Look at some of the sentences from the text about Penny’s hobby:
a) Last year, I bought my own potter’s wheel.
b) When I started, I made some very strange, heavy little bowls.
c) The first ones were really heavy.
1) I’ve just made a set of bowls.
2) I’ve sold quite a few to friends.
3) My neighbour’s just asked me to make a set of mugs for her.
Compare the verb form in sentences a,b & c with the verb form in 1, 2 & 3.
What do you notice? Do they refer to present or past actions?
Can you think of the differences in meaning between these two verb forms?
Have a look below
As you can see the verbs in sentences 1, 2 & 3 have a special form: The Present Perfect
Now compare these pairs of sentences. Why do we use different verb tenses?
1.A) Mark played a football match last weekend.
1.B) Mark has played football three times this week.
2.A) My grandfather sang in a choir.
2.B) My grandfather has sung in a choir for three years.
3.A) I lived in NY for 2 years.
3.B) I’ve lived in NY for 2 years.
4.A) Last week I made a set of mugs for our breakfast.
4.B) I’ve made lots of different bowls over the years.
Click on the links below if you’d like or you need to learn a bit more:
PRESENT PERFECT
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE
PRESENT PERFECT II
PRESENT PERFECT VS. PAST SIMPLE
Exercises
Guia 4 