3V Grammar unit 4: Present Perfect Continuous vs Past Perfect

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Pa

Past Perfect 

vs 

Present Perfect Continuous

3VWO

Present Perfect Continuous

Which sentence is in the present perfect continuous?

1. We were playing
2. We had been playing
3. We have been playing
4. We are playing

Present Perfect Continuous

FORM: has/have + been + verb + ing 

FUNCTION: 

• to emphazise duration and sometimes irritation
• action started in the past and is still going on 

Present Perfect Continuous

Examples: 

• I have been working on that report all afternoon! 
• They have been painting the walls since seven o'clock this morning.
• We have been waiting here for ages now, hurry up!

Present Perfect Continuous
I_________(search) for tickets for ages!

Which sentence is present perfect continuous?

1. We've been practising all afternoon.
2. We've practised all afternoon.
3. We were practising all afternoon.
4. We practised all afternoon.

The teacher ................(talk) for 35 minutes.

Translate: Zij is al uren hard aan het leren

Maak een zin met de present perfect continuous

Past perfect

Which one is the Past Perfect?

1. have + past participle
2. Has + past participle
3. had + past participle
4. To be + past participle

Past Perfect 

FORM:  Had + past participle (= voltooid deelwoord)

1. Regular verbs: had + full verb + -ed

Ex: We had lived in London for 3 years by then. 

2. Irregular verbs: had + 3rd row (see book p. 220)

Ex. She hadn't done her homework yet when he showed up.

Past Perfect 

FUNCTION: takes place before another past action

1. Tells you about an event that happened in the past and

was finished before another action took place.

Ex: He had already written a book by the time he turned 22.

2. You see it often in a sentence with the Past Simple.

Ex: After she had finished her homework, she called her friend.

Answer key

1. called, had heard

2. said, had lived

3. had taken, went

4. had done, began

5. had danced, felt

6. had finished, watched

Past Perfect

1. when something started and stopped in the past
2. when something went on for a while in the past
3. when something happened before something else in the past
4. when something started in the past in goes on until the present

Practice both tenses

They_______(drive) for 3 hours now.

He was excited because he ____ (never, do) anything like this.

Past simple or present perfect continuous?
We _____ basketball since 10 a.m.

1. have been playing
2. played

It ____________ all day, but she still wants to go for a walk.

1. have been raining
2. has been raining
3. had been raining
4. was raining

_____ he never ________ (play) that game before?

I _____ (to wait) for you for ages!

Just before he called her, he _____ (check) his messages.

1. would check
2. checks
3. checked
4. had checked

After he ______ (pass) his exam,
he threw a party.

When I walked in, the meeting _________(already, start).

He was shocked because he ________ (never see) anything like it.