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In una lezione precedente, abbiamo parlato della differenza tra il Present perfect e il Simple past, due tempi verbali che in italiano corrispondono perlopiù al passato prossimo dell'indicativo. Se desiderate ripassare la costruzione di questi due tempi verbali, leggete questa lezione.
Il present perfect è un tempo verbale che fa da ponte tra il passato e il presente e può corrispondre (anche se non sempre) al passato prossimo italiano. Si usa per esprimere un'azione o una situazione passata che ha una relazione con il presente. Si forma con l'ausiliare have e il past participle (participio passato) del verbo principale: soggetto + have/has + verbo al participio passato.
I've been in New York for three years.
Sono a New York da tre anni. (sono arrivata tre anni fa e sono ancora qui)
Quando parliamo di situazioni che hanno avuto inizio nel passato e che continuano nel presente, specificandone la durata o il momento di inizio (duration from up to the present), usiamo il present perfect, a differenza dell'italiano dove in questi casi il tempo usato è il presente indicativo. Non c'è dunque corrispondenza con il tempo usato in inglese. Inoltre, se in italiano useremo sempre la preposizione "da", in inglese dobbiamo fare una distinzione tra for e since.
Per specificare il periodo della durata dell'azione si usa la preposizione for:
It's now six o'clock. They have been here for two hours.
Ora sono le sei. Sono qui da due ore.
Per precisare il momento di inizio dell'azione, si usa la preposizione since:
[Since two thousand three Nespresso works with the Rainforest Alliance]
[Dal duemilatredici Nespresso lavora con l'Alleanza per le foreste pluviali]
Caption 18, AAA Program 10 Years of shared commitment to sustainability
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Per chiedere "da quanto tempo" dura una certa situzione la domanda può iniziare con How long...? o For how long...? (da quanto tempo), oppure Since when...? (da quando).
So, you... you've been with your girlfriend for how long now?
Quindi, tu... tu stai con la tua ragazza da quanto tempo adesso?
Caption 44, Ed Sheeran Interview with Ellen DeGeneres
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Since when the hell do you give orders around here?
[Che] diavolo, da quando dai ordini qui?
Caption 3, Dream to Believe aka Flying - Part 13
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La forma di durata espressa con il present perfect si trova solitamente con i verbi di stato come to be, to have, to know, to want, to love... e con i verbi di azione alla forma negativa:
They haven't written to me for a year.
Non mi scrivono da un anno.
Osserva le espressioni for long/for a long time (da molto tempo) e for ages (da una vita):
So, Mars has been dry for a long time.
Quindi, Marte è arido da molto tempo.
Caption 51, Slow News with Sigrid Water on Mars, the Oscars, and more
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I've known them for ages. We've lived door to door since we were children.
Li conosco da una vita. Abitiamo porta a porta da quando eravamo bambini.
Spesso, chi studia l'inglese tende a confondere il Present perfect e il Simple past, due tempi verbali che in italiano corrispondono perlopiù al passato prossimo dell'indicativo. È fondamentale scegliere il tempo verbale corretto a seconda del tipo di contesto in cui una frase è inserita.
Per prima cosa, vediamo come si costruiscono questi tempi verbali. Il present perfect si compone di due parti: l'ausiliare to have (avere) coniugato al presente, più il participio passato del verbo principale. Il participio passato di un verbo regolare si forma aggiungendo "ed" alla forma base del verbo, ad esempio played (giocato), arrived (arrivato), worked (lavorato). Molti verbi formano il participio passato in modo irregolare, ad esempio to be diventa been (essere, stato), to go diventa gone (andare, andato), to make diventa made (fare, fatto).
Per la costruzione del simple past, vale la stessa regola del suffisso "ed" aggiunto alla forma base del verbo. Anche al simple past alcuni verbi sono irregolari, come ad esempio to give (dare) che diventa gave. L'ausiliare per formare frasi negative e interrogative con il simple past è "did".
Occupiamoci adesso della differenza principale tra questi due tempi verbali. Il present perfect si usa quando un'azione o una situazione non è ancora terminata, quando è ancora in corso. Ecco un esempio:
She has lived an extraordinary life of public service.
Ha vissuto una straordinaria vita nel servizio pubblico.
Caption 36, Barack Obama - On Trump Presidential Victory
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In questa frase, Barack Obama ha usato il present perfect per dire che Hilary Clinton è ancora impegnata nel servizio pubblico e lo sarà anche in futuro.
And I lived on a boat for three and a half years.
E ho vissuto su una barca per tre anni e mezzo.
Caption 8, Great Pacific Garbage Patch - Let's Work for Solutions
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Qui, invece, l'uso del simple past indica che la persona che parla non vive più sulla barca. Se il soggetto avesse usato "have lived" ora noi sapremmo che questa persona vive ancora sulla barca. Pertanto il simple past si usa per parlare di azioni concluse che si sono svolte nel passato.
Un modo per capire quale tempo verbale usare è la presenza nella frase di un riferimento temporale, come yesterday (ieri), ago (fa), last month (lo scorso mese) e since (da), ever e never (mai).
We made macaroni necklaces yesterday.
Abbiamo fatto le collanine di maccheroni ieri.
Caption 24, Jimmy Kimmel’s Quarantine Minilogue - Home with Kids, Trump, Tom Brady & St. Patrick’s Day
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They were the most persistent tigers I've ever seen.
Erano le tigri più perseveranti che avessi mai visto.
Caption 30, The Marx Brothers - Capt. Spaulding's African Adventures
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Nell'ultimo esempio, quello che il Capitano Spaulding vuole dire è "in tutta la mia vita". Dal momento che è ancora in vita e considerato che in futuro potrebbe vedere delle tigri ancora più perseveranti, il present perfect è il tempo verbalo più corretto.
Per parlare di azioni avvenute poco fa o di un’azione che si è verificata prima del solito, prima che ce lo si aspettasse o, più semplicemente, presto, usiamo il present perfect e gli avverbi just (appena), already (già, nelle frasi affermative) e yet (già, nelle negative e interrogative).
You've just walked 'round there, sorted it out.
Sei appena andata là, hai sistemato tutto.
Caption 13, Our School Series 1 - Episode 1 - Part 2
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Guardiamo adesso questo esempio:
There's no doubt that this project has made a huge difference.
Non c'è dubbio che questo progetto abbia fatto una differenza enorme.
Caption 36, WWF: Making a Difference - Rhino Conservation
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Se al posto di "has made" ci fosse "made", potremmo senza alcun dubbio affermare che il progetto si è concluso. Al contrario, con il present perfect sappiamo che questo progetto è, per l'appunto, ancora in corso.
In sintesi, è fondamentale ricordare che la differenza prinipale tra i due tempi verbali sta nel fatto che con il present perfect il periodo di tempo in cui si è svolta l'azione non è ancora concluso oppure non è specificato. Con il simple past il periodo di tempo in cui si è svolta l'azione è completamente concluso, oppure è sempre specificato o sottinteso.
Ti senti pronto per qualche esercizio? Completa la frase con il tempo verbale corretto.
1. I ____ just ____ my lunch. (to finish)
2. I ____ to the cinema several times in the last few weeks. (to go)
3. Last year, they ____ a new house by the sea. (to buy)
4. Oil ____ recently ____ in price. (to increase)
5. The bad weather ____ our holiday last month. (to ruin)
6. Elisa ____ here since 2002. (to live)
7. The government ____ any action yet. (not/to take)
8. The alarm ____ when I ____. (to stop; to switch off)
9. Jane ____ already ____ the laundry. (to do)
10. Yesterday, I ____ the keys in my purse. (to find)
11. He ____ an hour ago. (to get up)
12. I ___ never ___ a test. (to fail)
Soluzioni
You may have a good grasp of the present perfect tense, and have also read our previous newsletter on the past continuous tense. This week, however, we are going to talk about the past perfect, also known as the pluperfect.
Similar to the past continuous (was/were + verb in -ing form), the past perfect is very helpful when we are putting events that occurred in the past in chronological order. It is formed with had + past participle, so, for example, to give becomes had given, to go becomes had gone, and to write becomes had written.
The King asked her what had given her such a fright.
Caption 42, Fairy Tales - The Frog King
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From the sentence above, we know that whatever scared the princess occurred before the king asked her about it. And unlike the phrase what was giving her such a fright, the phrase what had given her such a fright with the past perfect tells us that the action is finished, in other words she is no longer scared.
Now look at the example below, in which a reporter asks Prince Harry a question about Meghan Markle:
So, how much did you, Prince Harry, know about Meghan?
Had you seen her on TV?
Captions 68-69, BBC News - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
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The construction had + past participle informs us that the reporter is asking about something that happened before Harry and Meghan met. Additionally, while using the simple past (did you see) would refer to watching Meghan on TV on a regular basis, the past perfect (had you seen) asks whether it ever happened in Harry's life, even one time.
Take a look at two more examples and determine which action occurred first. Note the contraction he'd in the second example, which is a combination of he and had rather than he and would.
After everyone had gone, she was alone in the house.
Caption 29, Fairy Tales - Cinderella
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In his new role, he visited many EU countries he'd previously condemned.
Caption 43, Boris Johnson - The UK's New Controversial Prime Minister
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Further Learning
In addition to keeping your eye out for more examples of the past perfect on Yabla English, you can make a list of verbs in their infinitive form and make sure you know the past participle of each one. Refer to our previous lesson on expressing the conditional in English, which covers the use of the past perfect in the creation of Conditional III.
Per parlare di fatti o situazioni abituali nel passato, si può usare l’espressione used to seguita dalla forma base del verbo. Used è il participio passato di to use (usare; utilizzare), dunque bisogna prestare attenzione al contesto della frase, perché in alcuni casi il significato di used, seguito dalla preposizione to, potrebbe proprio essere “usato, utilizzato”:
However, any part of our body can be used to touch and feel.
In ogni caso, ogni parte del nostro corpo può essere usata per toccare e sentire.
Caption 39, English with Lauren - The Five Senses
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La costruzione affermativa “soggetto + used to + verbo alla forma base” implica che una certa abitudine o situazione è cambiata nel presente, ovvero che non si verifica più. Corrisponde al tempo imperfetto italiano o alle forme “ero solito”, “avevo l’abitudine di”.
I... I used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band.
Io... io facevo un sacco di spettacoli alle Hawaii con la band di mio padre.
Caption 8, Bruno Mars - Electronic Press Kit
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I used to wait until the last moment
Avevo l'abitudine di aspettare fino all'ultimo momento
to set appointments for the coming week.
per stabilire gli appuntamenti della settimana seguente.
Captions 33-34, Business English - Job interview
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In quest’ultimo esempio, è chiaro che si tratta di una situazione che non accade più nel presente, in quanto chi parla afferma successivamente che:
But then I realized that scheduling well ahead makes a lot more sense.
Ma poi mi sono resa conto che programmare ben in anticipo ha molto più senso.
Caption 35, Business English - Job interview
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L’espressione used to può essere usata con verbi di stato e dinamici, come love (amare), feel (sentire), like (piacere), hate (odiare), have (avere), be (essere), ecc.
It used to be a basement room with lots of boxes and papers and garbage.
Era una stanza del seminterrato con tante scatole e carte e spazzatura.
Captions 4-5, Creative Space - An Artist's Studio
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La forma negativa si ottiene con didn’t seguito dalla forma base use to, poi dalla forma base del verbo che esprime l’azione.
La costruzione, quindi, è la seguente: “soggetto + didn’t use to + verbo alla forma base”.
I didn’t use to read detective stories, but I do now.
Non leggevo racconti polizieschi, ma ora sì.
Le domande si formulano con did, seguito dal soggetto e dalla forma base use to, poi dalla forma base del verbo che esprime l’azione: “did + soggetto + use to + verbo alla forma base”.
Did you use to go as a kid and stuff?
Ci andavi da bambina e roba del genere?
Caption 44, Eliza Doolittle - EPK
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Un altro modo per parlare di fatti o situazioni abituali nel passato, è con il modale would (modo condizionale del verbo), seguito dal verbo alla forma base: “soggetto + would + verbo alla forma base”. Con questa forma non si specifica se la situazione sia cambiata nel presente.
And I actually believed that I was trapped in time
E credevo realmente che fossi intrappolata nel tempo
and, uh, and so I would listen to baroque music all day.
e, eh, e quindi ascoltavo musica barocca tutto il giorno.
Captions 4-5, Diane Birch - Valentino
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My dad would take me skiing, and I remember.
Mio padre mi portava a sciare.
Caption 11, First Chair - Chatting with Lindsey Vonn
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Con questa particolare accezione, il would di solito può essere usato solo con i verbi dinamici, ma non con quelli di stato:
He would never decide what to do. CORRETTA
Non decideva mai che cosa fare.
When I was a little girl I
would havecurly hair. SBAGLIATAQuando ero una ragazzina avevo i capelli ricci.
(When I was a little girl I had curly hair. CORRETTA)
Mettetevi alla prova con questo esercizio nel quale dovrete scegliere l’alternativa corretta.
1. a - His hair would be longer before.
b - His hair used to be longer.
2. a - I used to go to work by train. Now I go by bus.
b - I didn't used go to work by train. Now I go by bus.
3. a - Did you use to watch Friends?
b - Did you used to watch Friends?
4. a - He would go home every night at six for his dinner. His wife was always pleased to see him!
b - He didn’t use to go home every night at six for his dinner. His wife was always pleased to see him!
5. a - When I was a teenager I would hate broccoli.
b - When I was a teenager I hated broccoli.
6. a - Thirty years ago, people didn’t use to be as interested in keeping fit as they are today.
b - Thirty years ago, people wouldn't be as interested in keeping fit as they are today.
7. a - Did John used to play tennis for his school?
b - Did John use to play tennis for his school?
You likely know the present continuous ("I am sitting at the table," "He is going to the grocery store"), but how familiar are you with the past continuous?
The past continuous is often used to set the scene and provide context when talking about the past:
I was working in the theatre in England.
Caption 13, Donald Sutherland - Talks Career and Hollywood
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A very typical structure with the past continuous and simple past tenses together occurs when one action or event in the past interrupts another action that is already in progress.
There she encountered an old woman who was sitting at a spinning wheel.
Caption 32, Fairy Tales - Sleeping Beauty
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In this example, it is clear that the woman already began doing what she was doing ("sitting at a spinning wheel") before Sleeping Beauty entered the room. In each of the following examples, one action was already happening when the other occurred:
But when the Princess opened her eyes the next morning,
she was surprised that a good-looking prince was standing there.
Captions 26-27, Fairy Tales - The Frog King
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I'm sorry, I was eating chips. What did you say?
Caption 12, The Ellen Show - Ellen Inspired Adele's New Song
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Further Learning
To get more context for the phrases, watch the videos above on Yabla English. Make sure you understand which action came first. For a thorough description with more examples, you can also refer to this page.
English learners often have some trouble mastering when to use the present perfect tense and when to use the simple past tense. There are some instances where they are indeed interchangeable, but most often the choice between these two tenses is crucial for conveying the meaning of a sentence.
The present perfect is used when a situation, action, or state is not finished or concluded yet. Let’s look at the following two sentences from Yabla English:
She has lived an extraordinary life of public service.
Caption 36, Barack Obama - On Trump Presidential Victory
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And I lived on a boat for three and a half years.
Caption 8, Great Pacific Garbage Patch - Let's Work for Solutions
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In the first example, Barack Obama used the present perfect to indicate that Hilary Clinton has not finished serving the public and will continue to do so in the future. Her life of public service is ongoing. In the second example, the simple past tense makes it clear that the person speaking does not live on the boat anymore. If they used “I have lived” we would know that they are still living on the boat today.
One clue for knowing which tense to use is that certain words like "since," "ever," and "never" are only used in sentences with the present perfect, whereas "ago," "yesterday," "last week" and "last month" indicate finished periods of time that require the simple past tense.
We saw so many incredible places.
Caption 2, New Zealand 100% Pure - New Zealand, Home of Middle-earth
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They were the most persistent tigers I've ever seen.
Caption 30, The Marx Brothers - Capt. Spaulding's African Adventures
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In the second sentence above, Captain Spaulding means “I’ve ever seen in my life.” Because he is still living, and it is possible he may see tigers that are even more persistent in the future, the situation is considered unresolved and the present perfect is used.
For the next sentence, note that “this project made a huge difference” would mean that the project is finished, whereas how it is written makes it clear that it is, in fact, ongoing:
There's no doubt that this project has made a huge difference.
Caption 36, WWF: Making a Difference - Rhino Conservation
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In British English, the tenses are more interchangeable. For example, the present perfect is often used when talking about an event that is finished, but happened very recently.
I have just been to Buckingham Palace.
Caption 1, BBC News - Theresa May: First Speech as Prime Minister
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However, in American English, there are also cases where either tense is applicable. The following sentence is an example in which either tense could be used. This is because the mistake is a finished act, but the situation surrounding the mistake is ongoing.
You really think we made a mistake?
The continuous (or progressive) tense comprises two parts: the verb "to be" in the present, past, or future tense, combined with the present participle of the main verb. It is a common verbal form in the English language, actually more common than the simple tense in the spoken language.
Let's find an example on Yabla English of the present continuous tense:
Time is running out.
Caption 29, George Clooney - Video Diary from Sudan and Chad
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To form the above present continuous tense, the present tense of the verb "to be" ("is") is combined with the present participle of the verb "to run" (by adding "ing," or in this case "-ning") to the end of the verb. The present continuous tense expresses something that is presently incomplete or unfinished. In the above case, there is still time enough now, but soon there will not be.
And the past continuous tense:
I was laughing so hard.
Caption 42, Jim White - Interview
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To form the above past continuous tense, the past tense of the verb "to be" ("was") is combined with the present participle of the verb "to laugh." The past continuous tense expresses something that is incomplete or unfinished in the past. In the above case, laughing was occurring during a past event.
And lastly, the future continuous tense:
This is where you will be working from.
Caption 14, The Company - Starting on a New Job
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To form the above future continuous tense, the future tense of the verb "to be" ("will be") is combined with the present participle of the verb "to work." The future continuous tense expresses something is incomplete or unfinished that will happen in the future. In the above case, work will be performed at some point in the future.
Further Learning
Take a look at this list of basic verb forms, and search Yabla English for some of your favorite English present participle verbs (ending in -ing) and see these tenses used in a real-world context.
The simple tense, in its present, past and future forms, is called "simple" because it consists of just one word, unlike other verb tenses such as present progressive and present perfect. The first-person form of the simple present tense is almost always the same as the dictionary form of the verb.
With the verb "to write," for example, the simple present tense in first person is "I write."
Well, when I write songs...
Caption 27, Bee and Flower - Interview
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In the simple past tense, the basic form "write" changes to "wrote." Some basic verbs just add "-ed" to become past tense, but many are irregular and must be learned.
I wrote this song.
Caption 35, Rise Up and Sing - Recording the Song
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The simple future tense consist of adding "will" (or "shall") before the verb:
Tammy will write a song and then record it on her laptop.
Caption 92, Royalchord - Interview
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Further Learning
Take a look at this list of basic verbs and their irregular simple past tenses, and search Yabla English for some of your favorites to see how they are used in context.
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