Present perfect and past perfect
Present perfect simple
for/sinceb1
Present perfect simple with for and sinceShe has lived here for over 30 years.I haven't played tennis since my accident.I've known Maya since I was twelve.‘How long has she lived here?’ ‘For over 30 years./Since 1988.’We can use the present perfect with for and a period of time.We can use the present perfect with since and a date, day, time or event.Positive and negativeSubjectauxiliarypast participlefor/since+Shehaslivedhereforover 30 years.since1988.-Ihaven'tplayedtennisfora week.sincelast Saturday.my accident.I hurt my back.We can form present perfect questions with How long …?QuestionsHow longauxiliarysubjectpast participle?How longhaveyouknownMaya?hasshelivedhere?We can give a short answer with for or since.‘How long have you known Maya?’ ‘For six years./Since I was twelve.’‘How long has she lived here?’ ‘For over 30 years./Since 1988.’Regular verbs have past participles which are the same as their past simple forms, ending -ed.visit → visited arrive → arrivedIrregular verbs have irregular past participles. Sometimes the past participle of an irregular verb is the same as the past simple form and sometimes it is different.have, had → had lose, lost → lostdo, did → done eat, ate → eatenWe use the present perfect to talk about present activities that started in the past.We use for to talk about the period of time up to the present, e.g. for four years, for two days.The company has been in business for four years.We use since to talk about the time when an activity started. This can be a date, a day, a month, a time or an event, e.g. since 1903, since yesterday, since May, since 8 a.m., since my birthday, since I was ten years old.I've been here since 8 a.m.I haven't seen you since the wedding.We often use the past simple after since.She's had that car since she started learning to drive.We use the question form How long …? to ask about the period of time an activity has continued for. We can reply with for + the period of time …‘How long have you known Maya?’ ‘For six years.’… or we can reply with since + the time when the activity started.‘How long have you known Maya?’ ‘Since I was twelve.’
For each question, complete the second sentence with the word in brackets and between two and four other words so that it means the same as the first. Use short forms (I've), not full forms (I have) where possible.
Question: 1 /
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He started working at twelve o'clock and he stopped at five o'clock.
He
hours. (five)
He
I first met him in 2001. He died in 2005.
I
four years. (for)
I
We first met in 2001. He's still alive.
I
2001. (since)
I
Grammar contentsView all
Present perfect and past perfect
Quantifiers, possessives and demonstratives