[*

ou

have been

ing

have not been

--..

"o1'rrarffffl{ff..
-:

have I,/you been

have

wriang:?

l/you not been

wilio-g.-2

been writing?
hasn't }re,/she/it
been w;6ng?

have we/you/they
been writing?

have we,/you/they

not been writing?

haven't we/you/
they beenwtiting?
5.2. THE PRESENT PEREECT
CONT\NUOUSTENSE _USE
1.

Actions which began in the past and

are still continuing:
I',oe been zoaiting here a, morning
and the bus hasn,t arrioed yet.
They haoe been going out togethi
for six rnorth, now.
We'oe been using th{s road s"ince the utar.

2' Actions which began in the past and have

only just finished:
There's my pen

at last! l,ae been tooking for it since lunch.

all wet! Haoe you been usiig it?
You knous you,oe been sleeping
t'or ten h-ours?

My towel

is

Exercises
r. Put the aerbs in parentheses into the present perfect
Continuous:

There's no answer. I (phone) this number for two hours.

2. I can smell cigarettes. Someone (smoke) in
here?
3. Where's my calculator? I (look) for it all day.
1.

43

fi

4. How long you (live) here?

5. Look at that man! He (follow) us for the past twenty minutes.
6. My hands are drty because I (fix) the car.
7. l)^ sorry I'm lare. You (wait) long?
8. Susan deserves a break now. She (ryp") since g o'clock.
9. How long you (wear) contact lensei?
19 tuty U"d is a mess. Someone (sleep) in it again?
11. Let's stop for a while! We (walk)^too fast."

12.

policeman wants you to take a breath test. He thinks you

It:
(drink).

Youryyes are quite red. you (cry)?

11. 4rt rom to get out of the bathroom. He (sit) rhere for half an hour.
15. Dan looks tired. He (overwork).
16. Let me drive
lg*. I think you (drive) roo long.
17. They (build) this bridge for more than three yiu.r and it isn,r ready

]].

yet!
you (use) it?
19. tuty ruor is quite blunt.
19. "Your nose is all white!" "I know. I (paint) the ceiling in the
kitchen."
20. ",,It's stinking here!" "yes, Father (fry) his favourite fish again."
ll. Answer the fotlowing questions;
1. Since when have you been living here?
?. Ilo* longtrave you been leaming English?
3. Have you been studying hard recEnttyl Wfryf
4. Who has been helping you with physics?
5' what have you been thinking about ior the last ten minutes?
llr. co.mplele rl.e fotjgwing dialogues transraring the w-ords given in parentheses into English (J_se Present Fefect or presint pe(ect Continuous.
1. You (ai auzit)that Lisa o'Neill (s-a tntdlnit cu)"James Burke quite
a lot recently?
I:r. They (Ei-au anunyat)rheir engagement today.
2. Is it snowing outside?
Yes, it (ninge)since last night.
It ever (a nins) before in this part of the country?
3. Look. at this photo, Hicks. you (t-ai vdzut pe)thir rn* before?
Yes,.it's my parher Tim Rogers. r (cunosil trim for ten years and
we (lucrdm) together since last summer.
4. I (n-am vdzut-o pe) y?rx girlfriend recently. She (a plecar)away?
Yes, she (m-a pdrdsit).
5. You (ai terminarT the exercise?
Yes, I (amfdcut)questions five and seven.
But I said nine and eleven! you (n-ai ascultat)?

^
,

44

6. Is Mike still 4sleep?

Yes, he (doarme) since midnight. He never (n-a dormirl so long in

his entire life.
7. Are you going to the Riviera this summer?
we (ne-am gdndit) about it but we (nu ne-am hotdrdt) yet.
^ yell'(agi
8.
tugit) a lor recently, Mr. Symes?
Iou
really.
I (am strdnutat)most of the time, doctor.
]!gt
^9. We
(n-am avut) electricity since the storm last week.
How you (v-agi descurcat)?
Yg (qmfolosir) kerosene lamps.
10. I think there's someone at the-gate. The dog (latrd)for quite a
while now.
41, y-"r. It's the postnan. He (a adus)a big parcel.
11. How long you (iinagi) at this restaurant?
since we moved t^o this neighbourhood. And we never (nu ne-am
pldns) about their food.
12. Where (aifost)?
the garden. I (am plantar) potatoes andJeff (a cosit)the grass.
-^.E
13. They-(s-au hotdrdr) whereio go tonight?
No, they (se ceartd) about thal since 6reakfast.
14. simon (a sdpat) a big hole on the beach since 9 o'crock.
Y9 fu-a gdsit) the rreasure yet?
15. It's one o'clock and we stili (n-am baul our New year,s toast!
yr-ll, Ji* (tncearcd) opp ttre champagnl boule since last year.
lo
16. Nobody (a vdzut) him since last sprin!.
Yes, he (s-a ascuns/ somewhere in thJmountains.
17. This (dureazd) for a month now. I (m-am sdturat) enough.
You (ai cons,ultat) your lawyer?
78. I (n-am vdzut-ope,lVivienne today. Is she at home?
Yes, she (calcd) since breakfast.
(a cdlcat) my blue shirt yet?
_S_he
19.
lYyy that you{ai divorlat de)voyr wife, what are you going to do?
well, something r.(am vrut) io do for a long tim6 - rianf you!
You Qi-ai pierdut) senses? .
20. They.(au ajuns la) acomp-romise in the negotiations today?
No, they (au tncercar) to, but rhey (n-au riugit).

lY. Translate into

English :

gregeal-r de c6nd am inceput sd inv6t s6 bat la maqin6.

1 fu. aqee.a+i
'---"
s& mergi la

2. k trebui

doctor. Tugegti de o saptamAn[

deja.

45

3.
Rutea si faci niye ceai? Ceainicul fierbe de cincisprezece minu::
4. Mergem cu maqina de o ori deja qi incf, n-am vi"zut nici m6cstalie de benzlli.

ll

5. Tata tot incearcMe la micul dejun sA pomeasci maqina.

6. Iegi din piscind! Ino[ de peste o orA.
7. Acoperiqul nu mai este etanq din toarnna trecutA"
9. 9p"". aceleaqi glume de cincisprezece ani.
9. Domnul Hicks distribuie corespondenla in acest cartier de la
ultimul rAzboi.
10. Copiii aqteapta cu nerabdare petrecerea aceasta de o luna.

11. V-am prins! VA s{ruta1i!

12" Profesorul Morgan preda la aceastA universitate de 20 de arri.
13. Primim scrisorile acelea anonime de cind solul meu a aparut i"
televizor.
14" Fiat-ul acesta mic claxoneazi deja de 20 de minute. Mi intreb
a plecat proprietarul lui.
15. F.a poart6 doliu de cdnd a murit fratele ei.
16. Pregrile au crescut continuu din ianuarie.
17. Familia Johnson e pe cale de a bate recordul. valseazA de trei c,:,
18. Pot si vad cametul dumneavoastra de conducere? Agi condus c
vitezi, domnule.
19. Se cearta mereu de cind s-au cisitorit.
20. Aceqti oameni cultiva trestie de zahir de multe generalii.
Y.
.ldentifi the one wgrd o.r phrase marked A, B, C or D which you
is incorrect. Choose E if there ar no errors.
1. I drive this car F more than rwenty yea.rs and I've never had a
B
T-- D
^ acc ident."Ng
sin gle
errqt.
E

2. I've been meaning to tell you something but I havsn't had enougr:

.orfug" to doBthat -re-qpegthg a baby. No erro'r.

DE

3. Until now no one halbeaten them a bridge - but we have once

de4ated them at uofring. No error.

D-F

4. Neither of the twins have

{ailed

have been prneriencing

school. No"error.

,Ao*

il their exams but they

p?oUtrrn, since they enrolled in

--------D-

E,,

5. Have you. known that Sara has been suffering

qg} bee'riAB
unable

46

from arthritis and

"_F

to take proper"care of her baby? No error.