National University of Engineering

UNI

Methodological presentation

English II

Unit III: Description

Teacher: Zela Lopez Martinez

Date: October 11 th to October 15 th, 2021

Presentation #13

OBJECTIVES:

To emphasizing the grammatical knowledge of perfect tenses, which are necessary to write
paragraphs

To use the rhetorical function of physical and process description, when analyzing texts related
to their major, in addition to different types of perfect tenses of the verbs used to write
paragraphs. To show interest in order to apply correctly the rhetorical function of description
and perfect tenses of the verbs used to write paragraphs.

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 PERFECT TENSES
The three perfect tenses in English are the three verb tenses which show action already
completed. (The word perfect literally means "made complete" or "completely done.")

They are formed by the appropriate tense of the verb to have plus the past participle of the
verb.

Present Perfect
We use the present perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now.
The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the present perfect with specific time
expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in
Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc.

Present tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the present.

TO MAKE THE POSITIVE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE, USE:

• 'have' / 'has' + the past participle

• Make the past participle by adding 'ed' to regular verbs (for example, 'play'
becomes 'played')

• There are a few verbs that change their spelling when you add 'ed' (for
example, 'study' becomes 'studied')

• We also have some completely irregular verbs

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(Also, here's some help if you are not sure how to pronounce '-ed' at the end of a verb).

Positive Short Form Positive Short Form

they have played chess TheY’ve played chess

She has already talked by phone She’s already taiked

by phone
It has rained
it's rained
I have played
she's walked
She has written the report
you've worked
She has walked
She's written the
report

NEGATIVE FORM IS SIMPLE TOO JUST PUT NOT AFTER HAS OR HAS.

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE SHORT

FORM

I have not eaten breakfast today I haven't eaten

you have not been to Asia you haven't been

he has not seen the new film he hasn't seen

she has not played tennis she hasn't played

it has not snowed this winter it hasn't snowed

We have not slept all night We haven't slept

Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous (also called present perfect progressive) is a verb tense
which is used to show that an action started in the past and has continued up to the
present moment. The present perfect continuous usually emphasizes duration, or the

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amount of time that an action has been taking place.

What’s the Present Perfect Continuous?

As you probably remember, generally speaking we use the present perfect to connect
something in the past to the present. For example,

I’ve lost my purse. Can you help me find it?

The action of losing the purse is recent and has a consequence now.

The present perfect continuous also has a strong connection to the present and is used in
two situations:

 to describe the length of an ongoing action

She’s been working hard all day.

 to describe the effect of a recent action or situation

She’s tired because she’s been working hard.

How to make sentences in the Present Perfect Continuous

We create the present perfect continuous by using ‘have/has been’ and the main verb in
the -ing form. For example,

You’ve been studying English for a few minutes.

Here is a table with a complete set of examples:

The Two Main Uses

Let’s look at the main uses of the form in more detail.

1) ONGOING ACTIONS
The present perfect continuous describes an action or situation that started in the past

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(usually in the recent past) and continues in the present. The actions are normally
temporary situations. For example,

He’s been running since 3:30.

They’ve been talking all afternoon.

We’ve been waiting for an hour.

How long has it been raining?

I’ve been staying with Tim while my flat’s being renovated.

As you can see, it’s common to use for and since with this tense to express the time.

A good way to help understand this tense is to match it with the present continuous. For
example,

He’s running. (present continuous to describe an action happening now.)

He’s been running for 45 minutes. (present perfect continuous to describe the duration
of the action.)

2) RECENT ACTIONS THAT HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE PRESENT

This use of the tense focuses on the action and the effect it creates. Strangely, the action
may or may not have finished, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the action itself
and the consequence. For example,

The kids have been playing in the garden all afternoon and they’re covered in mud.

This means that the children started playing at the beginning of the afternoon. It’s
probably late in the afternoon now. They might still be playing or they might have
recently stopped. And the consequence of the action is that they’re dirty.

Here are some other examples:

Tom has been repairing my car. He’s got oil on his hands.

She’s red because she’s been lying in the sun all day.

They’ve got blisters on their feet because they’ve been walking since 9 a.m.

My eyes are tired because I’ve been working on my computer for a long time.

The ground is wet because it’s been raining.

Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?

Jacques has been baking a cake and he’s got flour on his clothes.

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 The Past Perfect tense expresses action in the past before another acti

The past perfect is made from the verb had and the past participle of a verb:

I had finished the work. She had gone.

The past perfect continuous is made from had been and the -ing for of a verb:

I had been working there for a year.

They had been painting the bedroom.

The past perfect is used in the same way as the present perfect, but it refers to a time in the
past, not the present. We use the past perfect:

For something that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past:
When George died, he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years. She didn't want to
move. She had lived in Liverpool all her life.

For this use, we often use the past perfect continuous:

She didn't want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all her life. Everything was wet. It
had been raining for hours.

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 • for something that happened several times before a point in the past and
continued after that point:

He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager. He had
written three books and he was working on another one.

• when we are reporting our experience up to a point in the past:

My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.

I was pleased to meet George. I hadn’t met him before, even though I had met his wife several
times.

For something that happened in the past and is important at a later time in the
past:
I couldn't get into the house. I had lost my keys.

Teresa wasn't at home. She had gone shopping.

We often use expressions with for and since with the past perfect:

I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked there for ten years.

I had been watching that programme every week since it started, but I missed the last episode.

We do not normally use the past perfect continuous with stative verbs. We use the past
perfect simple instead:

Up until that moment, I'd never believed (NOT been believing) in astrology

The past in the past. For example:

The train left at 9am. We arrived at 9:15am. When we arrived, the train had left.
The past perfect is made from the verb had and the past participle of a verb:
I had finished the work. She had gone.
PAST PERFECT WITH BEFORE
We can also use the past perfect followed by before to show that an action was not
done or was incomplete when the past simple action happened.
They left before I'd spoken to them.
Sadly, the author died before he'd finished the series.

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ADVERBS
We often use the adverbs already (= 'before the specified time'), still (= as
previously), just (= 'a very short time before the specified time'), ever (= 'at any time
before the specified time') or never (= 'at no time before the specified time') with the
past perfect. 
I called his office but he'd already left.
It still hadn't rained at the beginning of May.
I went to visit her when she'd just moved to Berlin.
It was the most beautiful photo I'd ever seen.
Had you ever visited London when you moved there?
I'd never met anyone from California before I met Jim.

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PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSES
The past perfect continuous tense (also known as the past perfect progressive tense)
shows that an action that started in the past continued up until another time in the
past. The past perfect continuous tense is constructed using had been + the verb's
present participle (root + -ing).

FUNCTIONS OF THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The past perfect continuous corresponds to the present perfect continuous, but with
reference to a time earlier than 'before now'. As with the present perfect continuous,
we are more interested in the process.
Examples
Had you been waiting long before the taxi arrived?
We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.
It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.

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Her friends had been thinking of calling the police when she walked in.

This form is also used in reported speech. It is the equivalent of the past
continuous and the present perfect continuous in direct speech:
Jane said, "I have been gardening all afternoon." = Jane said she had been
gardening all afternoon.
When the police questioned him, John said, "I was working late in the office that night."
= When the police questioned him, John told them he had been working late in the
office that night.

FORMING THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The past perfect continuous is composed of two elements - the past perfect of the
verb to be (=had been) + the present participle (base+ing).

Subject +had been +verb + ing

I had been walking

Affirmative

She had been trying

Negative

She hadn't been sleeping

Interrogative

Had you been eating?

Interrogative negative

Hadn't they been living?

To buy, past perfect continuous

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 Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I had been buying I hadn't been buying Had I been buying?

You had been buying You hadn't been buying Had you been buying?

She had been buying She hadn't been buying Had she been buying?

We had been buying We hadn't been buying Had we been buying?

They had been buying They hadn't been buying Had they been buying?

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