to help you improve your speaking confidence.
Search Learning English Conversations in your podcast app to find the latest episodes.
And I've also met up with my sister and her children and we all got together and went for a nice walk and went for lunch together.
Today I've been chatting with a friend because she's moving house, so we've been talking about when I can go and visit her.
Hello and welcome to Learning English Grammar.
I'm Pippa.
And I'm Phil.
We just heard Beth and Neil talking about what they've been up to today and this week, and that just means what they've been doing.
And in this episode we'll learn about two tenses we can use to talk about these things the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous.
Yes, we often use the present perfect simple, and the present perfect continuous to talk about things that happened in the very recent past.
And don't forget, you can read along with this podcast using the transcript on our website, bbclearningenglishcom.
So, Pippa, what have you been up to this week?
Well, I've been doing a lot of yoga this week because I'm trying to get more flexible.
What about you?
I've been spending a lot of time on aeroplanes and getting used to the weather again, because I've just come back from holiday.
Oh, so jealous.
Well, let's listen to Beth and Neil.
What have they been up to?
Well, I've been working, so I've mainly been sitting in my little office just checking emails and writing a few things and speaking to some colleagues.
I've had my breakfast.
I've had a cup of tea.
And yeah, that's about it so far.
I've just been sorting out different things in our house.
We're decorating a couple of rooms, but we've finished the kitchen this morning so I can put all the cupboards back now, which is good.
What have I been up to this week?
OK, so this week I've met up with lots of people that I know.
So I've seen some friends of mine.
What else have I done?
I've been to a party and yeah, it was lots of fun.
I've had quite a chilled week this week.
I've finally finished a book I've been reading for a while.
So Neil said today he's been working and this week he's been meeting up with friends and he's been to a party.
This is all recent activity he talks about today and this week.
And Beth said she's been sorting out rooms in the house because she's been decorating and she has also finished a book that she's been reading.
Now, both Beth and Neil used the present perfect simple and present perfect continuous.
We're going to learn when to use each of these tenses and how to form them.
Yes, and here to help is Georgie, our grammar guru.
Hi, you two.
I've come to help our listeners with the present perfect simple and continuous.
So can you start by telling us what the present perfect is?
Why do we use it?
Well, we can use this tense to talk about something in the past that has a connection to the present.
So, today hasn't finished.
Right now, it's still today.
But there are things that happened today in the past.
For example, today I've drunk a coffee.
I'm not using the past simple because I used the word today and today hasn't finished yet.
And can this be the same with this morning?
Yes, Beth used the present perfect with this morning because it was still the morning when she said it.
And that's the same with this week.
This week is still happening now, even if you did something on Monday.
For example, this week I've been doing yoga.
I use the words this week, which hasn't finished, so I use the present perfect.
I've had quite a chilled week this week.
So what's the difference between the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous?
Well, often there's no difference at all and we could use either tense with no difference in meaning.
But we often use the present perfect continuous when we want to emphasise how long an action takes.
It focuses on the activity and duration of the activity.
Well, I've been working, so I've mainly been sitting in my little office.
OK, so Neil used the present perfect continuous here.
He said he's been working and sitting in his office.
Those are both long actions.
Exactly.
He might have been sitting there for a few hours.
That's a long continuous time.
We form the present perfect continuous with have or has plus been plus the main verb with ing.
I've just been sorting out different things in our house.
And we form the present perfect simple with have or has plus the past participle.
That's the third form of the verb.
Break, broke, broken or meet, met, met.
Broken and met are the past participles.
This week I've met up with lots of people that I know.
Great.
Well, we've learnt a lot in this lesson.
Thanks, Georgie.
See you later.
Right, Phil, let's test what we've learned.
I'm going to ask you some questions and you need to answer using the present perfect simple or present perfect continuous.
And why not play along as you listen?
Answer the questions before I do.
So, Phil, what have you been up to this morning?
I've been writing some things for work.
OK.
OK.
And what have you done this week?
I've washed a lot of clothes.
Ah, yes, because of your holiday.
And what have you been doing this year?
Maybe something that you haven't finished yet.
I've been trying to get fit.
Tell us what you've been up to today and this week.
Send an email to learningenglish at bbc.co.uk.
That's it for this episode.
We've learnt that the present perfect continuous is used to emphasise how long an activity is.
And we've learnt that Beth has been decorating her house.
We'll be back next week to learn some more grammar tips.
In the meantime, you can test what you've learnt in this episode with the worksheet on our website.
To learn more about tenses in English, watch Tenses with Georgie.
Go to our website now, bbclearningenglish.com.
Goodbye for now.
Bye.
