I love it now. (Don’t use this form in exams, because it is informal.)
In very formal styles, we can use the negative form "used not to":
- She used not to live as poorly as she does now.
♦️Questions:
The most common form of question is the auxiliary "did" + use(d) to. Many people consider the form with a final -d to be incorrect, and you should not use it in formal writing:
- I think we met once, a couple of years ago. Did you use to work with Kevin Harris?
- Didn’t she used to live in the same street as us? (Don’t use this form in written Academic exams.)
♦️ Emphatic "did"
We can use the emphatic auxiliary "did" with "used to":
- We never used to mix very much with the neighbours, but we did used to say hello to them in the street. (Don’t use this form in written Academic exams.)
♦️"used to" or "be used to"?
"used to" (when used as a verb) refers to actions and situations in the past which no longer happen or are no longer true. It always refers to the past:
- She used to sing in a choir, but she gave it up. (She sang, but she doesn’t sing any more)
"be used to" (when used as an adjective) means ‘be accustomed to’ or ‘be familiar with’. It can refer to the past, present or future. We follow "be used to" with a noun (phrase), a pronoun or the -ing form of a verb "the gerund":
- I work in a hospital, so I’m used to long hours. (I am accustomed to/familiar with long hours.)
- She lives in a very small village and hates traffic. She’s not used to it.
- I'm used to getting up early, so I don't mind doing it (= getting up early is normal for me, it's what I usually do).
♦️Note that we make the negative or the question with the verb 'be' in the normal way. The 'used to' doesn't change:
- Lucy isn't used to staying up late, so she's very tired today.
- Are your children used to walking a lot?
♦️ We can use 'get used to + verb-ing' (which is considered more formal than "be used to") to talk about the change of not normal to normal. We can also use this in any tense:
- Don't worry if your new job is hard at first. You will get used to it.
- It took me a few months to get used to living in Japan. At first everything seemed very different, but then gradually it became normal for me.
⚡️Further reading on the Present (Simple and Continuous) Tenses for Future⚡️
We can use the Present Continuous ( I am doing) and the Present Simple (I do) to talk about future events:
♥️ Present Continuous for future♥️
♦️ Arrangements / Plans:
(something that you have already decided to do and you have made some preparations for it). Usually, more than one person is aware of the event and some preparations have already happened.
- I am coming to your home tonight. (Both you and I know that).
- I am meeting Sarah at the railway station tomorrow.
♦️Actions in the immediate future:
(We also use the present continuous for an action just before we start to do it. This happen especially with verbs of movement (go/come/leave etc.):
- Are you ready? Yes, I'm coming.
- It's getting late. I'm leaving.
♥️ Present Simple for future ♥️
♦️ Schedules / Fixed Timetables:
(Something that always occurs at the same time - usually for airports, schools, companies etc.)
- The plane leaves tomorrow at 5 pm. (it always leaves at 5 pm on Mondays).
- The meeting starts at 10:00 am every Sunday.
