UNIT 5 TECHNOLOGY and YOU

I. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

A. Form: I/ You have (‘ve) left/ arrived.
He/she has(‘s) left/ arrived.
You have not (haven’t) left/ arrived
He/She/ It has not (hasn’t) left/arrived.
B. Uses
The present perfect and the present perfect continuous connect the past and the present. That is, they
describe actions which started in the past and continue up to the present or actions which were
completed in the past but whose results affect the present.
a. The present perfect is used to describe an action which started in the past and continues up to the
present, especially with state verbs such as have, like, snow, be, etc. In this case we often used for and
since.
Eg. They have been friends for twenty years. (They met each other twenty years ago and they are still
friends)
b. the present perfect is also used for an action which has recently finished and whose result is visible
in the present.
E.g. She has picked a lot of apples. (The apples are in the basket, so the action has finished)
c. The present perfect is used for an action which happened at an unstated time in the past. The exact
time is not important, so it is not mentioned. The emphasis is placed on the action.
e.g. He has broken his arm. (The exact time is not mentioned. What is important is the fact that his arm is
broken)
b. Peter has been to Paris four times. (The exact time of each of his visits is not mentioned. What is
important is the fact that he has visited Paris four times)
d. The present perfect is also used for an action which has happened within a specific time period,
which is not over at the moment of speaking, such as today, this morning/afternoon/week/month/year,
etc.
E.g. She has received three faxes this morning. (The action has been repeated three times up to now and
may happen again because the time period – this morning – is not over yet.)
She received three faxes this morning. (The time period – this morning is over. It is now afternoon or
evening.
II. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
a. The present perfect continuous is used to put emphasis on the duration of an action which started in
the past and continues up to the present, especially with the time expressions such as for, since, all
morning/day/ week, etc.
e.g. Sarah has been picking vegetables for two hours. (She started picking vegetables two hours ago and she
is still picking them now. )
b. The present perfect continuous is also used for an action which started and finished in the past and
lasted for some time. The result of the action is visible in the present.
e.g. He is dirty. He has been playing football. (He is no longer playing football, but the fact that his clothes
are dirty is visible now.)
Note: With the verbs feel (have a particular emotion), live, work and teach we can use the present
perfect or present continuous with no difference in meaning.
e.g. He has felt/has been feeling unwell all morning.
c. The present perfect continuous is used to express anger, annoyance or irritation.
E.g. Who has been reading my business papers? (The speaker is irritated)
***Both the present perfect and the present perfect continuous are used with the following time
expressions:
*How long
e.g. How long have you known Jack?
How long have you been learning English?
*For (duration)
e.g. I have known Jack for five years.
I have not seen Emily for a long time.
*Since (starting point)
e.g. They have been married since last April.
We have been living here since 1980.
*Lately/recently
e.g Have you seen any good films lately/recently?
She has been going out a lot lately/ recently.
***The present perfect is used with the following time expressions.
*already
e.g. We have already seen this film.
Have you finished already?
*yet
e.g. has Roger left yet? Simon has not finished yet.
*always
e.g. She has always loved animals.
*ever
e.g. Have you ever been abroad?
*never
e.g. She has never been to France.
*so far
e.g. I have sent twenty invitations so far.
What have you done so far?
III. RELATIVE CLAUSES
A relative clause is used to form one sentence from two separate sentences. The relative pronoun
replaces one of two identical noun phrases and relates the clauses to each other. The relative pronouns
and their uses are listed here.
PRONOUN USE IN FORMAL ENGLISH
That things
Which things
Who people
Whom people
Whose usually people
NOTE: In speaking, that can be used for people, but NOT in formal written English.
e.g. The man who lives in the flat above is an actor.
Relative clause
(The relative clause identities which man the speaker is talking about)
 We use who/that to refer to people.
We use which/that to refer to objects or animals.
Who/which/that can’t be omitted if it is the subject of the relative clause; that is; when there is not
a noun or subject pronoun, between the relative pronoun and the verb.
a. I know a man. He is a lawyer.
I know a man who/that is a lawyer.
b. The dog – it ran away- is mine.
The dog which/that ran away is mine.
(The relative which/that ran away is mine)
Who/which/that can be omitted when it is the object of the relative clause; that is, when there is a
noun or subject pronoun between the relative pronoun and the verb. We can use whom instead of
who when it is the object of the relative clause. Whom is not often used in everyday English.
a. I spoke to a man. I had met him before.
I spoke to a man (whom/who/that) I had met before.
(The relative pronoun is the object)
b. That’s the book. I read it last summer.
That’s the book (which/that) I read last summer.
(The relative pronoun is the object)
 We use whose instead of possessive adjectives (my, your, his, etc.) with people, objects and
animals in order to show possession.
a. That’s the woman – her house caught fire yesterday.
That’s the woman whose house caught fire yesterday.
b. That’s the house – its entrance is guarded.
That’s the house whose entrance is guarded.
 We usually avoid using propositions before relative pronouns.
a. The boat in which the oil was transported is owned. By an American company. (formal English –
unusual structure)
b. the safe which/that we keep the money in is in the basement. (usual structure)
c. The safe we keep the money in is the basement. (everyday English)
  We can use which to refer back to a whole clause.
e.g. He lent me some money. This was generous of him.
He lent me some money, which was generous of him.
(which refers to the fact that he lent the speaker some money. That is, refers back to the whole clause)
 A relative pronoun is not used with another pronoun (I, you, me, him, etc.)
a. I know a girl who works in a library. (NOT: I know a girl who she works ….)
b. The police we spoke to are from Italy. (NOT: The people we spoke to them are from Italy)
NOTE: who’s = who is or who has
Whose = possessive
e.g. Who’s (who is) on the phone? It’s peter.
Who’s (Who has) got the keys? Kim
Jim is the boy whose cousin is the doctor.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
WHO/THAT Subject Can’t be omitted
WHO/WHOM/THAT Object Can be omitted
WHICH/THAT(objects, Subject Can’t be omitted
animals) Object Can be omitted
WHOSE (people, object, Possession Can’t be omitted
animals)

IV. IDENTIFYING/NON IDENTIFYING CLAUSE

There are two types of relative clause: identifying relative clauses and non-identifying relative
clauses.
IDENTIFYING CLAUSE NON IDENTIFYING CLAUSE
An identifying relative clause gives necessary A non-defining relative clause give extra
information and is essential to the meaning of the information and is not essential to the meaning of
main sentence. The relative pronouns can be the main sentence. In non-identifying relative
omitted when they are the object of the relative clauses, the relative pronouns cannot be omitted
clause. The relative clause is not put in commas. and can’t be replaced by that. The relative clause
e.g. People are fined. (Which people? We don’t is put in commas.
know. The meaning of the sentence is not clear.) e.g. The Jeffersons live next door. (The meabing of
People who/that/park illegally are fined. (Which the sentence is clear)
people? Those who park illegally) The Jeffersons, who own a Jaguar, live next door.
The film was boring.(Which film? We don’t know. (The relative clause gives extra information)
The meaning of the sentence is not clear.) My cat, which I found on the street, is called
The film (which/that) I watched yesterday was Monty. (the relative clause gives extra information)
boring. (which film? The one I watched yesterday)
V. RELATIVE ADVERBS
We use
 Where refers to place, usually after nouns such as place, house, street, town, country, etc.
It can be replaced by which/that + preposition and, in this case, which/that can be omitted.
e.g. The house where he was born has been demolished.
The house (which/that) he was born in has been demolished.
 When to refer to time, usually after nouns such as time, period, moment, day, year, summer,
etc. It can either be replaced by that or can be omitted.
e.g. That was the year when she graduated.
That was the year (that) she graduated.
 Why to give reason, usually after the word reason. It can either be replaced by that or can be
omitted.
e.g. The reason why she left her job was that she didn’t got on with her boss.
The reason (that) she left her job was that she didn’t get on with her boss.