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Category: Perfect Tenses

  • Present Perfect: Life Experiences (PDF)

    Present Perfect: Life Experiences (PDF)

    The Present Perfect is the tense English uses for “things that have or haven’t happened in your life so far” — I have visited Paris, She has been to Japan, They haven’t seen that film. The signal words for this experiential use are five small but high-frequency markers: ever (Have you ever been to India?), never (I have never tried oysters), before (I’ve seen this film before), already (I’ve already seen it), and yet (Have you finished yet?). And the most important word-pair trap: been (experience, came back) versus gone (still there now).

    This worksheet builds B1 fluency with the Present Perfect for life experiences. Students drill form (have/has + past participle), use the five signal words correctly, and master the been vs gone distinction in personalised production.

    What’s inside:

    • Grammar Box with form, the five signal words, and the been/gone rule
    • Gap-fill: complete sentences with the present perfect form, with focus on ever, never, already, yet
    • Have you ever…? questionnaire: ask and answer about life experiences using the present perfect
    • Been or gone? discrimination items in workplace and travel contexts
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on the position of ever, never, already (between auxiliary and past participle)

    Common mistakes addressed: wrong past participle form (I have went instead of I have been), gone used where been is needed (I’ve gone to Paris three times), and yet placed in wrong position (~~Have you yet finished?~~).

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Direct preparation for Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET), where Have you ever…? questions and “describe an experience” prompts are central to Speaking and Writing. Part of the Perfect Tenses collection — the natural next step is Present Perfect vs Past Simple, which resolves the most important time-reference decision at B1.

  • Present Perfect vs Past Simple (PDF)

    Present Perfect vs Past Simple (PDF)

    The single most important distinction between the Present Perfect and the Past Simple is time reference. If a specific past time is mentioned (in 2019, yesterday, last week, at 6 p.m.), English requires the Past Simple — I went to Paris in 2019, not ~~I have been to Paris in 2019~~. If the time is unspecified or still connected to now (ever, never, just, for, since), English uses the Present Perfect — She has lived here for ten years (still does) vs She lived here for ten years (not anymore). The quick test: is there a specific past time in the sentence? → Past Simple. Is the time unknown or connected to now? → Present Perfect.

    This worksheet drills the B1 critical distinction through time-marker analysis, rewriting, and sorting tasks.

    What’s inside:

    • Grammar Box with the two tenses side by side, the specific-time rule, and the marker lists (for, since, ever, never, just, already, yet vs yesterday, last week, ago, in 2010)
    • Multiple-choice gap-fill: pick the tense based on the time marker in each sentence
    • Rewriting tasks: change the tense by changing the time marker (I have visited Paris → I visited Paris in 2019)
    • Sorting: classify a list of time expressions by which tense they trigger
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on the for / since distinction and how to handle ambiguous sentences

    Common mistakes addressed: Present Perfect with specific past time (I have seen him yesterday), Past Simple in unspecified-time contexts (I saw him three times meaning “in my life”), and for/since mix-ups (I work here since 2010).

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. The most heavily tested tense distinction in Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Perfect Tenses collection — the natural next step is Present Perfect Continuous, which adds the duration-vs-quantity contrast.

  • Present Perfect Continuous (PDF)

    Present Perfect Continuous (PDF)

    The Present Perfect Continuous (have/has + been + verb-ing) expresses an action that started in the past and is still continuing — or has just stopped with visible results. I have been working here for five years emphasises duration; She’s tired — she’s been running explains a present result. The critical contrast with the Present Perfect Simple is one of focus: continuous emphasises duration and activity (I have been writing emails all morning); simple emphasises completion and quantity (I have written seven emails). And as ever, state verbs (know, like, want, need, believe, understand, own, mean) don’t take the continuous form.

    This worksheet drills the B1–B2 distinction between Present Perfect Continuous and Present Perfect Simple, with focus on for/since and the duration/quantity contrast.

    What’s inside:

    • Grammar Box with form, both main uses (ongoing action; recent action with results), and the duration/quantity contrast
    • Gap-fill (8 items): complete each sentence with the present perfect continuous, including not and question forms
    • How long…? personalised production: answer questions about your own life using for or since
    • Continuous or simple? multiple-choice items forcing the duration-vs-quantity decision
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on state verbs and the recent-stopped-with-results use

    Common mistakes addressed: continuous form with state verbs (I have been knowing him for years), for/since mix-ups (for last year), and using the continuous where quantity is the focus (I have been writing five emails instead of I have written five emails).

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1–B2, in intermediate and upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. The duration/quantity contrast is a recurring target in Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Perfect Tenses collection — the natural next step is Past Perfect Continuous, which extends the same logic into past-time narrative.

  • Past Perfect Continuous (PDF)

    Past Perfect Continuous (PDF)

    The Past Perfect Continuous (had + been + verb-ing) emphasises the duration of an action in progress before another past moment. She had been working on the proposal for three weeks when the client cancelled — three weeks of activity, ending at a specific past trigger. The contrast with the Past Perfect Simple is the same lens shift as in the present: simple emphasises completion (He had written the report); continuous emphasises duration (He had been writing the report all evening). State verbs (know, want, believe, own, seem, love) stay in the simple form, even in narrative.

    This worksheet builds B2 narrative-tense fluency with the Past Perfect Continuous in extended workplace-and-life narrative contexts.

    What’s inside:

    • Grammar Box with form, the duration-before-past-moment timeline, and contrast with the Past Perfect Simple
    • Gap-fill in two narrative texts (“The Resignation”, “The Acquisition”) — choose between past perfect simple and continuous
    • Sentence transformation: combine two events into one sentence using the past perfect continuous for the longer background
    • Error correction: spot wrong continuous form with state verbs and missing been
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on state-verb exceptions and timing for B2 narrative practice

    Common mistakes addressed: continuous with state verbs (They had been knowing each other), wrong past participle (had been live), missing been (had working), and using the simple where duration is the focus (we waited for an hour instead of we had been waiting for an hour).

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B2, in upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. The Past Perfect Continuous is a recurring marker in Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Writing — particularly the narrative and review tasks. Part of the Perfect Tenses collection — the natural next step is Narrative Tenses Mixed Practice, which combines all four past forms in a single storyline.

  • Narrative Tenses: Mixed Practice (PDF)

    Narrative Tenses: Mixed Practice (PDF)

    Mature English storytelling uses four past tenses simultaneously: the Past Simple for main events (She arrived late), the Past Continuous for background action (It was raining), the Past Perfect for earlier events (The meeting had started), and the Past Perfect Continuous for duration before a past moment (He had been waiting an hour). The four work together — each one does a different job in the same paragraph — and the B1–B2 challenge is to choose the right tense for each sentence based on what role it plays in the story.

    This worksheet integrates all four narrative tenses in a single extended workplace narrative (“The Interview”), with analytical follow-up to reinforce why each tense is used.

    What’s inside:

    • Grammar Box mapping each tense to its narrative function (main events, background, earlier action, duration)
    • Gap-fill in an extended interview story: choose the appropriate narrative tense for each gap
    • Error correction (7 items): fix wrong tense choices, double past forms, and state-verb continuous
    • Analysis task: identify the tense of seven highlighted verbs and explain why each was used
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on B2 narrative writing and how to spot tense mismatches

    Common mistakes addressed: Past Simple where Past Perfect is needed (By the time he arrived, we waited), continuous with state verbs in narrative (She had been knowing him), wrong word order with adverbs (had been already), and since two years (for two years).

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1–B2, in intermediate and upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. The integration of four narrative tenses is exactly what Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Writing rewards in story and report tasks. Part of the Perfect Tenses collection — the natural sibling is Past Perfect Continuous, which isolates the duration-before-past-moment form practised here.