Grammar

Past simple and present perfect

• I didn’t shave this morning.

• I haven’t shaved this morning.

• I've washed my hands so that I can help you with the cooking.

• We can't go ahead with the meeting, because very few people have shown any interest.

• I've found the letter you were looking for. Here it is.

Present Perfect

• suggests a connection between what happened in the past and the time of speaking.

Present Perfect

• refers to things in the past without being specific about time

• when events repeated themselves up to now

• I have complained about the traffic before.

• They've been to Chile three times.

• I've often questioned my decisions.

Past simple

• indicates specific time in the past or an event that is finished.

• She arrived at Kennedy Airport at 2 o'clock this morning.

• Jane left just a few minutes ago.

• Jim decided to continue the course, even though it was proving very difficult.

Past simple

• expresses situations that existed for a period of time in the past, but not now

• When I was younger I played badminton for my local team.

• The Pharaohs ruled Egypt for thousands of years.

News reports

• Use present perfect to first announce what has happened.

• Then they use past simple (or other past tenses) for the details.

See example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vIQOOSYe9Y

when vs. how long

I started to get the pains three weeks ago.

When did you arrive in Britain?

I've had the pains for three weeks now.

How long have you been in Britain?

Past perfect and past simple

• Chronological order = past simple

Don José emigrated to Mexico in 1959.

• To refer to something BEFORE the last event, use past perfect

Agricultural reforms had begun a few months before.

Horror Story

The story you are about to hear won the Best Short Film and Best Concept at the 2006 Chicago Horror Film Festival. It was directed by Aaron Yonda.

• What is the film about?• Listen to the use of the past perfect

(play video from 0:12 to 3:00 without images)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-1aui-wluE

warn that it is graphic – but at the end is not as bad as it may seem

Identify the past perfect on the transcript