Unit 2A: Present perfect simple and continuous + to have something done

To start with, let's see the difference between past simple and present perfect and then we'l work on present perfect simple and contiunous.

Past simple and present perfect

• Past simple: it's an action with a clear referencence to the past (last month, 3 weeks ago, yesterday, when I was a child...)
• Present perfect: the reference of time is vague (before, recently, lately..). and you refer to an action which starts in the past but it finishes or continues in the present (you may say: UP TO NOW)

Look at the examples to see the difference:

• I've lived/I've been living in Alcalá since 1996 / for more than 30 years (UP TO NOW)
• I started living in Alcalá in 1996 (this is a memory so it's with a past tense)

If you need some practise, these exercises may help you: exercise 1    exercise 2  (this includes past continuous as well)

Present perfect simple and continuous

• Present perfect simple: it is related to the consequences of the action, on the result and it's usually used with adverbs such as JUST, EVER/NEVER, ALREADY and YET, as well as the question Have you ever...? , How many times have you...?.  Use this exercise to focus on the use of adverbs (except for "ever/never").
• Present perfect continuous: it's used to referred to the duration of the action so it's usual in questions like How long have you...? and the typical adverbs used with this tense are SINCE (when you mention the starting of the action) and FOR (with periods of time). It's also used with emphatic expressions such as all morning, all day, etc. This other exercise is about the use of  for/since/during/while but not specifically with present perfect.

If you want to practise with these tenses, go to these exercises and pay attention to the use of adverbs and the reference of time:  exercise 1     exercise 2   exercise 3

Remember we've also seen in class a very specific form of present perfect that we usually use in Spanish as present simple, as you can see in these examples:

• Tengo este reloj desde pequeña  ------   I've had this watch since I was a girl
• ¿Desde hace cuánto que llevas gafas?  ------    How long have you been wearing glasses?

TO HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE

Remember it's not in this lesson but we introduced this structure because it's usual when you speak about health problems like these examples:

• I had my blood pressure checked   or    I got my arm x-rayed

Although I explained this in class maybe you'd like to see another explanation of this grammar point by watching this video: click here

If you want to go further with this construction, have a look at this entry of Perfect English: click here