LESSON 6
Present Perfect
1) Angus lives in a lighthouse on the west coast of Scotland. Before he moved there, he lived in
Glasgow for eight years, but he prefers living in a lighthouse. He's a writer and he enjoys being on his
own, so it's perfect for him. He's lived there for six years and doesn't ever want to leave. The best
thing about living in a lighthouse is the view. You can see for miles in every direction, and the sunsets
are fantastic. The worst thing is the weather – it can get cold and windy in the winter.
Look at the phrases in bold. Does angus live in Glasgow now? Does he live on the coast now?
2) Meg lives in a motorhome with her husband, Scott. They first met when they were living in
Houston, Texas, and they've been married for twelve years. In Houston she was a waitress and he
worked in a factory, but they lost their jobs at the same time. After that, they decided that they didn't
want to live in one place all the time. The've lived in their motorhome since 2008 and they really
love it. It's quite spacious and they've got central heating and air conditioning, so it's very comfortable.
And the best thing about it is that when they need to find work, they just drive to a new town.
Look at the phrases in bold and fill in the gaps with for or since.
We use .......................... with a period of time (how long)
We use .......................... with a point in time (when something started)
B.
1. Fill in the gaps with For or Since.
1. ............. ten years
2.............. three weeks
3. ............. 2012
4. .............Saturday
5. ............. an hour
6. ............. I was born
7. ............. a long time
9. ............. I was a child
2. Complete the sentences with for or since.
1. My friend, Suzanne, has lived in Toronto ........... 13 years. 2. Mr. Rankin is in his office. He’s been there ............... 7:00. 3. India has been independent .............. 1947. 4. Charlotte’s late. We’ve been waiting for her ............ half an hour. 5. Tessa has been sick ............ a long time. She’s been out on sick leave .......... August. 1
6. Richard has played the piano ............... he was very little. 7. We haven’t seen the boys ....... such a long time we probably won’t recognize them. 8. You’ve been talking about buying a new car ever ............. you got a raise. C. Look at Carrie's To Do list and write sentences about what she has or hasn't done.
TO DO
check bank account x
Email customers √
Phone Phil Taylor √
Book a table at Carmine's restaurant x
Transfer money to Pay Pal account x
Hairdresser's √
Buy plane tickets √
Pick up dry cleaning x
D. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.
Suzie Kennedy is probably the world's most famous Marilyn Monroe lookalike. She ..........................
(be) on TV all over the world and she ....................... (make) adverts for companies such as Citroen and
Pepsi. Suzie can act and sing exactly like Marilyn, and in 2009 she ......................... (appear) in the play
Marilyn and Lucy in London's West End. She ......................... (also appear) in a number of films as
Marilyn. She ................... (star) in the Italian comedy Me and Marilyn in 2010 and the film
.................... (make) £2 million in its first weekend. Suzie ........................ (also work) as a model and
she ......................... (wear) a lot of Marilyn Monroe's original clothes and film costumes. The real
Marilyn ................... (die) in 1962, but Suzie's life .......................... (never be) more exciting than it is
now.
E) Complete the sentences.
1. Jackie is in hospital. She ..................... in hospital since Tuesday. 2. I know Gwen. I ..................... her for a long time. 3. Carmen and Tony are married. They .................................. since 1997. 4. Garret is ill. He ..................... ill for the last few days. 5. I live in Dorothea Street. I ...................... there for 12 years. 6. Lara works in a shoe store. She ................... there for three years. 2
7. Jay has a sore throat. He ................... a sore throat since he got up this morning. 8. I’m learning French. I ....................... French for two years. F) Choose the correct form: present simple or present perfect.
1. Marla is/ has been in Chicago since December. 2. Jerry is a good friend of mine. I know/have known him for years. 3. Jerry is a good friend of mine. I know/ have known him very well. 4. “Sorry I’m late. How long are you/have you been waiting?” “Not long.” 5. Rachel works/ has worked in a restaurant now. She likes it a lot. 6. Sally is reading a book. She is/ has been reading it for two hours. 7. How long do you live/ have you lived in this town? 8. “Are those new shoes?” “No, I have/ I’ve had them for a long time.” PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
We use the continuous form when the emphasis is on the action itself.
Jenny is tired because she has been cooking all day.
We use the simple form when the emphasis is on the result of the action.
Stay for dinner. Jenny has cooked a gourmet meal.
G) Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Which is better,
the simple or the continuous form?
1. Jeremy ...................... (send) out quite a few job applications. He's waiting for a reply. 2. Jeremy wants to go to Harvard so he ............................ (study) a lot for the entrance exams which
are next week. 3. Emma's .............................. (clean) the house all day. She should take a break before doing the
upstairs. 4. The kitchen looks great! Emma ........................... (paint) the walls yellow. 3
H) Have you ever?
Read the following conversation. Underline the present perfect. Circle the
prepostions.
Agatha: Have you ever been to Bergen?
Anthony: No I haven’t. Have you?
Agatha: Yes. I went on a trip to Norway a few years ago.
Anthony: What’s it like?
Agatha: Beautiful. There are waterfalls and fjords. And the villages are so quaint.
Anthony: How did you get there?
Agatha: By plane. It took us half a day to get there because the connections weren’t so
great. We arrived in Bergen quite late. Infact, we arrived at the airport after midnight.
Once we were there we rented a car and drove around. We didn’t go on organized
tours. We took ferries to cross the fjords. Have you ever seen a dolphin in the wild?
Well, we saw so many in the fjords. It was so exciting. I think it was one of the best
holidays we’ve ever had.
Anthony: Lucky you! I’ve never travelled abroad.
I) Use the prompts to write sentences
1. Never / been / Washington
2. Travel / Rome / train
3. Wonderful / trip / museum
4. Bus / tour / city
5. Arrive / airport / 4:40
6. Arrive / Milan / 6:20
7. Sally / ever / USA?
8. Walked / station / from hotel
9. You / ever / flown?
10. Flight / lasted / hours
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