AAAbdelkriem AcademyEducate Me Up

English Course · Level 3 (B1) · Week 1 of 12

Working Life

Grammar: Present perfect continuous · for / since · How long…?

This week's plan

DayLearnListen / WatchPractise
Day 1Words: Jobs and roles · Sentences 1–2BBC 6 Minute Grammar: “How to use the present perfect continuous tense” (podcast)Exercise 1
Day 2Words: Career collocations · Sentences 3–4BBC Learning English for Work: “Office English: Describing your job” (podcast)Exercise 2
Day 3Words: At work · Sentences 5–6British Council: “Work–life balance” (listening)Exercise 3
Day 4Words: Phrasal verbs for work · Sentences 7–8BBC 6 Minute English: “Are you unhappy at work?” (podcast)
+ British Council: “Present perfect simple and continuous” (grammar)		Exercise 4
Day 5Words: Time expressions · Sentences 9–10British Council: “A team meeting about diversity” (listening)Write & Speak
Day 6Review all 30 words + 10 sentencesVOA Everyday Grammar: “Have You Perfected the Perfect Tenses?” (audio)Redo mistakes
Day 7Free day ☺BBC 6 Minute English: “What is the future of work?” (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 · Jobs and roles

  • employeeموظف
  • employerصاحب العمل
  • full-time jobوظيفة بدوام كامل
  • part-time jobوظيفة بدوام جزئي / بارت تايم
  • freelancerعامل حرّ / فريلانسر
  • self-employedيعمل لحسابه الخاص

Set 2 · Career collocations

  • earn a livingيكسب عيشه / ياكل عيش
  • get promotedيحصل على ترقية / يترقّى
  • work overtimeيعمل ساعات إضافية / أوفر تايم
  • take a day offيأخذ يوم إجازة
  • run a businessيدير مشروعًا
  • meet a deadlineيُنهي العمل في الموعد المحدد

Set 3 · At work

  • salaryراتب / مرتّب
  • pay riseزيادة في الراتب
  • contractعقد
  • shiftوردية / شيفت
  • workloadحجم العمل / ضغط الشغل
  • departmentقسم / إدارة

Set 4 · Phrasal verbs for work

  • set up (a company)يؤسّس (شركة)
  • take on (staff)يُعيّن / يوظّف (موظفين)
  • carry onيستمر
  • turn down (an offer)يرفض (عرضًا)
  • hand in (your notice)يقدّم (استقالته)
  • fill in (a form)يملأ (استمارة)

Set 5 · Time expressions

  • for (two years)لمدة / منذ (سنتين)
  • since (2020)منذ (عام ٢٠٢٠)
  • How long…?منذ متى…؟ / بقالك قد إيه…؟
  • latelyمؤخرًا / الفترة دي
  • all dayطوال اليوم
  • so farحتى الآن

10 sentences to memorise

  1. 1I've been working as an accountant for six years.أعمل محاسبًا منذ ست سنوات.
  2. 2How long have you been looking for a job?منذ متى وأنت تبحث عن عمل؟
  3. 3She has been studying English since January.تدرس الإنجليزية منذ يناير.
  4. 4I'm tired because I've been working overtime all week.أنا متعب لأنني أعمل ساعات إضافية طوال الأسبوع.
  5. 5Omar set up his own business in 2021.أسّس عمر مشروعه الخاص عام ٢٠٢١.
  6. 6My brother got promoted last month, so he's earning more now.حصل أخي على ترقية الشهر الماضي، لذلك يكسب أكثر الآن.
  7. 7We've been waiting for the manager for half an hour.ننتظر المدير منذ نصف ساعة.
  8. 8I work part-time, so I can look after my children in the afternoon.أعمل بدوام جزئي، لذلك أستطيع رعاية أطفالي بعد الظهر.
  9. 9She turned down the job because the salary was too low.رفضت الوظيفة لأن الراتب كان منخفضًا جدًا.
  10. 10What have you been doing lately? — I've been learning to code.ماذا كنت تفعل مؤخرًا؟ — كنت أتعلم البرمجة.

Grammar: Present perfect continuous · for / since · How long…?

have / has + been + verb-ing = an action that started in the past and is still going on now (or has just stopped).

for + a period of time (for three years) · since + a starting point (since 2019) · How long have you been…?

في العربية نقول «أنا أعمل هنا منذ خمس سنوات» بالمضارع، فيقول كثير من المتعلمين: ✗ I am working here since five years. لكن الإنجليزية تستخدم هنا المضارع التام المستمر: ✓ I have been working here for five years. واستخدم for مع المدة (لمدة / بقاله…) و since مع نقطة البداية (منذ يناير، منذ ٢٠٢٠). والسؤال «بقالك قد إيه…؟» = How long have you been…?

PositiveNegativeQuestion
I / You / We / They have been working. He / She has been working.I haven't been sleeping well. She hasn't been feeling well.Have you been waiting long? How long has she been working here?
for + a periodsince + a starting point
for ten minutes · for two years · for a long timesince 9 o'clock · since 2019 · since I was a child

✗ I am working here since 2020. ✓ I have been working here since 2020.

State verbs (know, like, want, have = own) use the present perfect simple: I've known Mona for ten years (not I've been knowing).

Use it for an action that has just stopped when you can see the result: Your eyes are red! — I've been working on the computer all day.

Exercises

Exercise 1 · Complete with for or since.

  1. 1) She has been waiting ___ twenty minutes.
  2. 2) I've been living in Giza ___ 2015.
  3. 3) They've been working here ___ March.
  4. 4) It has been raining ___ this morning.
  5. 5) We've been learning English ___ three months.
  6. 6) Mona has been teaching ___ a long time.
  7. 7) He has been driving ___ he was eighteen.
  8. 8) I've been reading this book ___ a week.
Show the answers
1) for 2) since 3) since 4) since 5) for 6) for 7) since 8) for

Exercise 2 · Complete with the present perfect continuous.

  1. 1) I ___ (work) on this report all morning.
  2. 2) How long ___ you ___ (study) English?
  3. 3) She ___ (not feel) well lately.
  4. 4) They ___ (look) for a new flat since June.
  5. 5) Ahmed ___ (run) — that's why he's so hot.
  6. 6) What ___ you ___ (do) since you left university?
Show the answers
1) have been working 2) have … been studying 3) hasn't been feeling 4) have been looking 5) has been running 6) have … been doing

Exercise 3 · Correct the mistake.

  1. 1) I am working here since 2019.
  2. 2) How long are you waiting?
  3. 3) She has been knowing him for years.
  4. 4) We have been living in Cairo since five years.
  5. 5) He have been working overtime.
Show the answers
1) I have been working here since 2019. / I have worked here since 2019. 2) How long have you been waiting? 3) She has known him for years. 4) We have been living in Cairo for five years. / We have lived in Cairo for five years. 5) He has been working overtime.

Exercise 4 · Translate into English.

  1. 1) منذ متى وأنت تعمل في هذه الشركة؟
  2. 2) أبحث عن وظيفة منذ ثلاثة أشهر.
  3. 3) رفض أخي العرض لأن الراتب كان منخفضًا.
  4. 4) أنا متعب لأنني أعمل طوال اليوم.
Show the answers
1) How long have you been working for this company? / How long have you been working at / in this company? / How long have you worked for this company? 2) I've been looking for a job for three months. / I have been looking for work for three months. 3) My brother turned down the offer because the salary was low. / My brother refused the offer because the salary was low. 4) I'm tired because I've been working all day. / I am tired because I have been working all day long.

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

Write & Speak

Write & Speak — “My working life”: write 120–150 words about your job (or the job you want). Say how long you have been doing it, what you have been doing lately, and what you like and don't like about it. Then record yourself reading it and check every for and since.

Example: My name is Mona and I'm an accountant. I have been working for a small software company in New Cairo for four years. Before that, I worked part-time in a bank while I was studying at university. My job is quite interesting, but the workload is heavy. Every month we have to meet tight deadlines, so I sometimes work overtime. Lately I have been learning a new accounting program, and I have been taking an online English course in the evenings, because our company has started working with clients in Dubai and London. I get on well with my colleagues, and my manager is very fair. Last year I got a pay rise, and I hope to get promoted soon. One day, I would like to set up my own business and take on two or three young accountants.