Lesson 17 verb tenses with “for”
Choose the correct answers:
- My friends and I __________ (were, have been, had been) high school classmates for four years.
- Now, we __________ (are, have been, had been) college classmates for one year. We all enjoy college.
- We hope that we __________ (will work, work, have worked) together for at least two years after college graduation.
Explain:
“For” is used to indicate the duration of time. With present perfect, the action/situation started in the past, continues till the present, and may continue into the future. However, with simple past or simple future, it refers only to the past or future, not including the present.
- In Sentence #1, four years in the past
- In Sentence #2, We became college classmates one year ago, and we are still classmates now. We may still be college classmates next year.
- In Sentence #3, two years in the future
Review:
My neighbors __________ (lived, have lived, had lived) next door to me for ten years. Now they live in New York. Their house __________ (is, was, has been) on the market for six months. They hope to sell it soon. My old neighbors __________ (live, lived, have lived) in their new house in New York for half a year now.
Answers:
were; have been; will work
lived; has been; have lived
