Vincent Teo  +  464510 Tue, 15 Jan 08 01:50 PM Can I say, (a) The radio was broken since last month. (b) The radio has broken last month.      The radio has broken just now. Vincent Teo Joined on Sat, Mar 31 2007 Veteran Member 5,850

	Yankee  +  464520 Tue, 15 Jan 08 02:17 PM To be honest, I wouldn't say any of those sentences, VT.  I might say these: (a) The radio has been broken since last month. (b) The radio broke last month.      The radio broke just now. Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,774 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	nona the brit  +  464572 Tue, 15 Jan 08 03:32 PM There might be a few contexts where you could use 3 in speech, but 1 and 2 are completely wrong. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,773 The name says it all.

	Vincent Teo  +  465447 Thu, 17 Jan 08 01:52 PM Can I say, (a) The radio was broken yesterday / last week. (b) The radio is broken just now / now. (c) The radio had broken yesterday / just now / last week. (d) The radio has broken last week / now / just now. Vincent Teo

	Yankee  +  465465 Thu, 17 Jan 08 02:30 PM  Vincent Teo wrote: Can I say, (a) The radio was broken yesterday / last week. Yes, and I'd say the word 'broken' is used as an adjective. (b) The radio is broken just now / now. 'Now' is OK, but 'just now' would only work if it is used to mean 'at this particular moment' rather than 'just a moment ago'.  However, this would be a very unusual sentence for 'just now' with the meaning 'at this particular moment'. (c) The radio had broken yesterday / just now / last week. No, there is no justification for the use of the past perfect (had broken). Use the simple past tense of the verb 'break' (broke).  (d) The radio has broken last week / now / just now. No, use the simple past tense of 'break' with 'last week' and 'just now' and the simple present tense of 'be' (along with the adjective 'broken') with the word 'now'.  In some contexts, the present perfect (has broken) would be OK with 'now'. Yankee Simple Present, Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Past Perfect, Simple Past, Present Perfect, Past Tenses

	Vincent Teo  +  465471 Thu, 17 Jan 08 02:45 PM Thanks for you explanation. But, I'm not very clear your explanation for (b). Can you tell me more detail? Vincent Teo

	Yankee  +  465476 Thu, 17 Jan 08 02:58 PM The expression 'just now' has two different meanings.  When it is used to mean "at this particular moment", it is usually a reference to something that is only temporarily true /something that is currently true, but only for a very limited time. For example, if you call me and ask me to go shopping with you now, I might tell you that I am in the middle of cooking dinner, so I can't go anywhere "just now" (but probably I will be able to go in with you an hour or two from now). . Yankee

	Vincent Teo  +  465480 Thu, 17 Jan 08 03:07 PM Thanks, but what does it mean: there is no justification for the use of the past perfect (had broken). ? Can you explain to me? thanks!! Vincent Teo Past Perfect