Prime Time 6, Coursebook mit Audio-CD und DVD

G b) Talking about the past and the present e present perfect connects the past to the present. e past perfect goes back furthest into the past. Present perfect simple I’ve already heard the news.   So you needn’t tell me again. Tom and Sally have just split up.   They’re no longer together. I’ve been told this at least three times .   I’m familiar with all the details of the story now. • e present perfect simple is used when you want to stress the result (  ) of an activity. e activity itself happened in the past, but the result is still relevant in the present. Signal words: already , just , (not) yet , ever , never , so far , for , since ; expressions of frequency, e.g. three times . Have you ever been to America? – Yes, I’ve visited my relatives in Florida twice . But I’ve never been to New York. • Use the present perfect simple if you want to express that something hasn’t happened yet, or to ask whether something has taken place yet. She’s known him for at least three years. The palace has belonged to the family since the Middle Ages • With stative verbs the present perfect simple can express that a state began in the past and still continues in the present. Present perfect progressive Zoe’s been working for hours . She’s been sitting at her computer since she got up this morning . She’s been doing research for the paper she needs to hand in on Monday. • e present perfect progressive describes an activity that began in the past and has continued until now. It stresses duration and continuation . • For is used for a period of time ( for hours , etc.). • Since is used for a point in time ( since she got up this morning , etc.) Past simple We were in California and Nevada last year . – Did you go to Las Vegas too? – Yes, we did. But we didn’t win anything. And Bob wasn’t allowed to play because he was still under 16 a year ago . • You use the past simple when you want to say that something happened in the past and is over . It is oen used with adverbials like ago , yesterday , when , in 2009 , etc. The dusty road lay deserted in the heat of the afternoon. Johnny wondered where all the people were. • It is also used to relate a series of events in the past e.g. in narrative texts and reports . Past progressive We were just getting ready for the first set, when it suddenly started to rain heavily. While we were waiting for the rain to stop, we saw a wonderful rainbow over the whole valley. • e past progressive describes activities that were happening in the past. It is used for the background action ; the past simple is used for the new event . e past progressive oen appears in clauses with while , the past simple in clauses with when . Lisa was sitting in the garden while her father was mowing the lawn and her brother was playing a computer game in his room. • e past progressive is also used to describe several activities that were happening at the same time in the past, and for gradual developments . Past perfect simple After the Newmans had left the restaurant, they took a taxi home. As soon as they got home they noticed that their house had been broken into. The burglars had stolen some jewelry, and a lot of damage had been done to the furniture. • e past perfect simple describes an activity that happened before another activity in the past. e past tense describes what happened at a certain time in the past, and the past perfect simple states what happened before that time. 172 Grammar Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv