B2 First · Grammar · Pattern 8 of 10
For, since, ago, yet, 'the last time', 'the first time' — the time expressions that decide which tense the gap needs.
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Noah started learning the guitar three years ago.
BEEN
Noah the guitar for three years.
Part 4 does not ask you to explain the present perfect; it asks you to convert between two ways of placing an event in time. 'Noah started learning the guitar three years ago' is a point in the past; 'Noah has been learning the guitar for three years' is a period reaching up to now. Same fact, two tenses, and the time expression is what changes: 'ago' lives with the past simple, 'for' and 'since' live with the perfect.
Most items are one of a handful of conversions. 'The last time I saw X was in June' becomes 'I haven't seen X since June'. 'This is the first time I've done X' becomes 'I have never done X before'. 'It's ages since we had a holiday' becomes 'we haven't had a holiday for ages'. 'When did you buy it?' becomes 'how long have you had it?'. Learn the conversions as pairs and the tense takes care of itself.
The negative. Nearly every conversion from 'the last time' or 'it's ages since' produces a negative present perfect, and candidates write the positive one — 'I have seen Mia since June' — which is grammatical and wrong. The original said the seeing stopped; the answer has to say it has not happened since.
'Been to' against 'gone to'. 'Jamie hasn't been to the dentist for two years' — 'been' is the perfect form of 'go' when the person came back. 'Has not gone to' would sound as if the visit were still in progress, and the key word BEEN rules it out anyway.
Find the time expression in the second sentence — it is usually placed there deliberately. 'For' and 'since' mean present perfect; 'ago' means past simple; 'yet' means a negative present perfect; 'before' after 'never' means present perfect. Once the tense is fixed, the only remaining decision is positive or negative, and the first sentence tells you.
Continuous or simple? If the activity is ongoing and the verb allows it — learning, waiting, living — the continuous is natural and usually the accepted form when the key word is BEEN. With state verbs ('had that car') it stays simple.
You can — 'I lived in Manchester for three years' is a finished period. The exam item, though, says the situation continues ('he still lives there'), and a period that reaches the present is present perfect. 'Since' is stricter: it only ever goes with the perfect.
Where 'have' is the main verb of possession ('how long have you had that car'), the mark scheme wants 'had' as the participle of 'have'. 'Have got' describes a present state and does not combine with 'how long' in the same way, so it is not among the accepted answers.
