INTERMEDIATE CLASS 18 – Talking about life experiences I

‘I have worked so much this week.’

In this lesson, you’ll:

✓ Understand what the Present Perfect is.

✓ Clarify the difference between the Present Perfect an the Past Simple

✓ Learn how to use the present perfect (affirmative, interrogative and

negative structure)

WARM UP
Let’s play: MATCHING ACHIEVEMENTS. Read the following statements and match
them with the right writer.

Do you know anything about J K Rowling or Agatha Christie?

1. _____ has sold around 500 million books.

2. _____ has sold over 2 billion books.

3. _____ didn’t go to school but was educated at home by her mother.

4. _____ taught English in Portugal before she became famous.

5. _____ has donated millions of dollars to charity.

6. _____ studied to be a classical musician but was too nervous to perform.

DIALOGUE
Read the following dialogue between two friends out loud with your tutor then
switch roles. Pay attention to the underlined sentences.

‘‘Deciding what to eat’’

June: So, what are we going to order?

Maia: I don’t know. What do you have in mind?
June: What about some burgers?
Maia: On no. I’ve eaten a lot of burgers these days. I’m kind of tired.
June: All right then. So how about pizza?
Maia: Hmmm, yummy! I haven’t had pizza in a long time.
June: Seriously?
Maia: Yeah. The last time I ate pizza was 3 months ago.
June: Oh gosh. I can’t live that long without pizza. Hey, how come Dylan didn’t
come?
Maia: Oh, he wanted to. But he has gone to Miami, remember?
June: Oh yeah, I remember now. When did he leave?
Maia: He left on Monday. And he’ll be back tomorrow. He has just called me. He
sent you a kiss.
GRAMMAR FOCUS
Today we will discuss the differences between the Present Perfect and the Past
simple.

Past Simple:
It is used for actions that happened in the past (at a specific and known moment).
The time period is finished and completed. There is no connection to the present.

NOW

SUBJECT + VERB (PAST SIMPLE) + OBJECT

Examples:
I travelled to Paris three years ago.
Carlos broke her leg 3 years ago.
She lost her house keys two weeks ago.

Present Perfect:
It is used to talk about a non-specific time in the past or something that happened
in the past but has some connection or effect in the present time or isn’t concluded
yet. It is also used to talk about an action that had been concluded very recently.

NOW

SUBJECT + HAVE/HAS + VERB P.P + OBJECT

I. Actions that happened at a non-specific time in the past:

I have eaten a lot of burgers these days.

She has watched a lot of tv lately.
They haven’t eaten pizza in a long time.

*In these cases, there are no specific time expressions such as yesterday, last
night, 2 weeks ago etc.
 II. Action that happened in the past but has consequences in the present time:

Jake can’t play soccer today because he has broken his leg.
She can’t get into her house because she has lost her keys.
They are very tired because they’ve worked all day.

III. Action that started in the past and aren’t concluded yet:

Mrs. Greene isn’t at the office because she has gone out to lunch. (In this case, she still
hasn’t return.)
Dylan has gone to Miami. (In this case, he is still in Miami)
I haven’t had breakfast today (Today isn’t over yet)
I haven’t had a vacation this year. (This year hasn’t finished yet.)

IV. Action that has been concluded very recently:

Would you like some cookies?

No. Thank you. I have just eaten.

I love your shirt.

Thanks. It’s new. I’ve just bought it!

You look really tired. What happened?

I’ve just exercised.

*In this case we use the time expression JUST

EXPLORE AND LEARN MORE
Now, let’s increase your vocabulary by learning some of the most common
irregular verbs in English including their past and part participle forms (which will
help you talk in the present perfect tense).

INFINITIVE PAST SIMPLE PAST PARTICIPLE

be was/were been
break broke broken
bring brought brought
buy bought bought
build built built
come came come
do did done
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
find found found
fly flew flown
go went gone
have had had
meet met met
run ran run
see saw seen
sing sang sung
sleep slept slept
win won won
write wrote written
PRACTICE

I. Finished or unfinished period of time? Write F for concluded periods and

U for unconcluded periods of time.

1. Three days ago.

2. Today
3. This year
4. Last month
5. So far
6. Last night
7. In 2017
8. This week.

II. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in parentheses.
Choose between the simple past or the present perfect.

1. I _____ (buy) so many things this week.

2. I _____ (drive) my new car for the first time yesterday.

3. I _____ (eat) so much junk food this month. I think I need a diet.

4. I _____ (do) a lot of homework this morning. I’m tired.

5. I _____ (have) an amazing pizza last night.

III. Transform the following sentences into their interrogative and negative
forms.

1. She has traveled three times this year.

2. They have eaten a lot of cake these days.

3. I have seen great movies lately.

4. He has studied a lot recently.

CONVERSATION
Watch the following video and take notes. Be ready to answer your tutor’s
questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9GlEYf8_5I

1. What has the little boy done today?

2. What has the mother done today?

3. What has the father done today and what hasn’t he done so far?

4. What has the little girl done today and what hasn’t she done so far?

5. How about you? What have you done today?

6. What have you done a lot this month?

7. What haven’t done this year?

SHARE ONE THING YOU’VE LEARNT IN THIS CLASS

HOMEWORK

I. Which sentence is NOT grammatically correct?

a. I have been ill for more than a week!

b. I haven't travelled abroad.

c. He has been to France three times last year.

II. Which sentence is NOT grammatically correct?

a. When did you been to London?

b. When did you go to London?

c. When have you been to New York?

III. Which sentence is NOT grammatically correct?

a. Have you made a cake today?

b. When did you make this cake?

c. Have you eaten cake last week?

IV. Which sentence is NOT grammatically correct?

a. I have studied a lot this week.

b. I studied so much yesterday.

c. I studies a lot recently.

Check answers on the next page…

ANSWERS

WARM UP
1. J K Rowling has sold around 500 million books.

2. Agatha Christie has sold over 2 billion books.

3. Agatha Christie didn’t go to school but was educated at home by her mother.

4. J K Rowling taught English in Portugal before she became famous.

5. J K Rowling has donated millions of dollars to charity.

6. Agatha Christie studied to be a classical musician but was too nervous to

perform.

PRACTICE

I. Finished or unfinished period of time? Write F for concluded periods and

U for unconcluded periods of time.

1. Three days ago. F

2. Today U

3. This year U

4. Last month F

5. So far U

6. Last night F

7. In 2017 F

8. This week. U
 II. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in parentheses.
Choose between the simple past or the present perfect.

1. I HAVE BOUGHT so many things this week.

2. I DROVE my new car for the first time yesterday.

3. I HAVE EATEN so much junk food this month. I think I need a diet.

4. I HAVE DONE a lot of homework this morning. I’m tired.

5. I HAD an amazing pizza last night.

III. Transform the following sentences into their interrogative and negative
forms.

1. She has traveled three times this year.

Has she traveled a lot this year? / She hasn’t traveled a lot this year.

2. They have eaten a lot of cake these days.

Have they eaten a lot of cake these days? / They haven’t eaten a lot of cake
these days.

3. I have seen great movies on lately.

Have I seen great movies lately? / I haven’t seen great movies lately.

4. He has studied a lot recently.

Has he studied a lot recently? / He hasn’t studied a lot recently.

HOMEWORK
1. C
2. A
3. C
4. C