Past Perfect

Present Perfect

We use the Present Perfect Simple We use the Past Perfect

for an action or a state that began in Simple to express a
the past and is connected with the completed action in the past
present i.e. The action still before another action in the
continuous now or there is a result in past.
the present from the action. • The house was dirty.
• The house is dirty. They haven't They hadn't cleaned it for
cleaned it for weeks. weeks.
• We aren't hungry. • We weren't hungry.
We've just had lunch. We'd just had lunch.

We use the Present Perfect We use the Past Perfect

Continuous to show an action or a Continuous for emphasizes a
state that started in the past and has duration of an action which
continued up until now with duration. happened before another in
the past.

• I hope the bus comes soon. I've

been waiting for 25 minutes. • At last the bus came. I'd
been waiting for 25 minutes.

• She's out of breath. She has been • She was out of breath.

running . She had been running.

- The Past Perfect Continuous gives past activities time and duration.

- In the Present Perfect Continuous the action began in the past and continues to the present.
Exercise 1:

Insert the verbs in their correct form (either present perfect or past perfect forms) into the following
sentences.

Verb: “Shine”
‘The sun ________________a lot this morning.’

Verb: “Fall”
‘You ________________ in love with Mark, haven’t you?’

Verb: “Enjoy”
‘I ________________ the lobster, until I was ill the next day.’

Exercise 2:

Complete each sentence using one of the three alternatives.

James is away on holiday. He .......to Spain

A. is gone

B. has gone

C. has been

Carrie is sick of working. She......to a spa.

A. is gone

B. has gone

C. has been

Jess was worried last week. She......to the doctor now.

A. is going

B. has been

C. is been

Craig travelled to the US. He......many times before.

A. has been

B. has gone

C. has going
Shirley left the house. She.......the hoovering.

A. had finished

B. has finished

C. Is finished

Maggie is going to see a film. She.....it once before.

A. is seen

B. have seen

C. has seen

Charlotte is meeting a friend. They.......twice today already.

A. has met

B. have met

C. had met

Ejercicios
Completa las oraciones con el tiempo correcto: present perfect simple o present
perfect continuous.

1. Beatrice   for half an hour.

2. Laura   five letters.
3. I   on this project for less than an hour, so
I still   all the documents.
4. Ralph is so tired because he   for 26 hours.

Completa las oraciones conjugando los verbos entre paréntesis en present perfect
simple o present perfect continuous.

1. I (study)  all day, but I am afraid I (learn/not)  much.

2. Andrew (eat)  two bars of chocolate today.
3. The boy’s clothes are dirty because he (play)  in the mud.
4. I (arrive/just)  at the station.
5. We are exhausted because we (do)  exercise all morning.
6. Edward feels a bit unsteady because he (cycle/not)  for five years.
7. How long (you/work)  for this company?
8. The kids (finish/not)  their homework yet.
9. Niall (watch)  the film seven times.
1. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE
 Acción acabada. 
 Acción que no sabemos si está acabada, quizá mañana sigue produciéndose, pero no se sabe. 
 Para contestar a las preguntas: How many times? (¿Cuántas veces?) o how many/much have you done?
(¿Cuánto has hecho de algo?) y How far? (¿Cuánta distancia?)
 Con already, yet y just. 
 Con los siguientes adverbios: always y never (para expresar que siempre has hecho algo o nunca). 
 Con las siguientes expresiones de tiempo: up to now (hasta este momento), so far (hasta ahora) y recently. 

2. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE O CONTINUOUS

 Acción que empezó en el pasado y no está acabada en el momento presente. 
 Para contestar a la pregunta: How long? (Cuánto tiempo llevas haciendo algo?). 
 Para expresar DURATION, con for y since. 

En este caso, tenemos dos opciones: present perfect simple o present perfect continuous. Cómo sabemos
entonces si utilizar uno u otro? Muy sencillo, nos fijamos en el tipo de verbo: non-action (state verbs) o
action.

Para non-action verbs (state) = PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE. 

Para action verbs = PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS. 

Aquí pongo una lista de non-action and action verbs:

NON-ACTION = STATE VERBS

 Attitude verbs: love, hate, like, want, prefer, enjoy.

 Thinking verbs: believe, know, remember, understand, mean, imagine.
 Sense verbs: see, hear, sound, appear, seem.
 Belonging verbs: own, possess, belong to, have (possession), contain, include.
 Verb to be.

ACTION VERBS

The rest.

Cabe destacar que los verbos work y live se pueden tratar con action o non-action, por lo que podrían
utilizarse tanto en present perfect simple como en continuous. 

Propongo ahora un ejercicio para poner en práctica las reglas explicadas. 

1. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas yendo al gimnasio?

2. ¿Cuántas veces has escuchado esa canción?
3. La empresa ha vendido 1.000 botellas. 
4. Ya te terminado, podemos irnos cuando estés preparado. 
5. Hasta ahora hemos estudiado 3 reglas gramaticales. 
6. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas limpiando el jardín?
7. ¿Desde hace cuánto tiempo conoces a esa chica?
8. Nunca me ha gustado la leche. 
9. Siempre me ha encantado la playa. 
10. ¿Cuántos kilómetros has corrido?
11. El trabajo le ha cambiado la vida. 
12. Llevo escribiendo el libro desde hace 6 meses. 
13. No la he llamado todavía. 
14. Acabo de ver a Juan en la calle. 
15. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas viviendo en ese piso?

KEYS:

1. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas yendo al gimnasio? = How long have you been going to the gym?
2. ¿Cuántas veces has escuchado esa canción? = How many times have you listened to that song’
3. La empresa ha vendido 1.000 botellas = The company has sold 1,000 bottles. 
4. Ya te terminado, podemos irnos cuando estés preparado = I’ve already finished, we can go when you are
ready. 
5. Hasta ahora hemos estudiado 3 reglas gramaticales = We have studied 3 grammar rules so far. 
6. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas limpiando el jardín? = How long have you been cleaning the garden?
7. ¿Desde hace cuánto tiempo conoces a esa chica? = How long have you known that girl?
8. Nunca me ha gustado la leche = I’ve never liked milk. 
9. Siempre me ha encantado la playa = I’ve always loved the beach. 
10. ¿Cuántos kilómetros has corrido? = How many kilometres have you run?
11. El trabajo le ha cambiado la vida = His job has changed his life. 
12. Llevo escribiendo el libro desde hace 6 meses = I’ve been writing the book for 6 months. 
13. No la he llamado todavía = I haven’t phoned her yet. 
14. Acabo de ver a Juan en la calle = I’ve just seen John in the street. 
15. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas viviendo en ese piso? = How long have you been living / have you lived in that flat?
Verb: “Shine”
‘The sun ________________a lot this morning.’

Answer: ‘The sun has shone a lot this morning.’

Verb: “Fall”
‘You ________________ in love with Mark, haven’t you?’

Answer: ‘You have fallen in love with Mark, haven’t you?’

Verb: “Enjoy”
‘I ________________ the lobster, until I was ill the next day.’
Answer: ‘I had enjoyed the lobster, until I was ill the next day.’

Ejercicio 2

Answer: B. James is away on holiday. He has gone to Spain.

Carrie is sick of working. She......to a spa.

A. is gone

B. has gone

C. has been

Answer: B. Carrie is sick of working. She has gone to a spa.

Jess was worried last week. She......to the doctor now.

A. is going

B. has been

C. is been

Answer: B. Jess was worried last week. She has been to the doctor now.

Craig travelled to the US. He......many times before.

A. has been

B. has gone

C. has going

Answer: A. Craig travelled to the US. He has been many times before.
Shirley left the house. She.......the hoovering.

A. had finished

B. has finished

C. Is finished

Answer: A. Shirley left the house. She had finished the hoovering.

Maggie is going to see a film. She.....it once before.

A. is seen

B. have seen

C. has seen

Answer: C. Maggie is going to see a film. She has seen it once before.

Charlotte is meeting a friend. They.......twice today already.

A. has met

B. have met

C. had met

Answer: B. Charlotte is meeting a friend. They have met twice today already.

Ejercicios
Completa las oraciones con el tiempo correcto: present perfect simple o present
perfect continuous.

1. Beatrice has been reading for half an hour.

2. Laura has written five letters.
3. I have been working on this project for less than an hour, so
I still have not prepared all the documents.
4. Ralph is so tired because he has not slept for 26 hours.
Completa las oraciones conjugando los verbos entre paréntesis en present perfect
simple o present perfect continuous.

1. I have been studying all day, but I am afraid I have not learnt much.

2. Andrew has eaten two bars of chocolate today.
3. The boy’s clothes are dirty because he has been playing in the mud.
4. I have just arrived at the station.
5. We are exhausted because we have been doing exercise all morning.
6. Edward feels a bit unsteady because he has not cycled for five years.
7. How long have you been working for this company?
8. The kids have not finished their homework yet.
9. Niall has watched the film seven times.