ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: grammar concern

Mister Micawber — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:49:59 GMT

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You are printing a certificate which states a factual event in historical time. The verb tense you use has nothing to do with when you conceive, print or present the certificate. Use the simple past with the date service began and the date service finished.

Re: grammar concern

snowfalcon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:10:48 GMT

Hello,

I am the one who posed the original question (not anonymous now). Mr. Micawber, you chose "He provided service from August 2006 to August 2008". Is this necessarily wrong, "He has provided service since August 2006" ? We are printing the award in July, so, it is not a little awkward to use past tense for a line printed in the present about a term ending in the future? I am browsing through the documentation of this site, http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/tenses.html#present%20perfect.

-A

Re: grammar concern

Mister Micawber — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:55:35 GMT

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4. He provided guidance in physics from August 2006 to August 2008.

grammar concern

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:08:16 GMT

PWe are printing an award for a teacher and it's not immediately obvious where the mistake is. He has provided guidance and service from August 2006 to August 2008, but we are printing the award before his term ends. Is it present perfect progressive (has/have been)?

1. He has provided guidance in physics since his arrival in August 2006.

2. He has provided guidance in physics since he arrived in August 2006.

3. He has provided guidance in physics since he arrived in August 2006.

4. He provided guidance in physics from August 2006 to August 2008.

5. By the time he leaves in August 2008, he will have provided guidance in physics since arriving/his arrival? in August 2006.

A recommendation?

Thanks

-A