Business English- Present Perfect Simple & Progressive

Business Present Perfect Simple and Continuous review

A: Present Perfect Continuous business roleplays and grammar presentation

Roleplay situations from this list:

Have a job interview, mainly answering questions about your experience and present job

Arrive late for drinks/ dinner with a client

Exchange stories about the difficulty of your jobs and/ or amount of work recently

Have a progress check meeting with your line manager, including giving excuses

Introduce yourselves and chat for a little while, mentioning your career histories

Introduce yourselves and chat, mentioning business travel and/ or working abroad

Make small talk about television programmes

Meet a foreign business contact at the airport

Try for the fourth time today to phone someone in another company

Match these possible sentences to the situations above.

• “He’s gone out to meet a client.”
• “I think I’ve achieved a lot.”
• “I’ve been enjoying 24.”
• “I’ve been to…”
• “I’ve been trying to get through to him (...)”
• “I’ve been waiting…”
• “I’ve been working here…”
• “I’ve been working like a dog!”
• “I’ve been working on…”
• “I’ve done about 50% of it.”
• “I’ve seen it.”

What time clauses are likely to go with the sentences above?

Add these time clauses to at least one of the sentences above.

all day                                                                         already

for…                                                                            in the last…

just                                                                              recently

since…                                                         so far

this…                                                                          three or four times

 

Can you think of any questions that are likely to be answered by those example sentences (with or without the time clauses)?

Which two Present Perfect tenses are used above? What kinds of questions go with the two tenses?

Match these descriptions to the two Present Perfect tenses:

• Often used when talking about how long
• Often used when talking about how many or how much
• Focuses on the result/ achievement
• Focuses on the action

What would the differences in meaning be between these sentences?

• I’ve learnt English./ I’ve been learning English.
• I’ve made a lot of mistakes./ I’ve been making a lot of mistakes.
• I’ve cut my finger on the guillotine./ I’ve been cutting my finger on the guillotine.
• I’ve read the report./ I’ve been reading the report.
• We’ve tested three possible video conference systems./ We’ve been testing three possible video conference systems.
• I’ve attended three training courses./ I’ve been attending three training courses.
• They’ve sold the shares./ They’ve been selling the shares.
• I’ve had lots of meetings this week./ I’ve been having lots of meetings this week.
• He has worked for our main competitor and us./ He has been working for our main competitor and us.
• I’ve been working here for two years./ I’ve worked here for two years.

Why doesn’t the last one change meaning (unlike the others)?

Which sentence is more common in each case?

Why are these sentences wrong?

• I’ve been being busy recently. X
• Have you ever been going to Australia? X
• I’ve been having four jobs. X
• I’ve been knowing my boss for 10 years X

B: Practice

Make one true Present Perfect (Simple) sentence and one true Present Perfect Continuous sentence about things in this list. Does your partner agree that those things are true?

• The government
• The price of something
• Consumer confidence/ Business confidence
• The central bank
• Your main competitor
• Your head office

Choose things from the list below that you know about and discuss the present trends and how long the situation has been like that, then write two full sentences together.

• Property prices
• Delivery costs/ Shipping costs/ Postal costs
• Staffing costs/ Wages
• Overtime
• Crime
• Consumer confidence/ Business confidence
• Consumer spending
• Number of IPOs
• Demand for your main product/ service
• Interest rates

--------------------

Suggested answers

Other answers are possible, so please ask if you thought of something different.

• “He’s gone out to meet a client.” – Phoning for the fourth time – “just” “already” – “Is he there?” “Where has he gone?”
• “I think I’ve achieved a lot.” – Job interview – “in my present position” “in the last couple of years” – “Please tell us some recent achievements”
• “I’ve been enjoying 24.” – Small talk about television – “recently” “since the new series started” “for the last couple of weeks” – “Have you seen anything good?”
• “I’ve been to…” – Travel – “twice” “this year” “many times” – “Have you ever been to…?” “How many times have you been to…?”
• “I’ve been trying to get through to him” – Phoning for the fourth time – “all day” “since this morning” “for hours” – “How long have you been trying to get through to him?”
• “I’ve been waiting…” – Arriving late/ Meeting at the airport – “for ages” “for ten minutes” – “Have you been waiting long?”
• “I’ve been working here…” – Introducing yourself – “since January” “for ten years” – “How long have you been working here?”
• “I’ve been working like a dog!” – Complaining – “recently” “this week” – “How has your week been?” “Have you been busy?”
• “I’ve been working on…” – Job interview – “recently” “this week” – “What have you been working on?”
• “I’ve done about 50% of it.” – Progress check – “so far” “already” – “How much have you finished?” “How far through are you?”
• “I’ve seen it.” – Small talk about television – “three or four times” – “Have you ever seen…?” “Have you seen the new series of… (yet)?”

 

• talking about how long/ focuses on action – Present Perfect Continuous
• how many or how much/ focuses on result or achievement – Present Perfect Simple

 

• I’ve learnt English./ I’ve been learning English. – The first would mean I’ve learnt absolutely everything about the language!
• I’ve made a lot of…/ I’ve been making…. – The first is a result, so the work probably has mistakes now. The second is an action, so might be connected to tiredness
• I’ve cut my finger on the guillotine./ I’ve been cutting my finger on the guillotine. – The latter would be a repeated action with the possibility of it continuing!
• I’ve read the report./ I’ve been reading the report. – The first means I’ve read the whole thing. In the second I might have finished it but if so the focus is on the action of reading, e.g. to explain why I haven’t been able to do other work
• We’ve tested three possible video conference systems./ We’ve been testing three possible…. – In the latter we have probably been testing all three at the same time
• I’ve attended three training courses./ I’ve been attending three training courses. - Ditto
• They’ve sold the shares./ They’ve been selling the shares. – The former focuses on the result, probably meaning all the shares have gone
• I’ve had lots of meetings this week./ I’ve been having lots of meetings this week. – In the former the week or meetings have probably finished (e.g. it’s Friday), but because meetings have no clear result there doesn’t have to be a difference in meaning
• He has worked…./ He has been working…– The latter probably means simultaneously
• I’ve been working here for two years./ I’ve worked here for two years. – No difference, because “work” has no obvious result/ achievement