Exercise 11

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 487.

There are three main TENSES in English - Simple Present, Simple Past and Simple Future. By TENSES we understand the relationship between the form of the verb and our concept of time (present, past or future). Each TENSE form can be combined with one of the ASPECT forms or with both. ASPECT expresses the manner in which a verbal action is regarded, for example, as COMPLETE (perfective aspect) or IN PROGRESS (progressive/continuous aspect). This grammar section gives a simple but thorough explanation of the perfect tenses.

Present Perfect: Use the following rule to form the Present Perfect Tense.

Active

Passive

The Present Perfect is used to talk about :

1) actions that happened at an indefinite time in the past:

e.g. Over the past three thousand years, the world has changed its

main centre of economic activity many times. (We don't know

“when” exactly, only a period in the past is indicated).

2) actions and situations which began in the past and have continued until

the moment when we speak:

e.g. England has often preferred to maintain closer relations with its

former colonies around the world than with its European neighbours.

3) actions that began in the past and are still occurring in the present:

e.g. I have lived in this town for 10 years/ since 1985. (I still live in

this town).

e.g. Communism has always been regarded as a decentralized

community-based system where economic life is organized on the principle: “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”. (And it is still regarded as ... )

The adverbs ALREADY, YET, EVER are often used with the Present Perfect Tense:

e.g. The researchers have already recorded the results of the experiment.

e.g. Have you ever travelled abroad?

e.g. We haven't written our report yet.

e.g. Has the postman been yet?

Remember: The Present Perfect Tense is often used to talk about recent past actions and present results, to talk about actions and situations which have completely finished but are important or interesting now. In other words, there is a link between recent past actions and present results or consequences.

e.g. I have studied English for six years. (Present result: I can speak

English rather well).

e.g. I‘ve seen that film. (Present result: I can tell you the contents

of the film).

Note: The English Present Perfect forms correspond to the Past and Present tense-forms in Russian:

e.g. Our schedule has changed, and we hope it is for the last time. -

Наше расписание изменилось, и мы надеемся, что это в

последний раз.

e.g. How long have you known about that? - Сколько времени вы уже

знаете об этом?

e.g. They have owned their property since 1970. - Они владеют

своей собственностью с 1970 года.