GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 – Present Perfect

i The Present Perfect is formed with have / has + Past Participle of the main verb.

Affirmative (+)	Negative (-)	Question (?)
I have (I’ve) worked You have (You’ve) worked He/She/It has (he’s) worked We have (we’ve) worked They have (they’ve) worked	I have not (haven’t)worked You have not (haven’t)worked He/She/It has not(hasn’t)worked We have not (haven’t) worked They have not (haven’t) worked	Have I worked? Have you worked? Has he /she/it worked? Have we worked? Have they worked?

 

ii Regular verbs like work form the Past Participle with –d or –ed. In verb tables, the 2^nd column (Past Simple) and 3^rd column (Past Participle) are the same: work- work ed – work ed

Irregular verbs often have a different Past Simple and Past Participle: do – did – done, go – went – gone.

The contractions (in brackets) are used in speech and informal writing.

iii We use the Present Perfect to talk about actions that continue from the past to the present.

e.g. I have worked here for five years. (And I’m still working here now.)

He has lived in Barcelona for two years. (And he’s still living there now.)

iv We often use the Present Perfect to talk about life experiences.

e.g. She has had three jobs since she left university.

He hasn’t had any experience in marketing.

Have you ever worked abroad? Yes, I have. / No, I haven’t.

v We use the Present Perfect to talk about the present result of a past action.

e.g. I’ve lost my wallet - I can’t find it anywhere.

Your taxi has arrived. See you again soon – have a safe journey!

vi for and since

for + number of days / months / years

e.g. I’ve worked here for a year.

since + a time in the past

e.g. He has worked here since July 2009.

ASSIGNMENTS

A Complete the short answers with the correct form of have.

1 A: Has Francois ever worked in a bank?

B: No, he hasn’t.

2 A: Have all the candidates for the interview arrived?

B: Yes, ………………

3 A: So you have worked for Nielsen Electronics, is that right?

B: Yes, ……………….

4 A: What about these candidates? Have they ever managed a project?

B: No, ……………….

5 A: Have you called a job agency?

B: No, ……………….

6 A: Have you and Luis received a reply yet?

B: Well, Luis …………., but I’m afraid I ……………..

 

B Complete the sentences with the Present Perfect form of the verbs in brackets.

1 Sanjay has lived (live) in many different countries.

2 I _________________ (never speak) to a famous person.

3 _____________ you ever ______________ (give) a presentation in English?

4 We ______________ (not eat) at the new Italian restaurant. Is it good?

5 ______________ Monica ever ____________ (work) in a finance department?

6 They _______________ (never try) to learn a foreing language.

C Put the verbs in brackets in the Present Perfect.

1 Have you known each other for a long time? (know)

2 …….. Pierre and Lucien …………… jobs frequently? (change)

3 …….. Anna ……….. several jobs since leaving university? (have)

4 …….. Laura and Stella both ………….. for the same job? (apply)

5 …….. you and Tim ever …………… difficulties getting along with Mr Dumas? (have)

6 …….. you ever ……………. in Central Asia? (work)

D Match these answers to the questions in exercise С.

a) Pierre hasn’t. But Lucien has had three or four different ones already.

b) No, we haven’t. We met at a conference only last week, in fact.

c) Yes, I have. I worked in Kazakhstan from 1998 to 2001.

d) Yes, she has. I don’t know how many, though.

e) Yes, they have. That’s a coincidence, isn’t it?

f) Yes, we have. Especially me.

 

E Complete the two sentences with the corrrect time expressions from the box. There are several possible expressions for each sentence.

1 three months ago 2 this year 3 for the past ten days 4 last week 5 at 9 o’clock

6 yesterday morning 7 so far 8 over the last five years 9 in 2007 10 five minutes ago

 

a) The last time I saw her was …1,…4,…………………

b) They haven’t been successful …………………………

 

F Complete the sentences with for, since, ever or never.

1 I’ve lived in the same house ___________ 20 years.

2 My African colleagues have ___________ seen snow.

3 They’ve been married ____________ 2002.

4 Have you ___________ worked in IT?

5 The meeting lasted _____________ six hours.

6 He hasn’t called ______________ yesterday.

 

G Listen to Matt Flinders describing his career and his life. Answer the questions.

1 Has Matt ever worked in a foreign country?

2 What is Matt’s job?

 

H Listen again and complete the text with the correct date or number of years.

From 1995 to __________________¹, Matt studied business administration at university. His first job was with Smartex, a retail company based in the UK. In ______________², Matt joined Market World, an international retail company. After _____________³ years there, Market World offeres Matt a job as a manager in a new store in Indonesia.

Matt moved back to the UK in November ____________⁴. He stayed with Market World and worked as the general manager in a Liverpool store. In June _____________⁵ Matt got married. Market World promoted Matt to be the regional maanger in October _____________ ⁶.

I Use the text above to answer these questions about Matt’s career. Answer with a complete sentence and use the correct tense: Present Perfect or Past Simple. Use since+year or for+number of years.

1 How long did Matt study at university?

2 How long did he work in Indonesia?

3 How long did he work as the general manager in Liverpool?

4 How long has he been married?

5 How long has he been the regional manager?

TEXT B

1 Complete the job advertisement below with the verbs from the box. Use the words in brackets to help you.

improve lead increase set up train develop deal with organize plan manage

European Manager KARADA

?75,000 per year + car MODE PLC