By Present tenses, Constructions

What do these ones mean? Correct me if I'm wrong. 1. What are some of the questions that are on the test? (Both are in present tense, questions are still on the test and the test is still on.)2. What were some of the questions that are on the test? (With 'were' here it means at the time you did...

Speakers of British English have a very strong preference for 'already' with the perfect tenses to the exclusion of the simple past. (But check with a speaker of BrE to be sure.) Americans use 'already' quite freely with the perfect tenses and the simple past. "I already saw that movie". ...

Anonymous wrote: The 'got' in these constructions is part of the present tense of have NOT the present perfect of 'get' That seems a slightly strange statement, Anon. I don't quite get it. MrP

The 'have' and 'have got' constructions mean exactly the same in the meaning of possession (e.g as in I have (got) a book). They can also be used for obligations (I have (got) to wash the dishes) and there they have a slightly negative connotation. The 'got' in these constructions is part of the...

I am puzzled about the issues of tenses in report writing: I am doing a training report which describes what I did over the last three months. Normally, I use past tense to in the report because what I mentioned in the report "has happened" However, there is a situation which is difficult...

Hello, Max! Here you can use both constructions. Since it's in the present tense, maybe it's better to use the -ing form (lucky to be reading), it implies you are actually reading it as you express your feeling of being lucky. On the other hand, if you said "I was lucky", or "I'll be lucky",...

I don't oppose to anita's answer, though I'd say "X has belonged to Y since 2002" is a present perfect sentence rather than a past perfect one. However, I am not sure about whether we can say "X belongs to Y since 2002" is completely wrong. It is true 'since' is usually used in perfect and past...

JT: Using would have made the conditional fall somwhere on a scale of more improbable to impossible in the speaker's mind. MrP: I would be interested to hear your description of this distinct nuance. JT: allows for a greater possibility; illustrates that the speaker is saying that "the...

Munchun The past tense of "wish" is the only one that I know for the politeness past tense other than that "wonder". Some times English speakers use it in a sense of the present tense. An example is "Did you wish me to dance with you? If you like it, I'll do" The question you newly raised is...

First, let me make a few observations. 1. All wishes are counterfactual. It makes no sense to wish for what you already have. The Queen of England does not say, "I wish I were the Queen of England". If I am six feet tall, I do not say, "I wish I were six feet tall". So every wish is a wish...