AAAbdelkriem AcademyEducate Me Up

English Course · Level 2 (A2) · Week 5 of 12

Life Experiences

Grammar: Present perfect for experiences · ever / never · been / gone

This week's plan

DayLearnListen / WatchPractise
Day 1Words: Past participles 1 · Sentences 1–2engVid (Alex): “21 Common Present Perfect Questions in English” (video)Exercise 1
Day 2Words: Past participles 2 · Sentences 3–4engVid (Alex): “6 Present Perfect Mistakes (that Almost Everyone Makes)” (video)Exercise 2
Day 3Words: Adventures · Sentences 5–6BBC 6 Minute Grammar: “The present perfect with ‘ever’ and ‘never’” (podcast)Exercise 3
Day 4Words: How was it? · Sentences 7–8Learn English with Bob the Canadian: “Free English Class! Topic: Describing Situations and Experiences!” (podcast)
+ BBC Learning English Grammar: “Highs and lows” (podcast)		Exercise 4
Day 5Words: Asking about experiences · Sentences 9–10engVid (James): “How to use W5 questions for more interesting conversations” (video)Write & Speak
Day 6Review all 30 words + 10 sentencesBBC 6 Minute English: “Have you ever seen a whale?” (podcast)Redo mistakes
Day 7Free day ☺BBC Learning English Stories: “Our Stories: Meeting famous people” (podcast)Tick your tracker

30 minutes a day: review, learn, listen, practise, speak. Day 7 is a free day. Tap a resource to find it.

30 words to learn

Set 1 · Past participles 1

  • be → was / were → beenيكون (been to = ذهب إلى مكان وعاد)
  • go → went → goneيذهب (gone = ذهب وما زال هناك)
  • see → saw → seenرأى
  • eat → ate → eatenأكل
  • try → tried → triedجرّب
  • win → won → wonفاز / كسب

Set 2 · Past participles 2

  • fly → flew → flownطار / سافر بالطائرة
  • ride → rode → riddenركب (حصانًا / جملًا / دراجة)
  • swim → swam → swumسبح
  • meet → met → metقابل
  • lose → lost → lostفقد / خسر
  • break → broke → brokenكسر

Set 3 · Adventures

  • abroadفي الخارج / بَرّه البلد
  • ride a camelيركب جملًا
  • hot-air balloonمنطاد
  • go divingيمارس الغوص
  • climb a mountainيتسلق جبلًا
  • desert safariرحلة سفاري في الصحراء

Set 4 · How was it?

  • unforgettableلا يُنسى
  • frighteningمخيف
  • excitingمثير / ممتع جدًا
  • disappointingمخيّب للآمال
  • once in a lifetimeمرة في العمر
  • nervousمتوتر / قلقان

Set 5 · Asking about experiences

  • Have you ever …?هل سبق لك أن …؟
  • I've never …لم يسبق لي أن …
  • onceمرة واحدة
  • several timesعدة مرات
  • in my lifeفي حياتي
  • beforeمن قبل

10 sentences to memorise

  1. 1Have you ever been to Aswan?هل سبق لك أن ذهبت إلى أسوان؟
  2. 2Yes, I have. I've been there twice.نعم، سبق لي ذلك. ذهبت إلى هناك مرتين.
  3. 3I've never flown in a plane.لم يسبق لي أن سافرت بالطائرة.
  4. 4Have you ever tried sushi? — No, never.هل سبق لك أن جربت السوشي؟ — لا، أبدًا.
  5. 5My father has ridden a camel many times.ركب أبي الجمل مرات كثيرة.
  6. 6Mona has been to Dubai, but she has never been to Europe.سبق لمنى أن ذهبت إلى دبي، لكنها لم تذهب إلى أوروبا قط.
  7. 7We went on a desert safari last year. It was unforgettable.ذهبنا في رحلة سفاري صحراوية العام الماضي. كانت رحلة لا تُنسى.
  8. 8This is the most exciting thing I've ever done.هذا أكثر شيء مثير فعلته في حياتي.
  9. 9Have you ever lost your passport?هل سبق لك أن فقدت جواز سفرك؟
  10. 10Omar has gone to Alexandria. He's coming back on Sunday.ذهب عمر إلى الإسكندرية (وهو هناك الآن). سيعود يوم الأحد.

Grammar: Present perfect for experiences · ever / never · been / gone

Present perfect = have / has + past participle (been, seen, eaten, tried …)

Use it for life experiences when we don't say when: I've visited Luxor. · Have you ever ridden a camel? · She's never tried sushi.

When you say WHEN, use the past simple: I visited Luxor in 2023.

لا يوجد في العربية زمن مثل present perfect؛ فنقول «زرت الأقصر» سواء ذكرنا الوقت أم لم نذكره. في الإنجليزية: التجربة في حياتك بدون وقت محدد = have / has + التصريف الثالث، ومع ذكر الوقت (last year, in 2020) = الماضي البسيط. أخطاء شائعة: Did you ever …? بدل Have you ever …?، و I have went بدل I have gone، و I have been to Luxor last year ✗.

PositiveNegativeQuestionShort answer
I / You / We / They have ('ve) seen it.I haven't seen it. / I've never seen it.Have you ever seen it?Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
He / She has ('s) seen it.He hasn't seen it. / He's never seen it.Has she ever seen it?Yes, she has. / No, she hasn't.
beengone
He has been to Luxor. = He went there and came back.He has gone to Luxor. = He is there now.

Regular verbs: the past participle = the past simple (visit → visited → visited). Irregular verbs: learn the third form (see → saw → seen).

ever goes before the participle in questions (Have you ever eaten …?). never goes before the participle (I've never eaten …) — don't use not with never.

Exercises

Exercise 1 · Write the past participle.

  1. 1) go
  2. 2) see
  3. 3) eat
  4. 4) fly
  5. 5) win
  6. 6) ride
  7. 7) break
  8. 8) try
Show the answers
1) gone 2) seen 3) eaten 4) flown 5) won 6) ridden 7) broken 8) tried

Exercise 2 · Complete with the present perfect.

  1. 1) ___ you ever ___ (eat) feteer meshaltet?
  2. 2) I ___ never ___ (ride) a horse.
  3. 3) My sister ___ (visit) Paris twice.
  4. 4) ___ Omar ever ___ (win) a prize?
  5. 5) We ___ never ___ (see) snow.
  6. 6) She ___ (be) to Siwa three times.
Show the answers
1) Have … eaten 2) have ('ve) … ridden 3) has ('s) visited 4) Has … won 5) have ('ve) … seen 6) has ('s) been

Exercise 3 · Present perfect or past simple? Choose.

  1. 1) I (have been / went) to Hurghada last summer.
  2. 2) (Did you ever try / Have you ever tried) diving?
  3. 3) She (lost / has lost) her phone two days ago.
  4. 4) I (have never flown / never flew) in a hot-air balloon.
  5. 5) We (have met / met) a famous actor at the airport in 2019.
  6. 6) My brother (has broken / broke) his arm three times in his life.
Show the answers
1) went 2) Have you ever tried 3) lost 4) have never flown 5) met 6) has broken

Exercise 4 · Translate into English.

  1. 1) هل سبق لك أن زرت الأقصر؟
  2. 2) لم يسبق لي أن ركبت منطادًا.
  3. 3) سافرت أختي إلى الخارج مرات كثيرة.
  4. 4) هذا أفضل فيلم شاهدته في حياتي.
Show the answers
1) Have you ever been to (visited) Luxor? 2) I've never flown (been) in a hot-air balloon. 3) My sister has travelled (been) abroad many times. 4) This is the best film I've ever seen.

Do each exercise in pencil first, then open the answers to check.

Write & Speak

Write & Speak — “Things I've done”: write 80–100 words about your life experiences: three things you have done and two things you have never done but want to do. For one experience, say when it happened and how it was (past simple). Then ask a friend five “Have you ever …?” questions.

Example: I have done some exciting things in my life. I've been to Aswan twice and I've ridden a camel near the Pyramids. I've also climbed Mount Sinai. I did it in 2021 with my friends. We started at midnight and watched the sunrise from the top. It was hard, but it was unforgettable. However, I've never flown in a plane and I've never been abroad. I'd love to visit Turkey one day. I've also never tried diving, but I want to try it in Dahab next summer.