Grammar

Lecture 7:
present perfect simple
present perfect continuous
myself, yourself … themselves
Present Perfect Simple
Used to express:
i. an action that happened in the past (not specified) and whose consequences can be observed at present or affect it
A: What’s wrong with that machine? B: My sister has worked with it again.
I have only slept for 4 hours.
Is your friend going with us tonight? No, he has bought a new joystick.
A: Kate, why are you so depressed tonight? B: The bloody bastard has cheated on me.

* notice: The sentences contain no specification of time!!
Present Perfect Simple
If the sentence contains time specification, past tense is used. It is not the consequences of the past action that are stressed but the time itself!

Notice the difference:

I bought a car yesterday. X I have bought a car.
time specification X present-related

I removed the virus two days ago. X I have removed the virus.
It was two days ago that I removed the virus. X The virus is gone.
Present Perfect Simple
Notice the difference:

The modem was reconfigured a while ago.
It was a while ago that the modem was reconfigured.
X
The modem has been reconfigured.
The modem has a new configuration.

I was never happy there. X I have never been happy here.
past, not covering present past + present
Present Perfect Simple
Used to express:
ii. an action that is somehow related to present; indicators: just, so far, not yet, since, ever, never, recently, lately

She has just logged on.
The spelling checker has detected 5 mistakes so far.
She has not ejected the CD yet.
My brother has not got better at programming since (last year).
Have you ever set the IRQs manually?
I have never heard anything like that before.
My system has recently / lately frozen just once.
Present Perfect Simple
When a sequence of actions that took place in the past is given (story, fairytale, etc.), simple past is used:

It was when I came to school that I met her for the first time. At that moment I realized, she was the most beautiful person at the faculty. Her long hair and slender body told me she was the one. Unable to tame my desire, I decided to chat her up.
Present Perfect Simple
Present perfect simple can be combined with the expression of time covering present:

I have given the monitor a wipe this week.
She has discussed it with her students today.
They have opened a new store this year.
Her boss has raised her salary this month.
Present Perfect Continuous
Used to express:
i. an action which started in the past, is still under way and is likely to continue in the future

I have been studying English for five years.
The scandisk utility has been running for three minutes.
I have been debugging the source code since I came home.
My teacher has been using Windows 98 since he bought himself a new computer.
Present Perfect Continuous
Used to express:
ii. an action which ceased a while ago, but the consequences are still obvious
The wolf has been running.
Present Perfect Continuous
Used to express:
iii. annoyance, reproach or impatience associated with the action in question
Someone has been eating my porridge! And they`ve eaten it ALL UP!
Someone has been sitting in my chair!
Someone has been sleeping in my bed!
Goldilocks and the three bears
Present Perfect Continuous
Used to express:
iv. Czech “Jak dlouho + přít. čas“

How long have you been waiting here?
How long have you been trying to get the scanner to run?
How long has the disk been malfunctioning?
I don’t have the foggiest idea of how long he has been visiting the site.
Present Perfect Continuous
BUT: (exceptions) !
- present perfect simple must be used if the sentence contains a verb not usually occurring in the continuous form (see lecture 1, page 7) as well as the verbs to be and to have in the sense of “to possess”; there is also tendency towards replacing present perfect continuous with its simple counterpart in negative sentences

She has known him for ages.
He has loved her all his life.
I have been here for the last ten minutes.
I have had the watch for 10 years.
I have not opened the computer case for quite a time.
Myself, Yourself … Themselves
He himself does not know.
The text itself is rather nonsensical.
The results themselves turned out to be misleading.
emphasis
X
He went there alone.
She spent her vacation alone.
with no one around
X
They will configure the network by themselves.
I will make the program by myself.
without anyone’s assistance
Homework:
Angličtina pro jazykové školy II:
p. 17 exercise 1.8
p. 19 exercise 2.3
p. 32 exercise 3.5

Specialist Reading:
Web Spam Detection
Peer to Peer Overlay Networks: Structure, Routing and Maintenance