Tonight’s song is sung in every stadium in the world when a team wins. But Freddie Mercury wrote it for a different reason.
Learn from Songs · Unit 6: The perfect aspect · B1
We Are the Champions
The greatest stadium anthem of all: the present perfect for results and achievements (We’ve won! I’ve worked hard), for and since, just, and present perfect or past simple, with Marcos, captain of the relay team at the city games.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
For football?
SOPHIA
For the audience. He wanted a song that everybody could sing together. The “we” is everyone who sings it.
DEMETRIA
So we are the champions too?
Before you listen: the song
London, 1977
Queen were one of the greatest British rock bands: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. Mercury wrote “We Are the Champions” for their 1977 album News of the World. It was released with “We Will Rock You” on the other side of the single, and the two songs are still played together at sports events.
Mercury said he wrote it with the audience in mind: the “we” in the title means everyone singing. The video was filmed at a special concert for members of the Queen fan club. In 2011, a team of scientists concluded that it was the catchiest song in the history of pop music.
In the song, the singer looks back on a hard journey. He has worked hard, he has made mistakes, he has had bad days and taken criticism. But he has come through it all, and now he is a champion. And so are we.
We’ve come through it all, together.
Listen: the journey
PHILO
Listen once. Is the song only about winning? What has the singer been through before?
SOPHIA
Then listen for I’ve and we’ve. Answer Section A.
🏆 Listen to the song: “We Are the Champions” (Freddie Mercury, Queen, 1977).Watch the official live video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “We Are the Champions”, Queen.Read the lyrics →
Present perfect: results and achievements
DEMETRIA
We’ve won! I’ve worked so hard for this!
SOPHIA
have / has + past participle for a past action with a result now: I’ve lost my keys (I can’t open the door). We’ve won (we are the champions now). It’s about the present importance, not when it happened.
For, since and just
MARCOS
We’ve trained for six months. I’ve been captain since spring. We’ve just crossed the line!
SOPHIA
for + a period (for two years); since + a starting point (since 2020, since Monday); just = a very short time ago, between have and the participle.
Present perfect or past simple?
PHILO
We’ve won the cup! We won it yesterday at five o’clock.
SOPHIA
Remember: when you say when (yesterday, last year, at five o’clock), use the past simple. The present perfect is for the result, without the time.
Sophia’s comparison: the Olympic crown
SOPHIA
At Olympia, the winner was crowned with olive leaves. But the poet Pindar said the victory belonged to the whole city, and to the family and trainers too.
PHILO
And the Preacher reminds us that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
MARCOS
So the champions are always “we”, not “I”.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| have / has + past participle | a past action with a result now | We’ve won the cup! |
| for + period / since + starting point | duration up to now | for six months, since April |
| just | a very short time ago | We’ve just finished. |
| past simple + finished time | when it happened | We won it yesterday. |
| How long have you…? | asking about duration | How long have you been captain? |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Who is “we” in the title, according to Freddie Mercury?
2. What has the singer been through?
3. How does the song sound?
4. Which song was on the other side of the single?
5. Where is the song often played?
6. What did scientists say about it in 2011?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. We’ve ! (win)
8. We’ve trained six months.
9. I’ve been captain April.
10. They’ve crossed the line! (a moment ago)
11. We the cup yesterday. (win, finished time)
12. How long have you in the team? (be)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “We have won the cup last year.”
14. “I’ve been captain since April.”
15. “She has trained since six months.”
16. “They’ve just arrived.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Achievements. Tell your partner about three things you’ve achieved (I’ve learned to…, I’ve won…, I’ve finished…), then say when with the past simple.
Discuss. 1. Why do you think this song is played after every victory? 2. Is it more important to win or to take part? 3. What makes a good winner?
Write (100–120 words). My greatest achievement. Use the present perfect for the result and how long, and the past simple for the story of what happened.
Now play the gamebook: Marcos leads the relay team at the city games.Play the gamebook →