Exercise 10. Translate the story and comment on the use of the Past Perfect.

“Polite Notice”

Jack Jones left his office at 6 p.m. He had a very busy day. When he got to the station there were thousands of people waiting. So the train was very crowded.

Glad of fresh air, he walked from the railway station near his home and in a few minutes reached the street where he had lived for many years. What he saw as he came round the corner made him very angry indeed.

“Can’t you read?” he said angrily to the man who had just got out of a car right in front of the gate of Mr. Jones’ house, and he pointed to the “No parking” notice that he had asked a local builder to put in the front garden.

“No”, said the man in an unpleasant manner. “Nobody taught me”. Mr. Jones became angrier than he had ever been before. When he entered his house Mrs. Jones tried to calm him but it was useless.

He changed into his working clothes which he always wore when he was working in the garden and went out to do some work.

He looked carefully at the well-made and neatly painted board that faced the street. It so clearly indicated that there was to be no parking outside his house. He remembered telling the painter to make it clear so that people driving by in their cars could read it quite easily.

To make matters worse, the houses farther down the street had no cars parked outside them. This was because, a few weeks earlier, the police had fixed up a notice with the words “Police Notice – No Parking” in clear white letters on a bright blue background. Suddenly an idea started to form in his mind and he began to see the possibility of a scheme for clearing away these wretched cars that had been obstructing the front of his house, all day long, for many months.

He didn’t tell his wife about it, so that when he brought home a large parcel a few days later she was very surprised. He changed into his working clothes, took the parcel with him and went out into the garden.

A little while later he took his wife out to see what he had done. To her surprise she found that he had taken away the little black and white “No Parking” notice and in its place was a new board painted bright blue with white lettering on it which said “Polite Notice – No Parking”. Jack Jones was never troubled with cars parking outside the gate of his house again. It is a funny thing, but true, that people usually read what they expect to see. Hardly anyone noticed that it was a “polite notice” and not a “police notice”.

Unit 4. Present Perfect Continuous and Past Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous

Образование Present Perfect Continuous.

Present Perfect Continuous образуется при помощи вспомогательного глагола to be в Present Perfect (have been, has been) и причастия I смыслового глагола: В разговорном языке используется краткая форма первого вспомогательного глагола ( have, has) :

I’ve been working here since 1997.

He’s been waiting for you for half an hour.

Вопросительная форма начинается с первого вспомогательного глагола (have/has), за которым следует подлежащее. Если есть вопросительное слово, оно ставится перед вспомогательным глаголом.

Haveyoubeen waitinglong?

How long have you been waiting for me?

Отрицательная формаобразуется при помощи отрицательной частицыnot, которая ставится после первого вспомогательного глагола.

I have not (haven’t) been living in St. Petersburg all my life.

She has not (hasn’t) been working since morning.

Наречия, cкоторыми употребляетсяPresentPerfectContinuous(always, only, still,etc.) ставятся между первым и вторым вспомогательными глаголами:

You have only been waiting here for twenty minutes.

Have you only been waiting here for twenty minutes?

Употребление Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous употребляется:

I have been working on my term-paper for a month.

It has been raining since yesterday.

I have been thinking of you since I first saw you.

PresentPerfectContinuousв этих случаях переводится на русский язык глаголами несовершенного вида в настоящем времени (“работаю”, “идет”, “думаю”).

С глаголами, которые в Continuousне употребляются (см. с. 12), в этом значении ис­пользуетсяPresentPerfect.

I have known him all my life.

She has been here since 10 o’clock.

С глаголами типа live, work, wait, sit, lie, rainдля передачи длительных действий, которые начались в прошлом, продолжались какое-то время и не закончились на момент речи, наряду сPresentPerfectContinuousможет употреблятьсяPresentPerfect. При употребленииPresentPerfectContinuousподчеркивается длительность действия (уже пять лет, уже три часа), а при употребленииPresentPerfect– факт совершения действия.

I have been working for the company for five years.

I have worked for the company for five years.

It has been raining for three hours.

It has rained for three hours.

PresentPerfectContinuousупотребляется также в специальных вопросах, начинающихся сHowlong?(Как долго?) и Since when? (С каких пор?)

How long have you been staying here?

Since when has he been teaching in this college?

You are out of breath. Have you been running?

You hands are dirty. It seems you have been working in the garden.

В этом значении PresentPerfectContinuousчасто используется для выражения неодобрения говорящего сложившейся ситуацией.

The children have been washing the dog. The bathroom is a mess.

Someone has been reading my mail. The letters are scattered all over the place.

Scientists have been warning us about air pollution for years.

I have been taking French lessons this summer.

При употреблении PresentPerfectContinuousв данном случае подчеркивается непрерывность действия, если же необходимо подчеркнуть, что действие завершилось к моменту речи, то употребляетсяPresentPerfect.

I have been writing letters since morning.

I have written eight letters today.

PresentPerfectContinuousпередает незаконченное действие и переводится на русский язык глаголом несовершенного вида в прошедшем времени (“писал”),PresentPerfectвыражает законченное действие и переводится глаголом совершенного вида в прошедшем времени (“написал”).

Примечание. Иногда вPresentPerfectContinuousмогут употребляться глаголы, которые обычно вContinuousне употребляются (want,mean,hope,notice,etc.):

There’s one thing I’ve been meaning to ask you.

I have been hoping to meet you ever since I read your first novel.

I’m glad you’re having lunch here. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.

Exercise 1. Use the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous in the following sentences.

1. We (watch) an exciting movie on television. It is going to end in half an hour’s time.

2. I (live) next door to Margaret for three years but I never (speak) to her.

3. My hands are covered with grease. I (clean) the kitchen store.

4. Indeed, I already (work) for several companies on a temporary basis.

5. That lady (stare) at us ever since we sat down. I wonder whether we know her.

6. Connie (call) Mark’s office several times but he doesn’t seem to be in.

7. However, I (wait) for a reply for several weeks and I still (not receive) any answer.

8. Mr. Tan (work) at two jobs to support his family since his wife lost her job in May last year.

9. I often (see) his name in the papers this year.

10. Don’t forget that you (not see) Mrs. Dawson. She (wait) outside since 10.30.

11. Jack (ask) for a pay-rise three times this year.

12. Bill got that new job, but he (complain) about it ever since.

13. How long you (have) driving lessons? And you (take) your test yet?

14. Ever since it happened I (pretend) to myself that it was an accident.

15. They (discuss) the case for hours but (be unable) to come to any decision.

16. I (look) for him since I left the hotel but I (not find) him. I (be) to the other three hotels but there is no visitor of that name anywhere.

17. “I’m sorry, you (wait) long?” – “No, I just (come) down”.

18. I (translate) this article for about an hour and (translate) only the first part.

19. I (tell) you so for years but you never (pay) any attention.

20. You three boys look very guilty! What you (do) since I left the room?

Exercise 2. Complete the sentences with appropriate verbs, using the same verb for each sentence in the pair. Use the Present perfect in one sentence and the Present Perfect Continuous in the other.

Use negative forms where appropriate.

disappear give move read stay stop swim learn

1. a. She ______ in a rented flat since returning to Liverpool.

b. We ______ at this hotel a couple of times before.

2. a With their win yesterday, Italy ______ into second place in the table.

b. As house prices in the cities have risen, people ______ into the countryside.

3. a. All day, the police ______ motorists to question them about the accident.

b. Good, the noise ______. I can start concentrating on my work again.

b. I ______ this book on philosophy for hours and I’m still only on page 6.

Exercise 3. Translate into English.

(make considerable progress).

20. Я учу английский с пятого класса, но так и не научился говорить на нем.

Exercise 4. Put verbs in brackets into either the Present Continuous or the Present Perfect Continuous.

Mr. Smith: So tell me a little bit about yourself, Mr. Harris. I would like to find out a little bit more about your background.

Mr. Harris: I (work) in the insurance industry for over ten years. I worked for Met Life for six years and World Insurance for four and a half. During that time, I heard many good things about Hollings Life Insurance and that’s why I (apply) for the new sales position.

Mr. Smith: Tell me a little about your hobbies and interests.

Mr. Harris: In my spare time, I hike in the mountains outside of town, volunteer at the Sierra Club and play tennis. In fact, I (compete) in a tennis tournament this weekend.

Mr. Smith: Really, how long (you, play) tennis?

Mr. Harris: I (play) since high school. I love the sport.

Mr. Smith: Great! We like dedication here at Hollings Life. You mentioned you volunteer at the Sierra club. I (work, currently) with them on the sea turtle project. We (try) to create a wildlife sanctuary near the bay.

Mr. Harris: Do you know Frank Harris? He’s my brother. He (work, presently) on the same project.

Mr. Smith: I know Frank quite well. Any brother of Frank’s would be a welcome addition to Hollings Life. Just one more thing, we (look) for somebody who is fluent in Spanish; many of our clients are from Mexico.

Mr. Harris: No problem. I (study) Spanish since elementary school.

Mr. Smith: Sounds like you are the perfect candidate.

Past Perfect Continuous

Образование Past Perfect Continuous.

PastPerfectContinuousобразуется при помощи вспомогательного глаголаto be вPastPerfect(had been) ипричастия I смыслового глагола:

They were tired as they had been walking for a long time.

We had been driving for more than four hours before we found a small motel.

Вопросительная формаPastPerfectContinuousначинается с первого вспомогательного глагола, за которым следует подлежащее.

Hadyoubeen walking?

Отрицательная формаобразуется при помощи отрицательной частицыnot, которая ставится после первого вспомогательного глагола.

Peter went to the doctor yesterday. He hadn’t been feeling well for some time.

Употребление Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous употребляется:

We had been driving for about an hour when the engine suddenly stopped.

She felt terrible during the interview because she had been suffering from the flu

sincethepreviousday.

С глаголами, которые в Continuousне употребляются, в этом значении используетсяPastPerfect.

We had owned the car for 6 months before we discovered it was stolen.

He was out of breath. I saw that he had been running.

When he came back we tried to pretend that we had not been discussing him.

Exercise 5. Use the Past Perfect or the Past Perfect Continuous in the following sentences.

Exercise 6. Translate into English.