.9. the manager of a travel company lynne carter is interviewing a young man called paul morris for a job. complete the interview choosing present perfect or past indefinite form. lynne: your present company is sun travel, isn’t it? how long have you worked/did you work there? paul: i’ve worked/
i worked for them for two years. lynne: i see. and what were you doing before that? paul: i’ve worked/i worked for a student travel company in spain. lynne: oh, really? how long have you been/were you in spain? paul: for nearly a year. i’ve moved/i moved back to london from spain two years
ago to join sun travel. lynne: i see. and do you drive, paul? paul: yes, i do. i’ve had/i had a driving license for five years. lynne: and have you got your own car? paul: no, not at the moment. i’ve had/i had a car in spain, but i’ve sold/i sold it before i’ve come/i came back to britain.
Paul: I've worked for them for two years.
In this sentence, we use the present perfect form "have worked" because Paul is talking about the duration of his current job at Sun Travel, which is still ongoing. The present perfect is used to talk about past actions that have a connection to the present.
Lynne: I see. And what were you doing before that?
Paul: I've worked for a student travel company in Spain.
Here again, we use the present perfect form "have worked" because Paul is talking about his previous job before joining Sun Travel. The present perfect tense is used to describe an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past.
Lynne: Oh, really? How long have you been in Spain?
Paul: For nearly a year. I moved back to London from Spain two years ago to join Sun Travel.
In this conversation, Paul first uses the present perfect form "have been" to talk about the duration of his stay in Spain, which started in the past and is still relevant to the present. Then he switches to the past simple form "I moved" to talk about the specific action of moving back to London, which happened two years ago. The past simple tense is used to talk about complete actions in the past with a definite time frame.
Lynne: And do you drive, Paul?
Paul: Yes, I do. I've had a driving license for five years.
In this exchange, Paul uses the present perfect form "have had" because he is talking about the experience of having a driving license over a period of time that started in the past and continues to the present. The present perfect is used to talk about past actions or experiences that have a relevance to the present.
Lynne: And have you got your own car?
Paul: No, not at the moment. I had a car in Spain, but I sold it before I came back to Britain.
Paul first uses the past simple form "had" to talk about the possession of a car in the past, specifically in Spain. Then he switches to the present perfect form "have sold" to talk about the action of selling the car, which is connected to the present (the time of the interview). The present perfect is used because the action of selling the car happened before the present moment but has an impact on the present situation.
In summary, the choice between the present perfect and past simple forms depends on the specific time reference and whether the action is ongoing or completed. The present perfect is used for actions or experiences that have a connection to the present, while the past simple is used for actions or events that happened at a specific time in the past and are complete.