PAST TENSES: Past simple Present perfect Past continuous Present perfect continuous

1. PAST TENSES: Pastsimple Presentperfect Pastcontinuous Presentperfectcontinuous

2. The 6 main tenses we use • to talk about the past are: • past simple He worked at Scavolini. • present perfect He has workedat Scavolini. • past continuous He was workingat Scavolini. • present perfect continuous • He has been workingat Scavolini. • past perfect He had workedat Scavolini. • past perfect continuous • He had been workingat Scavolini.

3. Compare: Marco has boughta new tennis racket. He bought it last Saturday He has been usingit since Saturday. He was going past the sports shop when he saw the racket in the window. He had already decidedto buy a new racket. He had been looking for one for a few weeks.

4. 1. THE PAST simple FORM: Regular past forms end in -ed, e.g. worked, ordered, delivered The past simple is the same in all persons: in statements: I – you – he – she – it - we – theyworked. in questions: DidI – you – he – she – it - we – theywork ? in negative sentences: I – you – he – she – it - we – theydid notwork.

5. The only exception is the past tense of be: I– he – she – it - was. You - we – you - theywere.

6. Short forms: did not = didn’twas not= wasn’t were not= weren’t N.B.: Some verbs have an irregular past form and do not end in -ed! (to sell) We soldour new line of organic food products in ten countries last year. (to have) Theyhadtrouble with their main supplier of raw materials.

7. PRESENT PERFECT

8. FORM: present tense of “have” + past participle; regular past participles end in -ed, in statements: I – you – we – theyhaveworked. He – she – it hasworked. HaveI – you - we – theyworked ? Hashe – she – it worked ? I – you – we – theyhave notworked. He – she – it has not worked.

9. N.B. We do not use the verb “be” as an auxiliary in the present perfect: Correct The plane HAS arrived IncorrectThe plane IS arrived. Short forms: hasn’t worked = has not worked haven’t = have not worked

10. Compare the use of the Past Simple & Present Perfect:

11. The Present Perfecttells us about the past AND the present: They have received the order. (= They have the goods now) The Past Simple tells us about the past: They receivedthe goods yesterday. (=but they may have used them immediately, or sent them back to the supplier because they were in poor condition)

12. Theyhave lockedthe warehouse door(No one can enter it now) Theylockedthe warehouse door at 10 o’clock last night.(Maybe it is open now)

13. The warehouse staffhas packedthe goods. (= now they’re ready for shipment. ) The staffpackedthe goods last night before going home. (= but they had to be re-packed this morning because the client called to ask us to add some other articles to the shipment).

14. Our technicianhas repairedthe equipment. (It works now) Our technicianrepairedthe equipment, but it broke down again after just ten days. In otherwords, the focus is on the CURRENT RELEVANCE of information:

15. Our fax numberHAS CHANGED. We’VE just LOWEREDourprices. TheyHAVE UPDATED their website.

16. In the nextexampleabout Information Technology, the impact of IT isdescribed in termsof its PRESENT SIGNIFICANCE:

17. Information technologyhasshaken up company structures just asmuchas externalmarkets. Inside companies, ithasalso changedbehaviour. Ithas led to the eliminationof a vastnumberofjobs, whilemakingotherjobs more demanding or more effective.

18. Weuse the presentperfectto talk about LIFE EXPERIENCES UP TO NOW: He’s donelotsofjobs ! He’s worked in a call center, in a shoefactory and he’s been a DJ, too. The focus isnot on WHEN hedid the jobs: only the experiences are important !

19. We use the Present Perfectfor a state which has continued up to the present: I have hadthis job for ten years. (=I’ve still got it now) We use the Past Simple for a state in the past: I hada job once, but I lostit. (= I don’t have it now)

20. Ginahas lovedChinese food ever since she first tried it. (She still loves it now) GinalovedChinese food when she first tried it. (But she doesn’t now). I’ve knownMr. Ferrero for a long time. He’s a good client. Iknew Mr. Ferrero when Iwasyounger, but I haven’t spoken with him for years.

21. We use the Present Perfectfor actions in an unspecified period up to the present:  Bruno Vespahas written 100 books. We use the Past Simple for actions in the past:  Shakespearewrotenumerous comedies and tragedies.

22. SlowFoodArcigolahas published over 60 books about food. “EditoriRiuniti”publishedover 5,000 titles before they closed in 1990. Esperya.comhas attracted hundreds of thousands of on-line shoppers. Esperya.com attracted over 15,000 new clients last month.

23. Haveyou ever visiteda vineyard ? Didyouvisitany vineyards when youwere in Tuscany? Wehavesoldover 100,000 bottles of spumanteso far this year. We soldover 100,000 bottles of spumantelast year.

24. Ihavealreadyseenthis film, and I didn’t like it. I don’t want to see it again ! I sawlots of films when I attended the Venice film festival.

25. GianmarcoVenturi was a rich and successful businessman, but he’s an old man now and doesn’t work any more. His son Carlo is now a very rich and very successful businessman. Ex. Most business people make mistakes. Gianmarcomade mistakes, but his son hasnever made a mistake.

26. Business people travel a lot. Carlo __________ all over the world. His father __________ on business, too, but not so much. • Good business people make money. Carlo __________ £ 50 million now. His father __________ £10 million. • Business people can win prizes. Gianmarco __________ the Exporter of the Year prize twice. His son __________ it four times already.

27. A lot of business people don’t take risks. Gianmarco __________ risks because he was afraid to, but his son __________ quite a few risks so far in his career.

28. We often give a piece of news in thePresent Perfect and use the Past Simple for the details: I’ve foundmy wallet ! -Oh, good. Wheredidyoufindit? Our orderhas arrived. -- The shipping companydeliveredit this morning.

29. We use today and phrases with this for a period up to the present: Ithasn’t rainedyet today. Haveyouseenthis week’s magazine? Itrained yesterday. Didyouseelast week’s magazine?

30. The Past Continuous

31. The Past Continuous I – he – she – itwas working. You – we – you – theywere working. WasI – he – she – itworking ? Wereyou – we – you – theyworking ? I – he – she – itwas not working. You – we – you – theywere not working.

32. Short forms: wasn’tworking = was not working weren’t working = were not working

33. It was a lovely day and the sun was shining. I was walkingacross the field when I saw a plane. It was flyingvery low. It was makinga strange noise, and I knew there was a problem. It came down in the next field, and I heard a crash. I ran to the village and phoned for help.

34. We use the Past continuous to say that we were in the middle of an action, to describe something that was happening at a certain time in the past. The action had started, but had not ended. Iwas walkingacross the field, when...... (= I was in the field.) The planewas flyingvery low, when.....

35. We use the past simple for completed actions in the past: • Iwalkedacross the field. • (= I crossed it completely.) • The planecrashedin a field.

36. We often use the past continuous to describe the background (the scene) and the past simple for the actions in a story: The sunwas shining.... Iranto the village.

37. We often use the past continuous and simple together when a shorter action interrupted a longer one (=came in the middle of it): • Iwas so tired after work last night that I fellasleep while Iwas watchingTV. • We were sittingin the garden when it suddenlystartedto rain. • The phonerangwhile I wasmakinglunch.

38. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

39. He – she – ithas been working. I - you – we –you - theyhave been working. Hashe – she – itbeen working ? Have I- you – we – you - theybeen working ? He– she – ithas not been working. I - you – we –you - theyhave not been working.

40. Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous ?The choice depends on how we see the action: as continuing over a period of time or as completed.

41. We use the Present Perfect Continuous: • To talk about repeated actions up to the present: • I have been takingEnglish lessons since • I was ten years old. • I have been going to evening classes this year. • for an action that has ended just before now: • I’vebeen taking a shower. • That’s why my hair is wet.

42. we often the Present Perfect Continuous with for, since, recently, lately and how long: You’ve been writingthat letter for an hour—why is it taking you so long ? She’sbeen goingthough a divorce, so she hasn’t been feelingvery happy recently. We have been stayingat the Excelsior hotel for the last three days.

43. Exercise: • The workers are tired. They (work) hard. • The boss and his secretary both look angry. They (argue) all morning ! • Tina (talk) to our German client on the phone for the last 45 minutes – I wonder what the problem is ? • I (read) this contract all morning but I still can’t understand some of the clauses.

44. Gianni arrived at the office this morning at 7 am and at 7 pm he’s still here ! He (work) for 12 hours ! • Marco has a back-ache. He (work) in our warehouse loading a lorry all afternoon.