present perfect continuous and simple

Ann's clothes are covered in paint. She has been painting the ceiling. Has been painting is the present perfect continuous. We are interesting in activity. It does not matter whether something has been finished or not. In this example (painting the ceiling) has not been finished.

The ceiling was white. Now it is blue. She has painted the ceiling. Has painted is the present perfect simple. Here, the important thing is that something has been finished. 'Has painted' is a completed action. We are interested in the result of the activity (the painted ceiling), not in the activity itself.

Compare these examples:

My hands are very dirty. I've been reparing the car. She's been smoking too much recently. She should smoke less. It's nice to see you again. What have you been doing since we last met? Where have you been? Have you been playing tennis?

The car is OK again now. I've repaired it. Somebody has smoked all my cigarettes. The packet is empty. Where's the book I gave you? What have you done with it? Have you ever played tennis?

We use the continuous to ask or say how long (for an activity that is still happening): How long have you been reading that book? Mary is still writing letters. She's been writting letters all day. They've been playing tennis since 2 o'clock.

We use the simple to ask or say how much, how many or how many times (completed actions): How many pages of that book have you read? Mary has written ten letters today. They've played tennis three times this week.

QUIZ:

Germany hasn't won the World Cup or Germany hasn't been winning the World Cup	Click for answer Germany hasn't won the World Cup
I've sold my bike to Mike or I've been selling my bike to Mike?	Click for answer I've sold my bike to Mike
John's just swum or John's just been swimming?	Click for answer John's just been swimming
I've started flying lessons or I've been starting flying lessons	Click for answer I've started flying lessons
David's cooked or David's been cooking?	Click for answer David's been cooking
Have you stopped eating or Have you been stopping eating?	Click for answer Have you stopped eating

irregular verbs quizes

• First QUIZ:

  go	went	gone
  become	Answerbecame	Answerbecome
  Answerbegin	began	Answerbegun
  Answerblow	Answerblew	blown
  break	Answerbroke	Answerbroken
  Answerbring	brought	Answerbrought
  Answerbuild	Answerbuilt	built
  buy	Answerbought	Answerbought
  Answercatch	caught	Answercaught
  Answerchoose	Answerchose	chosen
  come	Answercame	Answercome
  Answercut	cut	Answercut
  Answerdo / does	Answerdid	done
  draw	Answerdrew	Answerdrawn
  Answerdrink	drank	Answerdrunk
  Answerdrive	Answerdrove	driven
  eat	Answerate	Answereaten
  Answerfall	fell	Answerfallen
  Answerfeel	Answerfelt	felt
  fight	Answerfought	Answerfought
  Answerfind	found	Answerfound

  
  
• Second QUIZ:

  go	went	gone
  Answerfly	Answerflew	flown
  forget	Answerforgot	Answerforgotten
  Answerget	got	Answergot / gotten
  Answergive	Answergave	given
  go	Answerwent	Answergone
  Answergrow	grew	Answergrown
  Answerhave / has	Answerhad	had
  hear	Answerheard	Answerheard
  Answerhide	hid	Answerhidden
  Answerhit	Answerhit	hit
  hold	Answerheld	Answerheld
  Answerkeep	kept	Answerkept
  Answerknow	Answerknew	known
  lead	Answerled	Answerled
  Answerleave	left	Answerleft
  Answerlend	Answerlent	lent
  let	Answerlet	Answerlet
  Answerbring	brought	Answerbrought
  Answerlose	Answerlost	lost

  
  
• Third QUIZ:

  go	went	gone
  make	Answermade	Answermade
  Answermean	meant	Answermeant
  Answermeet	Answermet	met
  pay	Answerpaid	Answerpaid
  Answerput	put	Answerput
  Answerread	Answerread	read
  ride	Answerrode	Answerridden
  Answerring	rang	Answerrung
  Answerrise	Answerrose	risen
  run	Answerran	Answerrun
  Answersay	said	Answersaid
  Answersee	Answersaw	seen
  sell	Answersold	Answersold
  Answersend	sent	Answersent
  Answerset	Answerset	set
  shoot	Answershot	Answershot
  Answershow	showed	Answershown
  Answershut	Answershut	shut
  sing	Answersang	Answersung
  Answersink	sank	Answersunk

  
  
• Fourth QUIZ:

  go	went	gone
  Answersit	Answersat	sat
  sleep	Answerslept	Answerslept
  Answerspeak	spoke	Answerspoken
  Answerspeed	Answersped	sped
  spend	Answerspent	Answerspent
  Answerspread	spread	Answerspread
  Answerstand	Answerstood	stood
  steal	Answerstole	Answerstolen
  Answerstrike	struck	Answerstruck
  Answersweep	Answerswept	swept
  swim	Answerswam	Answerswum
  Answerswing	swung	Answerswung
  Answertake	Answertook	taken
  teach	Answertaught	Answertaught
  Answertell	told	Answertold
  Answerthink	Answerthought	thought
  throw	Answerthrew	Answerthrown
  Answerunderstand	understood	Answerunderstood
  Answerwear	Answerwore	worn
  write	Answerwrote	Answerwritten

  
  

present perfect continuous (I have been doing)

Is it raining? No, but the ground is wet. It has been raining.

Have/has been -ing is the present perfect continuous:

I / we/you/they   have   (= I've etc.) he/she/it   has   (= he's etc.)

been

doing working going

We use the present perfect continuous for an activity that has recently stopped or just stopped. There is a connection with now:

• You're out of breath. Have you been running? (you're out of breath now)
• Michael is very tired. He's been working very hard. (he's tired now)
• Why is your hat so dirty? What have you been doing?
• I've been talking to Jack about the problem and she thinks that...

It has been raining for four hours. It is raining now. It began raining two hours ago and it is still raining. How long has it been raining? It has been raining for four hours.

We often use the present prefect continuous in this way, especially with how long, for... and since... . The activity is still happening (as in this example) or has just stopped.

• How long have you been learning English? (you're still learning English)
• Clara is still doing her homework. She's been doing it all day.
• Where have you been? I've been looking for you for the last half hour.
• Goggy hasn't been feeling well recently.

You can use the present perfect continuous for actions repeated over a period of time:

• Marry is a very good tennis player. She's been playing since she was nine.
• Every evening they meet in the same cafe. They've been going there for months.

Compare I am doing (present continuous) and I have been doing (present perfect continuous):

Don't disturb me now. I'm working	I've been working hard, so now I'm going to have a rest.
We need an umbrella. It's raining.	The ground is wet. It's been raining.
Hurry up! We're waiting.	We've been waiting for an hour.

QUIZ:

It has be been being snowing a lot this week.	Answer been
Have Has Are your brother and sister been getting along?	Answer Have
Rick 's s 've been studying hard this semester.	Answer 's
I'm tired because I 've has am been working out.	Answer 've
Julie has being is been has been living in Italy since May.	Answer has been
How long have you been teacher teaching taught the German.	Answer teaching
We have been watching TV for since by 3 hours.	Answer for
You have working worked been work too hard today.	Answer worked
Has it be been is raining since you arrived?	Answer been
My brother has been travelling since for by he finished school.	Answer since

printable list of irregular verbs

Here is printable version of groupped irregular verbs from my previous post. It's zipped 3-page RTF file with groupped verbs for easy keeping it in mind. http://rapidshare.com/files/109735551/IrregularVerbs.zip.html File hosted at rapidshare service.

irregular verbs

The English language has a large number of irregular verbs. In the great majority of these, the past participle and/or past tense is not formed according to the usual patterns of English regular verbs. Other parts of the verb — such as the present 3rd person singular -s or -es, and present participle -ing — may still be formed regularly.

Most irregular verbs exist as remnants of historical conjugation systems. What is today an exception actually followed a set, normal rule long ago. When that rule fell into disuse, some verbs kept the old conjugation.

I will group irregular verbs into some groups by some common signs:

• The first group includes indefinite, past simple and past participle which are all different.
  

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  be	was/were	been
  do	did	done
  go	went	gone
  lie	lay	lain
  saw	sawed	sawn
  see	saw	seen
  show	showed	shown
  sow	sowed	sown

  
  -ew   -own/-awn   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  blow	blew	blown
  draw	drew	drawn
  fly	flew	flawn
  grow	grew	grown
  know	knew	known
  throw	threw	thrown

  
  -ear   -ore   -orn   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  bear	bore	born
  swear	swore	sworn
  tear	tore	torn
  wear	wore	worn

  
  -i-   -a-   -u-   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  begin	began	begun
  drink	drank	drunk
  ring	rang	rung
  shrink	shrank	shrunk
  sing	sang	sung
  sink	sank	sunk
  spin	span	spun
  spring	sprang	sprung
  swim	swam	swum

  
  ablaut subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  arise	arose	arisen
  bite	bit	bitten
  break	broke	broken
  choose	chose	choosen
  drive	drove	driven
  eat	ate	eaten
  fall	fell	fallen
  forbid	forbade	forbidden
  forget	forgot	forgotten
  freeze	froze	frozen
  give	gave	given
  ride	rode	ridden
  rise	rose	risen
  shake	shook	shaken
  speek	spoke	spoken
  steal	stole	stolen
  strive	strove	striven
  swell	swelled	swollen
  take	took	taken
  tread	trod	trodden
  write	wrote	written

  
  
  
• The second group contains verbs with equal indefinite, past simple and past participle forms.
  

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  burst   x 3
  cast   x 3
  cost   x 3
  hit   x 3
  hurt   x 3
  let   x 3
  put   x 3
  read	read [red]*	read [red]*
  set   x 3
  shed   x 3
  shut   x 3
  split   x 3
  spread   x 3

  ^* pronunciation
  
  
• The third group consists of verbs with two equal forms.
  

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  beat	beat	beaten
  (be)come	(be)came	(be)come
  build	built   x 2
  flee	fled   x 2
  get	got   x 2
  hang	hung   x 2
  have	had   x 2
  hear	heard   x 2
  hold	held   x 2
  lead	led   x 2
  leave	left   x 2
  lose	lost   x 2
  make	made   x 2
  run	ran	run
  sell	sold   x 2
  shine	shone   x 2
  sit	sat   x 2
  slide	slid   x 2
  spit	spat   x 2
  stand	stood   x 2
  teach	taught   x 2
  tell	told   x 2
  understand	understood   x 2
  win	won   x 2

  
  -end   -ent   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  bend	bent   x 2
  lend	lent   x 2
  send	sent   x 2
  spend	spent   x 2

  
  -ught   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  bring	brought   x 2
  buy	bought   x 2
  catch	caught   x 2
  fight	fought   x 2
  seek	saught   x 2
  think	thought   x 2

  
  -eep   -ept   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  creep	crept   x 2
  keep	kept   x 2
  sleep	slept   x 2
  sweep	swept   x 2
  weep	wept   x 2

  
  -vvc   -vc   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  bleed	bled   x 2
  breed	bred   x 2
  feed	fed   x 2
  meet	met   x 2
  shoot	shot   x 2
  speed	sped   x 2

  
  -ay   -aid   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  lay	laid   x 2
  pay	paid   x 2
  say	said   x 2

  
  -i-   -u-   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  cling	clung   x 2
  dig	dug   x 2
  fling	flung   x 2
  stick	stuck   x 2
  sting	stung   x 2
  strike	struck   x 2
  swing	swung   x 2

  
  -ind   -ound   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  bind	bound   x 2
  find	found   x 2
  grind	ground   x 2
  wind	wound   x 2

  
  -c   -ct   subgroup:

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  burn	burnt   x 2
  deal	dealt   x 2
  dwell	dwelt   x 2
  kneel	knelt   x 2
  mean	meant   x 2

  
  
• A verbs of the fourth group can be regular or irregular:
  

  indefinitive	past simple	past participle
  awake	awoke/awaked	awoke/awaked
  broadcast	broadcast/broadcasted	broadcast/broadcasted
  dream	dreamt/dreamed	dreamt/dreamed
  lean	leant/leaned	leant/leaned
  leap	leapt/leaped	leapt/leaped
  learn	learnt/learned	learnt/learned
  light	lit/lighted	lit/lighted
  smell	smelt/smelled	smelt/smelled
  spell	spelt/spelled	spelt/spelled
  spill	spilt/spilled	spilt/spilled
  spoil	spoilt/spoiled	spoilt/spoiled
  wake	woke/awaked	woke/awaked

present perfect (I have done)

Denis is looking for his key. He can't find it. He has lost his key. 'He has lost his key' = He lost it and he still hasn't got it.

Have/has lost is the present perfect simple:

I / we/you/they	have (=I've etc.)	finished lost done been   etc.
he/she/it	has (=he's etc.)

The present perfect simple is have/has + past participle. The past participle often ends in -ed (finished/decided etc.), but many important verbs are irregular (lost/done/been/written etc.).

When we use the present perfect there is always connection with now. The action in the past has a result now:

• 'Where's your key?'   'I don't know. I've lost it.' (I haven't got it now)
• He told me his name but I've forgotten it. (I can't remember it now)
• 'Is Sally here?' 'No, she's gone out.' (she is out now)
• Ow! I've cut my finger.
• (from the news) The police have arrested two men in connection with the robbery.

You can use the present perfect with just, recently, already and yet:

Just = 'a short time ago': 'Would you like something to eat?'   'No, thanks. I've just had lunch.' Hello. Have you just arrived? We use already to say that something happened sooner than expected: 'Don't forget to post the letter, will you?'   'I've already posted it.' 'What time is Mark living?'   'He's already gone.' Yet = 'until now' and shows that the speaker is expecting something to happen. Use yet only in questions and negative sentences: Has it stopped raining yet? I've written the letter but I haven't posted it yet.

Note the difference between gone(to) and been(to):

• Chack is away on holiday. He has gone to Spain. (=he is there now or on his way there)
• Lorry is back home from holiday now. She has been to Italy. (=she has now come back from Italy)

QUIZ:

How long Answer have you thought (you/think) that?

She Answer has put (put) the book back in its place.

They Answer haven't bought (not/buy) a new car yet.

Answer Has he ever been (He/ever/be) in London?

They Answer haven't worked (not/work) here for a very long time.

She Answer has written (write) three letters this afternoon.

Where Answer has he been (he/be)?

I Answer haven't finished (not/finish) my work yet.

Peter Answer has opened (open) a new store recently.

How often Answer has he gone (he/go) to Portland this week?

three tables

Maybe it will be better to show all major tables here at once, so remembering can be easy:

• Present continuous:

  I	am	driving
  he/she/it	is	working
  we/you/they	are	doing

  
  
• Present simple:

  he/she/it	drives/works/does
  I / we/you/they	drive/work/do etc.

  
  
• Past continuous:

  I / he/she/it	was	playing doing cooking   etc.
  we/you/they	were

  
  
• Past simple: no such a table

My rule of thumb: there are 3 groups - marked above as
red(I), green(he/she/it), blue(we/you/they).

= In present continuous I is standalone.
= In present simple he/she/it is standalone (only this group has -s).
= In past continuous we/you/they is standalone (has were).

You can have your own rule of thumb for these tenses...