Unit 1
Perfect tenses.
Tense
Present perfect simple tense.
Present perfect continuous
tense.
Note: stative verbs such as be,
know, seem are not usually used
in the continuous tenses.
For example, you would not say:
I've been knowing Jim since he
was 15, but I’ve known Jim
since he was 15.
Past perfect simple tense.
This tense is generally used to clarify
the timing of an event.
Uses
When talking about events or situations that started in the past
and are still true.
When thinking about the present effects of something that
happened in the past.
When talking about a recent event or situation.
When referring to smth that will happen at some time in the
future.
To stress the period of time involved.
To refer to a situation that continues.
To focus on the present effects of a recent event,
To refer to something that has recently stopped.
It is used to refer to an event which took place before
something else.
Examples
Amelia Kenton has lived in the same house all her
life.
I’ve lost my purse so I need some money for the
bus.
Jack has just phoned to wish you good luck
As soon as I have settled in, come and stay!
I’ve been sitting at this computer all day!
Membership numbers at this club have been
falling year by year.
You can tell it’s been raining - the seats are still
damp.
Have you been crying?
Sailing towards the harbour, I remembered how it
had looked on my first visit, ten years earlier.
Sometimes this involves using words like already
or just.
I had just stepped into the bath when the phone
rang.
 Past perfect continuous tense. To stress the continuity of an event at an earlier point in time. Their cat had been missing for over a week when
a neighbour spotted it in the local park.

Future perfect simple tense To refer to events which have not yet happened but will By the end of September, I will have started that
definitely do so at a given time in the future. course in London.

Future perfect continuous tense To indicate duration at a specified time in the future. Come next Saturday, we’ll have been going out
together for a whole year.

Other modal verbs To express regret about the past, should or ought to is We should have never bought Alex that drum kit!
combined with a perfect tense form. I’m sorry, I ought to have remembered that you
can’t eat strawberries.