Perfect continuous tense. British English and American English


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Reading: British English and American English. Speaking: 
Interesting facts about the English language. Grammar: Present 
perfect continuous tense. British English and American English. 
Although technically we all speak the same language (English), 
there are many differences between British English and 
American English: Pronunciation – Although the word might be 
spelt the same, it is possible that people from the UK and 
America pronounce it differently. E.g. the word ‘tomato’ is 
pronounced ‘tom - ah- to’ in the UK but ‘tom - ay- to’ in the 
USA and the word ‘mobile’ is pronounced ‘mow - bile’ in the UK 
but ‘mow - bl’in the USA. Spelling – There are a few major 
spelling differences between British and American English. This 
is because British English has generally kept the spelling of 
words that it has taken from other languages but American 
English has changed the spelling to look more like how the 
word actually sounds when you say it. British English American 
English colour color centre center organise organize travelling 
traveling licence license programme program Grammar – There 
are many grammatical differences between American and 
British English. For example, if someone asks if you are hungry 
but you have just finished your lunch, in British English you 
would need to use the present perfect tense, “No, I’ve eaten 
already”, but in American English you can use the past tense, 
“No, I ate already” (this would be incorrect in British English). 
Vocabulary – As you can see, there are many differences 
between British English and American English. However, the 
most complicated for English language learners is probably the 
differences in vocabulary, including idioms and phrasal verbs. 


Below you will see a few of the main vocabulary differences 
between British and American English: British English American 
English anti- clockwise counter - clockwise autumn fall boot (of 
a car) trunk chips fries or French fries crisps potato chips 
dustbin or bin garbage can or trash can film movie (or film) flat 
(to live in) apartment garden yard holiday vacation lift elevator 
motorway freeway or expressway nappy diaper pavement 
sidewalk petrol gas or gasoline postcode zip code queue line 
sweets candy torch flashlight trousers pants (or trousers) tube 
or underground subway zip zipper As you can see, there are 
many differences between American English and British English 
but don’t worry about it too much. Most Americans and Britons 
know many of the differences so you shouldn’t find yourself in 
too much trouble when you go on holiday! The most important 
thing to remember is try to be consistent (especially when you 
are writing English) – decide which type of English you are 
going to use and stick with it. It is also useful to decide which 
type of English you want to work on – if you want to learn 
British English, it is a good idea to study at a school in the UK 
(or the USA for American English) or check where the teachers 
are from before you book a course in your country. Have fun 
with English! Look at these pairs of words below. From the 
meaning or spelling, can you guess if they are British English or 
American English? 1. Aeroplane – airplane 2. Car park – parking 
lot 3. Theatre – theater 4. Drugstore – chemist 5. Aluminium – 
aluminium 6. Soccer – football 7. Lorry – truck 8. Cell phone – 
mobile phone 9. Trainers – sneakers 10. Defense – defence 
Aeroplane (BE) – airplane (AE), Car park (BE) – parking lot (AE), 


Theatre (BE) theatre (AE), Drugstore (AE) – chemist (BE), 
Aluminium (BE) – aluminium (AE), Soccer (AE) – football (BE), 
Lorry (BE) – truck (AE), Cell phone (AE) – mobile phone (BE), 
Trainers (BE) – sneakers (AE), Defense (AE) – defence(BE) 
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. English is 
one of the most widely spoken languages in the world so it is 
not surprising that so many people want to learn how to speak 
English. In your English classes you no doubt learn interesting 
things but I’m sure you haven’t heard all of these facts before: 
‘E’ is the most commonly used letter in the English language. In 
fact, as many as one in eight of all the letters written in English 
is ‘e’. More English words begin with the letter ‘S’ than any 
other letter of the alphabet. ‘I am.’ is the shortest complete 
sentence in the English language. The longest English word that 
can be spelled without repeating any letters is 
‘uncopyrightable’. The following sentence contains seven 
different spellings of the sound “ee”: ‘He believed Caesar could 
see people seizing the seas’. Do you know what is special about 
the following sentence? ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the 
lazy dog’. This type of sentence is called a ‘pangram’ as it uses 
every letter in the English language. The longest word in English 
has 45 letters: 
‘pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’! It is a type of 
lung disease caused by inhaling ash. There is no word in the 
English language that rhymes with month, orange, silver or 
purple. ‘Queueing’ is the only word with five consecutive 
vowels (five vowels in a row). This is a great word to use when 
you play hangman! ‘Pronunciation’ is the word which is most 


mispronounced in the English language! Due to a printing error, 
there was a word in the English dictionary from 1932 to 1940 
which didn’t have a meaning. The word was ‘Dord’ and it 
became known as ‘ghost word’. Approximately one new word is 
added to the English language every two hours and around 
4,000 new words are added to the English dictionary every 
year. English is the official language of the sky! It doesn’t 
matter which country they are from, all pilots speak in English 
on international flights. There are nine different ways to 
pronounce ‘ough’ in English. This sentence contains all of them: 
‘A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode 
through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, 
he coughed and hiccoughed.’ You can search for these words 
on the Cambridge Dictionary website to listen to their 
pronunciation. The most difficult tongue twister in the English 
language is “sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick”. Why not try it 
out on your friends and see if any of them can say it without 
making a mistake? HAVE FUN WITH ENGLISH! RIDDLES Can you 
work out the answers to these fun English riddles? 1. What has 
a face and two hands but no arms or legs? 2. What type of 
cheese is made backwards? 3. Which letter of the alphabet has 
the most water? 4. What begins with T, ends with T and has T in 
it? 5. Which month has 28 days? 1) A clock 2) Edam (spell 
’made’ backwards) 3) The C (sea) 4) A teapot 5) All of them! 
Grammar. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE. Present 
perfect continuous form The present perfect continuous is 
made up of two elements: The present perfect of the verb “to 
be” (have/has been), and The present participle of the main 


verb (base+ing) Affirmative: S+has/have been+V(ing) She has 
been running. She’s been running. Negative: 
S+has/have+not+been+V(ing) She has not been running. She 
hasn’t been running. Interrogative: Has/have+S+been+V(ing) 
Has she been running? Interrogative negative: 
Has/have+not+S+been+V(ing) Hasn’t she been running? 
Examples: to live, present perfect continuous affirmative 
Negative interrogative I have been living I haven’t been living 
Have I been living You have been living You haven’t been living 
Have you been living He, she, it has been living He, she, it hasn’t 
been living Has hee, she, it has been living We have been living 
We haven’t been living Have we been living You have been 
living You haven’t been living Have you been living They have 
been living They haven’t been living Have they been living 
Present perfect continuous, function. The present perfect 
cintinuous refers to an unspecified time between “before now” 
and “now”. The speaker is thinking about something that 
started but perhaps did not finish in that period of time. They 
are interested in the process as well as the result, and this 
process may still be going on, or may have just finished. 1. 
Actions that started in the past and continue in the present. 
She has been waiting for you all day (=and she’s still waiting 
now) I’ve been working on this report since eight o’clock this 
morning (=and I still haven’t finished it) They have been 
travelling since last October (=and they’re not home yet) 2. 
Actions that have just finished , but we are interested in the 
results: She has been cooking since last night (=and the food on 
the table looks delicious) It’s been raining (=and the streets are 


still wet) Someone’s been eating my chips (=half of them have 
gone) Verbs without continuous forms With verbs not normally 
used in the continuous form, use the present perfect simple. 
See list of these verbs under “present continuous” I’ve wanted 
to visit China for years. She’s known Robert since she was a 
child. I’ve hated that music since I first heard it. I’ve heard a lot 
about you recently. We’ve understood everything we’ve heard 
this morning. Present perfect continuous and present perfect 
The present perfect continuous The present perfect simple To 
talk about a continuous, it often focuses on the action itself but 
not necessarily finished action or situation: I have been 
gardening since morning (focus on continuity) I have been 
reading since morning (focus on continuity) I’ve been reading 
the book recommened.(I’m enjoying it, but I’m not finished) To 
talk about finished action or situation: I have planted several 
new saplings. (Focus on completion) I have read two books 
since morning. (Focus on completion) I’ve read the book you 
recommended. (I’ve finished it, so we can talk about it) It 
doesn’t matter if the whole action is finished or not the result is 
often something we can see, hear, smell, or feel: I’ve been 
eating dinner, so there are plates all over the table. She’s been 
doing her homework, so she’s tired. I’ve been making a cake, 
that’s why the kitchen is such a mess. The present perfect 
simple is used when the action is finished, and the result comes 
from the action being finished: I’ve eaten dinner, so let’s go 
out. She’s done all her homework, so she can relax this evening. 
I’ve made a cake. Would you like some? To emphasise to length 
of time that has passed They’ve been waiting for hours! (this 


Generally neutral, not emphasize the length of time: 
emohasises the length of time) They’ve waited for hours. (this 
doesn’t emphasise the length of time) Can not use to talk about 
how much, how many or life experience because it focus on the 
duration, not result She’s been drinking three cups of coffee 
this morning (not correct) To tallk about how much or how 
many or life experience: She’s drunk three cup of coffee this 
morning. She’s drunk at least a litre of coffee today. To 
emphasise that something is temporary She’s been running a 
lot recently (She doesn’t usually do this) Usually I study at 
home, but I’ve been studying in the library for the last week. 

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