GRAMMAR FOCUS

Present Perfect Tense

with
“for” and “since”
 “for”

is used for a period of time

for two years for two weeks for a few for along
hours time

Examples:
I have lived here for five years.
I have known him for a long time.
 “ since”
Is to show something that is happening from a point of
time in the past

Since this morning

Since 2018 Since last
week

Since 8 Since early

a.m. childhood

Example:
1. I have lived here since 2020.
2. Parkour has been around since the late 1980s.
 Now!let’s try out some exercises:
A. Complete the sentences with for or
since.
1. Nik has attended basketball training
_______ two
days.

2. Nicol David has played squash

__________ she was five years old.

3. I have been a fan of Manchester United

_______ the last ten years.
4. The boys are very patient. They
have waited ____________ three
hours.

5.Ms Lim has coached the swimming

team _____________ she joined the

school.

6. I have had this cold ______

Tuesday.
Now, check your answers:

1. for 4. for

2. since 5. since

3. for 6. since
B. Decide whether you need for or since for the time
expressions given below. The first one has been
done for you.

1.last Monday since last Monday

2. Hari Raya ______________

3 .twenty minutes ______________

4. a decade ______________

5. last weekend ______________

6. his anniversary ______________

7. a couple of weeks ______________

8. I finished kindergarten ___________

9. Malaysia’s independence ___________

10. we bought the car ___________

11. a lifetime ___________

12. decades ___________

13. a very long time ___________

14. my graduation ___________

2. since 9. since
3. for 10.since
4. for 11.for
5. since 12.for
6. since 13.for
7. for 14.since
8.since

ANSWERS
PRESENT PERFECT
1. We use the present perfect to refer to actions that
happened in the past.

 but we do not know when they happened.

 and continue to happen.

2. We also use the present perfect to refer to recent

actions.

 Pn Alice has chosen Matthew as the umpire for the

next
tennis match.
 They have enrolled on fencing lesson.
More examples:
1. I have played the guitar ever since I
was a child.

2. Women have competed in the Olympic

games since 1900.

3. Michael Schumacher has won 91 races

during his Formula One racing career.

4. Serena Williams has earned her place

as one of the top tennis players in the
world.
1. We use past simple to talk about actions
completed in the past.

 The team captain walked to the field.

 The athlelets practised daily at the stadium.

2. We also use the past simple to talk about

past habitual actions.

 We always visited them.

 Laila always took my storybooks.

PAST
SIMPLE
Here are some examples:
1.Sarah practised swimming every day after
school.

2.Maria Sharapova turned professional

tennis player in 2001.

3.He walked the dog in the park last

Sunday.

4. Miss Santhi taught us History back in

2019.
A. Complete the sentences with the simple past or
present perfect form of the verbs in the brackets.
1. They __________ (live) in this house since
they
were five years old.
2. Minah ___________(not see) her brother
and father since April.
3. The sale ______(is) a good one. I
_____(buy) a new hockey stick and some
hockey balls.
4. I ______ (know) you since we were in
kindergarten.
5. The girl ____(fall) when she _____(climb)
the tall tree to rescue the kitten.
Can’t wait to check the answers?
HERE THEY ARE:

1. have lived

2. has not seen

3. was,bought

4. have known

5. fell, climbed
B. Complete the passage with the simple past or present perfect
form of the verbs in the brackets.

Nicol David ___1____ (be) playing squash since

she ___2__(is) five years. She _____3__(receive)
coaching at the age of eight. She ___4__(start)
her career when she __5_____(represent) her
homestate of Penang in 1992. Nicol has
_____6__(take) part in many tournaments all over
the world. She has __7___(win) many
international tournamentsand is currently ranked
world number 6. She has ___8______(contribute)
greatly to the sport field in Malaysia and has
____9__(make) Malaysia famous for squash.
The answers:
1.has been 6. taken

2.was 7. won

3. received
8.contributed

4. started 9. made

5. represented