# I've visited Venice

Aim of this lesson: Talk about hobbies and your family and practice using the present perfect to talk about experiences.
Chloe and Michael are students at university in Manchester. They're talking about places that they went to in the past.

## Dialogue

(listen)
| Chloe | Have you ever been to Venice? |
| Michael | No, I've never been there. What's it like? |
| Chloe | It was great, but I went there with my aunt and cousins so I didn't have a lot of free time. |
| Michael | Did you go on a gondola? |
| Chloe | No, but I wanted to! Where have you been that was exciting? |
| Michael | I've been to South Africa. In South Africa we went sailing, which was fantastic. |

## Grammar Focus - Present Perfect

* I have visited Venice.
Do we know when I visited Venice? Do we know how many times I visited Venice?
The Present Perfect is a very commonly used form in English. It is very important to learn how this form is used.

### Present Perfect

English for B2 students Grammar • Unit 3
Present Perfect :
| | Form | Example |
| + positive sentences | SUBJECT + HAVE / HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE | I have seen The Lord of the Rings. |
| - negative sentences | SUBJECT + HAVEN'T / HASN'T + PAST PARTICIPLE | I haven't seen The Lord of the Rings. |
| ? questions | HAVE / HAS + SUBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE ? | Have you seen The Lord of the Rings? |
| Also for negative sentences we can use have / has + never + past participle - I have never seen The Lord of the Rings. |||
| For questions we often ask Have you ever if we want people to tell us about an experience at ANY time in their life - Have you ever seen the Lord of the Rings? |||
| Remember that the present perfect is only used in situations where we don't know WHEN it happened - I went to France last year NOT I have been to France last year. |||

## Vocabulary - Family

The picture of Frodo Baggins' family tree (from the Lord of the Rings films) shows his family.
English for B2 students Vocabulary • Unit 3
Adjectives & Prepositions :
| Relation to Frodo | Name |
| Frodo's father | Drogo Baggins |
| Frodo's mother | Primula Brandybuck |
| Frodo's aunt (auntie) | Dora Baggins |
| Frodo's uncle | Dudo Baggins |
| Frodo's grandfather | Fosco Baggins |
| Frodo's grandmother | Ruby Bolger |
| Dora Baggins' nephew | Frodo |
| Fosco Baggins' grandson | Frodo |
| Drogo Baggins' son | Frodo |

## Speaking Practice

Try to practice asking and answering these questions in pairs. If you're working on your own then write your answers.
* How big is your family? Do you have many brothers, sisters, aunts, or uncles?
* Have you ever been on vacation with your family? Did you like it?
* Have you ever been to see a film at the cinema more than once? When? What film was it?
* Whom are you closest to in your family? How often do you see that person?

## Exercises

Try these questions to see if you can use the present perfect correctly. The answers can be found here.
Complete the following sentences using the present perfect or past simple:
* Have you ever eaten / Did you ever eat curry?
* Last year I went / have been to Poland.
* No, I have never seen / never have seen The Lord of the Rings.
* My brother says that he haven't eaten / hasn't eaten curry.
* Did you go on vacation last summer? Yes, I have been / went to Croatia.

## Grammar Reference

For further information about present perfect and past simple see Tenses and Forms.
English for B2 students
* Aims • Unit 1 • Unit 2
• Unit 3 • Unit 4 • Unit 5
• Unit 6 • Test 1
* Unit 7 • Unit 8 • Unit 9
• Unit 10 • Unit 11 • Unit 12
• Test 2
This is the test page - the answers are not to be inserted here, but to be found here