Learn how to use the past and present perfect continuous tenses
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jonathan: Hi everyone! I’m Jonathan. |
| Dede: I’m Dede. |
| Jonathan: American Date Night, Part 2. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the past and present perfect continuous tenses. We’ll listen to a conversation between Dave and Isabel as they have their first date. |
| Dede: Go Dave! They still don’t know each other very well and are eating at a nice restaurant. |
| Jonathan: Because of that, they will be speaking a little bit formally, but still not like business people. |
| Dede: I think that’s it! |
| Jonathan: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Isabel: You know, I have to admit, when you first asked me out I thought you were kind of creepy. But this is a nice place. So I apologize for misjudging you. |
| Dave: Yeah, I can understand that. I'm sure that you have gotten a lot of invitations from witnesses before though. |
| Isabel: Not exactly... So where are you from? How long have you been in D.C. for? |
| Dave: I'm originally from Oregon, I have only been living in D.C. for a few months now. Before coming here, I had been living in Virginia when I went to school. Where did you go to college? |
| Isabel: I'm a proud alumnus of the school of hard knocks! |
| Dave: Oh, I see... uhh, sorry for asking. |
| Isabel: Why? For all my life I had wanted to be a cop. No need to go to college for that so I went to the academy instead. |
| Dave: That's cool. So you have lived in D.C. your whole life? |
| Isabel: Born and raised! |
| Dave: A true Washingtonian. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dede: Is that really what a first date in the United States would sound like? |
| Jonathan: It’s true that in the United States, like many other countries, some of the first questions you ask when you get to know someone are about their background. The questions that Dave asked were pretty typical of the kinds of questions people will ask. |
| Dede: Hmm… What about differences between Washington, D.C. and the rest of the states? |
| Jonathan: Good question, I don’t think they are that different, but especially in the high-powered world of Washington, D.C. the university or college that you attended is often asked about. |
| Dede: But Isabel didn’t go to college! |
| Jonathan: Exactly, this can be a tricky topic if someone did not go to college and it can be can be seen as a negative. Someone might be embarrassed if it is brought up. Generally though, small talk when you are getting to know each other centers around where the other person has lived, where they have worked, and where they have gone to school. |
| Dede: Hmm… So it’s usually OK to ask though? |
| Jonathan: Generally I think so… but after the little questions, then you get to ask more interesting, and more specific questions about who you are out on a date with. |
| Dede: I can think of a whole lot of other questions I want to ask! |
| Jonathan: That’s great! Wanna move to the vocab though? |
| Dede: Sounds good! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dede: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Jonathan: to admit [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to concede the truth of something, to confess |
| Jonathan: to admit [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to admit [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: creepy [natural native speed] |
| Dede: makes you feel uncomfortable, inappropriate |
| Jonathan: creepy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: creepy [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: to misjudge [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to assess or judge incorrectly |
| Jonathan: to misjudge [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to misjudge [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: witness [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a person who saw something (often a crime) |
| Jonathan: witness [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: witness [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: originally [natural native speed] |
| Dede: firstly, from the beginning, at the very start |
| Jonathan: originally [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: originally [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: alumnus [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a graduate |
| Jonathan: alumnus [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: alumnus [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: knock [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a loud noise created by hitting with the fist |
| Jonathan: knock [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: knock [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: Washingtonian [natural native speed] |
| Dede: somebody from Washington, D.C. |
| Jonathan: Washingtonian [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: Washingtonian [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: academy [natural native speed] |
| Dede: an institution of learning that focuses on a specific trade or skills (like science or the military) |
| Jonathan: academy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: academy [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: to be raised [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to grow up |
| Jonathan: to be raised [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to be raised [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dede: That’s all for this lesson. Do you want to look at some words and phrases in more detail? |
| Jonathan: I most certainly do, what’s up first? |
| Dede: "knock" – a loud noise created by hitting with the fist. |
| Jonathan: In the dialogue, Sheila said “I’m a proud alumnus of the school of hard knocks”. |
| Jonathan: "Alumnus" is another word from this line, and it means a graduate of some type of school. However, the “school of hard knocks” is not a real school, it is an idiom used to describe real life when they did not attend university or college. The phrase refers to living life in a difficult manner, and that maybe they got “knocked” and learned through the process. It is usually used in a light-hearted manner. |
| Dede: Oh yeah, my brother is studying at the school of hard knocks right now! |
| Jonathan: Oh really? I wanted to go there, but unfortunately I couldn’t get in… |
| Dede: (Laughs) Yeah, you’re not so tough… |
| Jonathan: OK, so what’s our next phrase? |
| Dede: “Born and raised!” |
| Jonathan: Isabel says this when Dave asks her if she has lived in D.C. for her whole life. As we learned from the vocab section, where we were raised means where we grew up. We can use the phrase “born and raised” to tell someone that we spent out entire childhood in one place. |
| Dede: So where were you from again? |
| Jonathan: Well, I’m from West Philadelphia, born and raised of course. |
| Dede: Hmm I didn’t know that…Alright, I’m ready to move on then. |
| Jonathan: Go for it. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dede: In this lesson, we will be reviewing the present and past perfect continuous tenses |
| Jonathan: That’s right. You probably have already learned them, but these are two of the most difficult tenses to use correctly. Let’s start by listening again to something Dave said in the present perfect continuous tense. He said "I have only been living in D.C. for a few months now." |
| Dede: We use the present perfect continuous tense to describe things that began in the past but that continue today. |
| Jonathan: We often use it followed by “for” or “since”; “for” is used to say how long we have been doing it, and “since” tells us when they started. |
| Dede: Can you think of some examples? |
| Jonathan: How about “We have been doing this podcast together since last year.” |
| Dede: Wow! Has it already been a year? “I have been working here for too long!” |
| Jonathan: Haha, please don’t leave! |
| Dede: OK… you’ve convinced me. |
| Jonathan: Let’s move on my listening to something else Dave said. It was "I had been living in Virginia when I went to school." |
| Dede: This example shows the past perfect continuous tense. |
| Jonathan: The past perfect continuous can be even trickier to use correctly. We use this when we are talking about something that happened for a length of time in the past; something that started and ended before now. We often use it with another statement that provides the reference for the time. |
| Dede: Right, like when you got here today I had been waiting for 30 minutes. |
| Jonathan: Sorry! The train was late… But good example. Can you think of another? |
| Dede: "By the time I started working here, you had already been doing the podcast for two months." |
| Jonathan: Great! |
| Dede: It is difficult to know when to use these tenses though – a lot of the times it seems like I can just use simple past. |
| Jonathan: That’s true, many times you can change the structure a little and use simple past, but using the past perfect continuous gives it a nice sense of order in your sentences. |
| Dede: Hmm, I think this is one our listeners need to practice. |
| Jonathan: I agree. |
Outro |
| Dede: Ok, is that it for this lesson? |
| Jonathan: Yup, we’re just about out of time. Thanks so much for listening, everyone! |
| Dede: We can’t wait until next time! |
| Jonathan: Bye, everyone! |
| Dede: Until next time. |
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