GE|Pre-Int|HW||12. Talents

Grammar reference

Present Perfect with since and for

We use Present Perfect with since and for to talk about situations and events in a period of time from the past until now.

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I‘ve had this cold since Monday.
I‘ve felt ill for three days.

We use since with a point in time (when the situation or event started).

We use for with a length of time (the duration of the event or situation).

Present Perfect and Past Simple

We use Present Perfect to talk about past events when the exact time of the event is either not obvious or not important.

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I‘ve finished this book.
Have you ever ridden a horse?
I‘ve never eaten sushi.

When the past time is important, we use Past Simple and an exact time expression. We also use Past Simple when we give extra information about an event.

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I finished this book yesterday.
Did you ride a horse at the weekend?
I didn’t do that when I was a child.

We use recently with Present Perfect to talk about events in the near past.

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Have you spoken to Frank recently?
I haven’t played much basketball recently.

We often use ever and never with Present Perfect when we ask and talk about experiences.

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Have you ever spoken to Frank?
I‘ve never played basketball.

We can also use these expressions: once, twice (= two times), lots of times.

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I‘ve eaten Japanese food once.
He‘s climbed that mountain lots of times.