Present Perfect Simple Tense

We form it with HAVE (I, you, we, they) / HAS (he, she, it) and past participle.

Regular past participles have the -ed ending (watched, played, visited), while irregular past participles must be learnt by heart (3rd column of the list).

Take a look at these examples:

Lucy has painted her house blue. --> She's painted her house blue.

Jimmy has written a letter. --> He's written a letter.

Do we know when these actions happened? - No, we don't. 

Is it important? - No, it isn't.

What happens in the negative sentences?

I have not ridden a camel. --> I haven't ridden a camel.

She has not seen a ghost. --> She hasn't seen a ghost.

And questions?

Have you finished your homework?

What have you done?

Why do we need the present perfect simple?

• to talk about life experiences:

        I have been to Egypt.

• to connect the past and present:

        I've heard that song before.

• when the result is more important than when something happened:

        She's cut her finger.

Common time markers are: ever, never, already, yet, since (2002), for (3 years), just

Take a look at these activities. Which have you already done? Which haven't you done? Write them down:

• eat candyfloss
• fly in a pirate ship
• see famous landmarks
• shake hands with cartoon characters
• explore a haunted house
• ride on a roller coaster

Present Perfect Simple Tense

I've washed the dog. (replace washed with walked or fed and see what will happen)

Do we know when I washed the dog? -No, we don't.

But, how do we know the dog is washed? - It's not dirty.

They've bought the car. (replace bought with painted or sold and see what will happen)

Do we know when they bought the car? - No, we don't.

But, how do we know they bought it? - It's new.

 

He's lost a book. (replace lost with borrowed or signed and see what will happen)

Do we know when he lost the book? - No, we don't.

But, how do we know it's lost? - He no longer has it.

We are familiar with HAVE (short form 've) / HAS (short form 's) and the past simple of regular (washed, walked, painted, etc.) and irregular verbs (buy - bought, lose - lost, etc).

Now, take a look at the following:

I've been to Egypt. 

She's seen the Pyramids too.

In these sentences we have the same situation we talked about before - we don't know when something happened but we can see the result (photographs, souvenirs or things like that). But, what are been and seen? They are past participles of the verbs we are familiar with - be and see. We use past participles with HAVE / HAS, and not past simple forms, for this new tense that connects the past and the present.  

Let's take a look at the list of irregular verbs again. As you can see, past participles are in the third column. Some are the same as past forms, the others are completely different. That's why my advice for you would be to learn those with the same form first and leave the different ones for later. Hope it helps.

The Present Continuous Tense

We use the present continuous tense:
- for actions happening now, at the moment of speaking: 

The sun is shining. (shine + -ing = shining)
The girl is just coming in. (come + -ing = coming)
The dog is lying under the tree. (lie + -ing = lying)

We are sitting now. (sit + -ing = sitting)

They are having lunch at the moment. (have + -ing = having)

- for temporary actions in progress:
I am reading a book.
We are learning English.
She is playing tennis.

- for fixed arrangements in the future:
David is coming back on Sunday.
We are going to the cinema tonight.
They are travelling to Canada tomorrow. (travel + -ing = travelling)

In affirmative sentences, the present simple form of TO BE is followed by the present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing).

We make questions by inversion of TO BE and the subject:
Are you listening to me?

For negative sentences, add NOT after TO BE:
We are not/aren't sleeping.

*****

Koristimo sadašnje trajno vreme:
- za radnje koje se događaju sada, u trenutku govora,

- za privremene radnje koje traju u sadašnjem vremenu,

- za dogovore u budućnosti.

U potvrdnim rečenicama, sadašnji oblik glagola BITI/JESAM prati prezent participa glavnog glagola (glagol + nastavak -ing).

Upitni oblik se gradi inverzijom glagola BITI/JESAM i subjekta.

Odrični oblik se gradi dodavanjem rečce NE iza pomoćnog glagola BITI/JESAM.

Mime an action:
A: Are you cooking?
B: No, I'm not.
C: Are you washing a car?
B: Yes, I am.

Fill in the blanks, using AM, IS, ARE, ISN'T or AREN'T:
1 Father _____ sitting in his armchair.
2 _____ he reading the newspaper?
3 _____ Mary reading? - No, she _____. She _____ watching TV.
4 _____ Bob and Ken watching TV? - No, they _____. They _____ listening to music.
5 I _____ writing my name on the board.
6 _____ Jack and Jill cousins? -Yes, they _____.

Write the -ing form of the verbs: write, show, knit, come, play, sit, drop, swim, dive, help, use, shop, have, travel, spell, dance, tie.

Write questions and short answers:
1 Alan / write / a letter? Yes
2 Diana / listen to / the radio? Yes
3 your sister / play / the guitar? No
4 David / make / an omlette? No
5 Jodie / bring / some water? No
6 Matthew / answer / the door-bell? Yes
7 The children / have / breakfast? Yes
8 Paul / lay / the table? No

Complete the sentences with the verbs in their correct form: swim, get, run, sit, put, win.
1 She is _____ her books off the shelf.
2 He is _____ in a comfortable chair.
3 They are _____ in the river.
4 She is _____ the race.
5 He is _____ his things in his bag.
6 She is _____ very fast.

Make the sentences interrogative and negative. Use the subjects from the brackets:
1 We are going to the cinema. (They)
2 I am eating a hamburger. (You)
3 Emma is waiting for the bus. (Sue)
4 Bob is drinking his milkshake. (Tom)
5 We are cleaning the windows. (They)