KEEP IN TOUCH THEORY

Present Perfect Simple

The Present Perfect Simple connects past completed actions to the present. We use it for:
• news:
Thieves have taken five hundred computers from a warehouse in Leeds.
(= They stole the computers recently, the computers are missing now.)
• a finished action which has present results:
I’ve designed and built lots of websites.
(= I have done this work in the past, now I have experience in it.)
• a state or a repeated action in the past which is linked to the present:
Paul has lived in Spain for many years. I’ve read his blog every day this week.
(= I read the blog for the last few days, now I am up-to-date with its news.)
Time expressions
We use already (sometime in the past) and never (at no time in the past) with the Present
Perfect Simple.
I’ve already seen his blog.
He’s never written a blog.
We use since (from a point in time) and for (through a period of time) with both the Present
Perfect Simple and the Present Perfect Continuous.
She’s lived here since 2003.
They’ve been watching TV since 7.00.
It hasn’t rained here for two years.
It’s been raining for two months!

Present Perfect Continuous

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to stress the continuous nature of a past activity,
for example
• actions which started in the past and are continuing now:
I’ve been cleaning my bedroom since ten o’clock this morning. (= I started cleaning at
ten o’clock and I am cleaning now.)
 • a recent continuous action with present results:
I’ve been practising the song this morning so now I know the lyrics. (= I practised the
song for a period of time, now I know the words.)
• to stress that a recent continuous action lasted a long time:
I look tired because I’ve been driving for ten hours. (= I drove for ten hours, I have just
stopped, now I look tired.)
Affirmative Negative Main verb (-ing)
I/We/You/They have been have not been
(‘ve been) (haven’t been)
practising all day.
He/She/It has been has not been
(‘s been) (hasn’t been)

Yes/No and Wh- questions

Have you been talking on the phone? Yes, I have.
Has he been riding my bike? No, he hasn’t.
This room is a mess. What have you been doing?
How does she know that? Who has she been talking to?

Culture notes
Lily Allen is an English singer, songwriter and talk show host. Her first album and single, in
2006, were No.1 in the UK charts. In 2008 she was voted Glamour Woman of the Year.
Mafia Wars is a multiplayer social network game, which is available on Yahoo and
Facebook. It is also available on iphones.
Common acronyms in social networking sites: OMG is an abbreviation for ‘Oh my god’, ‘Oh
my gosh’ or ‘Oh my goodness’. LOL – for ‘Laugh out Loud’ or ‘Laughing out loud’. ROFL – for
‘Rolling on the floor laughing’ and IMO – for ‘In my opinion’.

Robert Heinlein (1907-1988) is considered to be one of the three fathers of modern science
fiction writing, with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. His most famous novels are Starship
Troopers, Red Planet and Stranger in a Strange Land. One of his novels was The Puppet
Masters (1951), in which American agents fight against alien invaders who inhabit human
bodies. The scripts for the films Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and The Faculty were heavily
influenced by this novel.