Present Perfect Simple To talk about past experiences

Present Perfect Simple • To talk about past experiences. Don’t say when they happened! Ex. Have you ever had food poisoning? Ex. I’ve never had the flu. Ex. I’ve been to Australia before. • To say how much or how many times we have done something up to now Ex. How many countries have you visited? Ex. I’ve been to the gym three times this week. • With just, yet and already Ex. She’s just arrived home. Ex. I’ve already done my homework! Ex. I haven’t tidied my bedroom yet. • With superlatives (with ever) Ex. Titanic is the best film I’ve ever seen. • For finished actions (when you don’t say when it happened) which have results in the present. Ex. I’ve lost my keys! = they are still lost. Ex. You’ve had a haircut! = you see the result in the present. • With non-action verbs (be, have*, know, want, like, hate, love, prefer, seem, look like, believe, think*) to say that an action started in the past and is true now. Ex. How long have you known your best friend? Ex. I’ve known her since I was at primary school. Ex. She’s been ill for a few days. Present Perfect Continuous • With action verbs, to say that an action started in the past and is still happening now. Ex. How long have you been learning English? Ex. I’ve been learning English since I was five. Ex. I’ve been going to the IB for two years. • For repeated actions in the near past, especially with recently, all morning, all day, all week. Ex. I haven’t been sleeping well. Ex. She’s been studying a lot recently. Ex. I’ve been cleaning the house all morning. • When you can see evidence that a continuous action has just finished. Ex. Look everything is wet! It’s been raining. Present Perfect Simple or Continuous? • Some verbs can be action or non-actions verbs, depending on their meaning. E. g. have a car = non action, have a shower = action Ex. We’ve had our car for five years. Ex. He’s been having a shower for ages! • With live and work you can use either the present perfect simple or the present perfect continuous. Although, the present perfect continuous is for shorter, more temporary actions. Ex. He’s been living with us for the past month.