Mastering Verb Tenses: Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, and Past Perfect

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Mastering Verb Tenses: Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, and Past Perfect

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to understand and use the verb tenses Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, and Past Perfect correctly.

What do you already know about verb tenses?

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses show the time of an action or state. 

They include Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, and Past Perfect.

Present Perfect Continuous

It is used to describe an action that started in the past, is still ongoing, and may continue in the future.

 It is formed with 

'have/has been' + present participle (-ing). 

Example: 'I have been studying English for two hours.'

Past Simple

It is used to describe a completed action or state in the past. 

It is formed with the base form of:

 the verb + '-ed' (regular verbs) or irregular verb forms. 

Example: 'I visited my grandparents last weekend.'

Past Perfect

It is used to show an action that happened before another action or a specific point in the past.

 It is formed with:

 'had' + past participle. 

Example: 'She had already eaten when I arrived.'

Practice Time!

Identify the verb tense used in each sentence: 

'I have been waiting for you.' 

'He ate breakfast an hour ago.' 

'By the time I woke up, she had already left.'

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using Present Perfect Continuous when Past Simple is appropriate.

Using Past Simple when Past Perfect is needed. 

Forgetting the 'have/has' in Present Perfect Continuous.

Summary

Present Perfect Continuous describes ongoing actions.

Past Simple describes completed actions.

Past Perfect shows actions that happened before another point in the past.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.