UNIT 18 Present perfect (l have done / I have been doing) UNII

with how Iong, for and since

18.1
L

a) Stud,v this example situ¿tion:

Ilob ¿nd Alice arc rnerried. They got marricd cxactll

20 years ago. So «rday is their 20th wedding annivcrsary.
They have been marrietl for 20 years.
1ñ-c hou'long something
usc the present pcrfect to say
has cxistccl or how long somcthing has been happening.

Hou
.l
long have they been m¿rriecl ?

They are married. hcy have been marriecl fo¡ t8.2

2{lre¡rr.

b) \!e use the present perfect continuous (I have been doing) to sa.v how long something has
béen láppéning. \ntS úCt tlq acqlo¡ is still happening now:
- I've been learning English for a long time.
- Sorry I'm latc. Have yr¡u been rvaiting long?
- lt's becn raining since I got up this morning.
Sometimes the ¡ction is a repeated action (see also Unit 16b):
Iont har been driving for ten vear\.
How long have vori been smoking?
The continuous (l have been doing) or the simplc (l have done) can L¡c usecl for actions
rep(Jted i)\ er I lorrg ¡erioJ:
I've been collecting / l've collected stamps since I u as a child.

c)' Vc use the simple (I have done) for situations that exist {or a long time (espcciallv if we say 18.3
always). Note tha¡ the situation still exists now:
N'ly father has always worked hard. (rol'has :rhvays been rvorking')
'§fe
use the continuous {or situations over a sho¡ter time Compare:
: John has been living in Lonclon since January'
John has alwaYs lived in London'
Unit
Some verbs (for exllnple be, have, knorr') are not normally used in
d) the continuous (see
3b for a list and Unit 2'1 for have ):
- Hou long have Bob and Alice been merried l
- Tom has had ¿ cold for the past ueek (rt ot l.ras been having')
- Ton ¿nd I have knou'n cach other srnce rre tr-ere ar school'

e) D-o not use the present simple iI do) or continuous (l am doing) to sal horv long something
h ¡.' bccn h:p¡.n
- ing,
- I'u" b..tt waiting here ior an hour' (rlot'l :rm r"'aiting')
(,nc¡t'do vort knou")
- Hou' iong havc r''ou known Tc¡rn?

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