Present perfect questions

Have + I I you I we I they+ (ever+) past participle? Ex. Have you ever done anything scary?
Has+ he I she I it+ (ever+) past participle? Ex. Has she ever tried rafting?

Present perfect affirmative short answers

Yes, + I I you I we I they + have.
Yes, + he I she I it+ has.

Present perfect negative short answers

No, + I I you I we I they+ haven't.
No,+ he I she I it+ hasn't.

Use
• Present perfect questions are used to ask about actions and situations that took place at an indefinite
time before now. They often include the adverb ever.
Ex: Have you ever done anything scary?

 When people answer present perfect questions and include references to a specific, finished time in
the past, they use the simple past.
Ex: A: Have you ever done anything scary? (=at any time before now)
B: Yes, I have. I went rafting last year ( = at a specific past time)
OR
B: No, I haven't. I've never done anything scary. (=not in my life up to now)
Present perfect continuous.

• Affirmative statements
I I you I we I they + have I 've + been + present participle Ex: I've been going to a pottery class.
He I she I it+ has I 's. + been + present participle Ex: She's been seeing a guy from work.

• Negative statements
I I you I we I they+ haven't+ been + present participle Ex: I haven't been going to the gym lately.
He I she I it+ hasn't+ been+ present participle Ex: She hasn't been doing much lately.

• Information questions
question word + have+ I I you I we I they+ been + present participle Ex: What have you been doing lately?
question word+ has + he I she I it+ been + present participle Ex: Who has she been seeing?

• Yes-no questions
Have+ I I you I we I they+ been + present participle Ex: Have you been studying a lot lately?
Has + he I she I it+ been + verb + present participle Ex: Has she been seeing someone from work?

Use
• Continuous forms of verbs are generally used to describe events and situations that are in progress
or temporary. Here the present perfect continuous is used for ongoing or repeated activities that
started before now and continue into the present.
This form is contrasted with the present perfect, which focuses on the results of an activity or is used
to say how many times or how often an activity has happened.
Compare the forms.
o I've been making a vase in pottery class. ( = This is the activity I've been engaged in. It is not
totally clear if the vase is finished, so the listener might think it is not finished.)
o I've made a vase in pottery class. (=This is the result of the pottery class; we know the vase is
finished.)

• With some verbs (e.g., live, work), there is little difference in meaning between the present perfect
continuous and the present perfect:
o How long have you been living here?
o How long have you lived here?

• Some verbs (e.g., know, have, like, love) are not normally used in the continuous and so do not usually
occur in the present perfect continuous:
o How long have you known him? (NOT have you been knowing?)
Since, for, and in can all be used with the present perfect and the present perfect continuous to express duration to
say how long an activity has been in progress from a time in the past until the present.
• Since is used with points in time. It introduces both phrases and clauses.
o I've been going to a pottery class since September.
o I haven't been out since I last saw you I I went to Lee's party.

• For is used with periods of time.

o I've been doing !carate for nine years.
o I haven't been to a class for a couple of weeks.

• In can be used with periods of time in negative statements.

o I haven't been out in months. I haven't seen you in ages.
Form
• Yet in questions Ex: Have you seen Funny Guy yet?
• Yet in negative statements Ex: I haven't seen Funny Guy yet.
• Yet as a short response Ex: No, not yet. (I haven't yet is also possible.)

• Already in affirmative statements Ex: I've already seen it. OR I've seen it already.

• Still in negative statements Ex: I still haven't seen it.

Use
• Yet is used in questions and negative statements to talk about things that are expected.
o Have you seen Funny Guy yet?(= I imagine you want to and are maybe planning to see it.)
o I haven't seen Funny Guy yet. (=I plan to see it. I'm sure I will see it.)

• Already is taught in affirmative statements in the lesson, but it can also be used in questions. It means
"at an earlier time" or "before now." It can also suggest that something happened earlier than expected
(e.g., You've seen it already? Where?).

• Still is taught in negative statements in the lesson. It means that that situation continues, and that this
may be surprising.
o I still haven't seen it. (=I want to see it, but I haven't seen it yet.)

Modal verbs tor speculating

Form
• Affirmative statements with simple verbs subject+ modal verb + base form of the verb (+complement}
o She must be a genius.
o She must work pretty hard.
o He could be one of her friends.
o He may I might be her professor.

• Affirmative statements with continuous verbs subject+ modal verb + be+ present participle
(+complement}
o She must be graduating today.
o They must be feeling proud.

• Negative statements with must not, can't, and might not subject+ modal verb + not+ base form of the
verb ( + complement)

Use
o She must not go out much.
o She can't be more than 12 years old.
o He might not be a professor.
• The modals must, can't, could, may, and might are used to speculate - to say what the speaker thinks is
posible or logical, or to make guesses about people, things, and events. The person or thing being
speculated about is the subject of the verb.
• Must and can't indicate a stronger level of certainty than could, may, and might.

Must
• Must indicates that the speaker is fairly certain about a guess.
o She must be a genius. (=I bet [I'm pretty sure) she's a genius.)
o She must work pretty hard. (=I'm certain she Works hard.)

Negative sentences with must not

• Negative sentences with must not indicate that the speaker is certain something does not happen or is
not true.
o She must not go out much. (=I bet [I'm sure) she doesn't go out much.)

Negative sentences with can't

• Can't is a more common way of saying that something is not possible or logical than must not.
o She can't be more than 12. (=I'm sure she's not more than 12.)

Could, may, and might

• Could, may, and might are all used to indicate that the speaker is less than 100 percent certain.
• Could shows a little more certainty than may and might.
• May is a little more certain than might.
o He could be a friend. (=It's possible he's a friend .)
• He may be her professor.(= Maybe he's her professor.)
• They might be feeling sad. ( = Maybe they're feeling sad.)

Adjectives ending in -ed and –ing

Form
Adjectives ending in -ed
• The spelling rules for -ed endings are the same as for the past participles of verbs
o bore~ bored
o interest~ interested

Adjectives ending in -ing

• The spelling rules for -ing endings are the same as for the present participles of verbs
o bore~ boring
o interest~ interesting

Use
• The adjectives taught in this lesson ending in -ed are used to describe how a person feels.
o I'm bored with my job. (=I feel bored.)
• The adjectives ending in -ing describe the qualities of things or people.
o My job is boring. (=This is what my job is like: it bores me.)