Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive Tense
Differences between Present Perfect Simple Tense and Present Perfect Progressive Tense
These tenses differentiate in the following areas of the English grammar:
| present perfect simple | present perfect progressive |
|---|---|
| have/has + 3rd form | have/has been + ing-form |
| Condition | Action |
| How long have you been here? - We've been here for 1 hour. | How long have you been waiting for us? - I've been waiting for an hour. |
| Since when has Tom known your sister? - He has known her since they were 10. | Since when has Anna been going out with Bob? - She's been going out with him since January. |
| Condition | Action |
| Actions, which have lasted for a long period of time | Actions, which have lasted for a rather short period of time |
| The Greek have lived here since the Roman period. | I have been living here for two years now. |
| Maya has learned with Pete for as long as I can remember. | Maya has been learning with Pete all day. |
| Results with or without time designation | Actions with or without time designation |
| Look, someone has left the door open! | People have been leaving their home towns in China. |
| We've seen three movies this month. | Sarah has been reading since she came home. |
Past Simple or Present Perfect Simple
For non-native speakers it is quite difficult to understand the differences between these two tenses. The following should clarify this matter:
| past simple | present perfect simple |
|---|---|
| "We saw this movie." | "We have seen this movie." |
| We don’t know, whether they know something (e.g. the plot) about the movie. We learn something about the past. They saw the movie at some point of time in the past. | We know, that they remember certain things about the movie. This structure tells us something about the here and now. We do not concern ourselves with the actual time of watching, we rather learn something about the results/consequences in the present. |
Notice this basic difference in the following examples:
| at some point of time | concerns itself with the present state |
|---|---|
| Uncle Harry bought a Computer, | but he has not used it yet. (It is still unwrapped.) |
| Nora left the party at 8 p.m. | and nobody has seen her since then. (We don’t know where she is now.) |
| „historical" events without a reference to the present | events with a reference to the present |
| Elvis made over 100 songs. (He is dead now.) | Madonna has made 8 albums (so far). (She is still alive and might continue to make albums.) |
| specific point of time in the past | time lasts until the here and now |
| The Adams came here in 2003. | They have been here for six years. |
further exercises and lessons:
- Present Simple vs. Past Simple
- Past Continuous Tense
- Simple Past Tense
- Past Perfect Tense
- Present Simple vs. Continuous
- Present Perfect Continuous
- The Past Tense
- The past perfect tense
- Present Simple
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