Grammar: The Present Perfect

Sometimes we want to talk about things that happened in the past:

I was born in Lancaster. When I was eighteen, I went to university in Manchester. 

but sometimes we want to talk about things that started in the past and connect to the present:

I live in Manchester. I have lived in Manchester since I started university five years ago.

We use have/has + past participle to make the present perfect tense.

To talk about the length of time, we can use for or since. We use for to talk about the period of time, and since to talk about the start time.

Remember for= how long      since= start

I have lived in Manchester for five years, since I started university.
I have been in Manchester for forty days. It's really good!
I have studied in Manchester since September. It's great!

Let's try and put this into a song!

Learn these sentences:

I have been here

in Manchester

since September,

for forty days.

It's really good.

Try and sing them to this tune:

I have been here
in Manchester
since September,
for forty days.
It's really good!

Since September,
for forty days.
It's really good!


Since September,
for forty days.
Since September,
for forty days.
It's really good, good, g-o-o-d!

IN MANCHESTER!!!