Present perfect simple & continuous

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Present perfect Simple & Continuous

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For the upcoming questions:

PPS = PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

PPC = PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

PPS or PPC?

"I have been surfing

1. PP Simple
2. PP Continuous

PPS or PPC?
"It has rained earlier today"

1. PPS
2. PPC

Continuous tenses ______ end in 'ing'

1. always
2. never

We use the present perfect tense (simple & continuous) to talk about things where there is a connection between the past and the present.

1. True
2. False, only PP Simple
3. False, Only PP continuous
4. False, neither are connected to the present

What's true?:
know, understand, prefer, love, hate, believe, want, hear, want, remember, etc.

1. These are state verbs
2. They do NOT express an activity
3. They cannot be used with continuous tenses

This should be in your notes:

The Present Perfect Continuous is almost always used with verbs that express an action or activity (een handeling)

The Present Perfect Continuous is NOT used with so-called state verbs. These verbs do not express some kind of action or activity

• I have been knowing him for three years.→I have known him for three years

• I have been loving her since I first saw her.→I have loved her since I first saw her.

We use the present perfect simple to emphasise [1]
We use the present perfect continuous to emphasise [2]

1. The result of an action, the action itself.
2. The action itself, the result of an action.

WHICH IS/ARE CORRECT?

1. I have read five books this week. (PPS)
2. I have been reading a lot of books lately. (PPC)

Make sure this is in your notes:

We use the present perfect simple to emphasise the result of an action

We use the present perfect continuous to emphasise the action itself.

• I have read five books this week. I am so proud of myself! 

 (Result = being proud)

• I have been reading a lot of books lately. It is so much fun! 

(the action itself is fun)

which is correct?

1. He has been writing fifteen books.
2. He has written fifteen books.
3. He has been writing for fifteen years
4. He has written for fifteen years

Explain the difference:
1. He has been writing 15 books
2. He has written 15 books

Make sure this is in your notes:

We use the Present perfect simple to emphasise how many.

We use the Present Perfect continuous to emphasise how long.

• He has written fifteen books. (emphasis on how many)

• He has been writing for fifteen years. (emphasis on how long)