Present Perfect Simple: ever & never, for & since, how long

AFIRMATIVA: 

SUJETO + HAVE/HAS + PARTICIPIO del verbo principal

• She has visited the Eiffel Tower. (Ha visitado la Torre Eiffel.)

NEGATIVA: 

SUJETO +HAVEN'T/HASN'T + PARTICIPIO pasado del verbo principal

• We haven’t been to the skate park. (No hemos estado en la pista de skate.)

INTERROGATIVA: 

HAVE/HAS + SUJETO + PARTICIPIO

• What have you done? (¿Qué has hecho?)

En las respuestas breves utilizamos el auxiliar have, sin el participio pasado.

• Have we been to this restaurant before? Yes, we have.

• Has he touched a snake? No, he hasn’t.

No se utilizan las formas contraídas en las respuestas breves afirmativas.

• Have you eaten Mexican food? Yes, I have.     Yes, I’ve.

Las partículas interrogativas van delante de have.

• What have you done with my camera?

• Who have you seen in concert?

• Where has he been on holiday?

El participio de pasado de los verbos regulares es igual que su past simple (-ed). En el caso de los verbos irregulares (que hay que aprenderse de memoria) el participio se corresponde con la tercera columna.

En la lengua oral y el registro informal de la lengua escrita, utilizamos las formas contractas.

• I have won a competition. ➞ I’ve won a competition.

• He has visited Morocco. ➞ He’s visited Morocco.

• You have flown in a plane. ➞ You’ve flown in a plane.

Usamos el present perfect para hablar de:

1. Experiencias o acciones vividas sin mencionar una referencia temporal concreta (no sabemos cuándo ocurrieron o no es importante decirlo, es decir, sólo nos interesa que esas cosas ocurrieron y no los detalles).

   • Our teacher Patricia has been to New York (Patricia ha estado en Nueva York - pero no sabéis cuándo-).

   • Have you tried spinning? (¿Has probado el spinning?).

   • I have never touched a spider. (No sé qué tacto tienen.)

2. Acciones que empezaron en el pasado y aún tienen vigencia en el presente (o no han acabado). 

   • I have lived here for three years. (He vivido aquí durante tres años.)

3. Novedades o cambios en una situación:

   • He’s broken his leg. (En este momento no puede jugar al fútbol.)

Utilizamos HOW LONG para preguntar cuanto tiempo ha pasado desde que la acción, que aún continúa, empezó.

• How long has he been abroad? (=¿Cuanto tiempo ha pasado en el extranjero?)

• How long have you studied English? (=¿Cuánto tiempo llevas estudiando inglés?)

Utilizamos el presente perfecto para hablar de situaciones que empezaron en el pasado pero tienen continuidad en el presente y utilizamos "for" & "since" para describir la duración de esa situación.

Utilizamos FOR para indicar cuánto tiempo dura una acción.

• • She's been a doctor for four years.

  • We've been a couple for two weeks.

  • Patricia has been our teacher for two years.

Utilizamos SINCE para indicar cuándo comenzó una acción. Lo utilizamos con fechas, horas, años, etc.

• • She's been an athlete since 2010.

  • I've had my mobile phone since Christmas.

Así pues:

• I have worked with computers for 20 years (=He trabajado con ordenadores durante 20 años)

• I have worked with computers since I was young (=He trabajado con ordenadores desde que era joven).

1. Ralph and Laura have been together………….. 8 months.

2. We haven’t had holidays ……. ages.

3. She has worked in this company ……….. last October.

4. It’s been a long time ………. since I last saw her.

5. Melani’s father has been a policeman ………. 20 years.

6. How long is it ……… you had a holiday?

7. I haven’t eaten in a restaurant ……… Christmas.

8. My friends have been on holidays …….. 2 weeks.

9. He has had a moustache ……… a long time.

10. I have been in this city ……….. 1987

STILL: used in negative sentences (and sometimes questions) to say that something has not happened up to now. It emphasises that we expected the action to happen earlier, but it hasn’t happened.

Still comes before haven’t / hasn’t and the past participle.

Examples:

• I’ve still not finished my homework. (= I expected to finish earlier, but it hasn’t happened yet)

• She still hasn’t called me. (= I am waiting for the call, but it hasn’t happened until now)

• Have they still not arrived? (= It’s surprising because we expected them earlier)

👉 Compare:

• I haven’t finished my homework yet. (neutral, simply says it hasn’t happened until now)

• I still haven’t finished my homework. (stronger, shows impatience or surprise)

YET AND ALREADY

Infer the meaning from the following examples:

• Have you finished your exercise yet?

  • No, I haven’t finished it yet. Or..

  • Yes, I have already finished it.

YET: Used in questions or negative sentences. Yet means until now or a particular time. It comes at the end of the sentence:

•  Have you eaten yet?

•  Haven’t you eaten yet?

•  You haven’t eaten yet

ALREADY: Used in affirmative sentences to emphasise that an action has happened. Already comes between have and the participle or at the end of the sentence:

•  He’s already sent the postcard

•  He’s sent the postcard already.

Comparación BEEN TO vs. GONE TO

Comparemos BEEN y GONE juntos:

• Fred has been to New York many times. (Él no está allí ahora. Los viajes han terminado.)

• Fred has gone to New York for work. He’ll be back on Friday. (Él está en Nueva York ahora. El viaje no ha terminado.)

Questions with BEEN

Si quieres preguntar si alguien ha visitado un lugar, usas BEEN TO en la pregunta. 

[Been to = visited] Have you BEEN TO (x place)?

• Have you ever been to South Africa?

• Have you ever visited South Africa?

⚠️ No podemos usar GONE TO en estas preguntas con sentido "visit"

Ahora compara estas preguntas:

• Where has Jack gone? (Usamos GONE porque no ha regresado)
  Queremos saber dónde está Jack porque no lo vemos ahora.

• Where has Jack been? (Usamos BEEN porque ya ha regresado)
  Tenemos curiosidad por saber dónde ha estado Jack porque ha vuelto de algún sitio y está lleno de arañazos.

👉 Nota: en estas preguntas, como usamos WHERE, no ponemos TO al final.

• Since & For 2 (38)

• Since or For (10)

1. Test number 1

2. Test number 2.

3. Test number 3.