By Present perfect, Grammar

In school I was taught that in BE you use the simple past for an action happened in a finished time in the past and the present perfect for a time period that didn’t end yet. Exa.: Yesterday I went there twice. Today I’ve gone there once. What about AE? Is it the same rule? Please I’d like to...

Hello, Hoa Thai. As always, it's been interesting to read through your post! «The issue we have been dealing with here boils down to one question – “In one sentence, grammatically and semantically, could we use both simple past and present perfect for one item?”» I wouldn't say so,...

Dear all, For whatever its worth – Here is my opinion as I promised to deliver: The issue we have been dealing with here boils down to one question – “In one sentence, grammatically and semantically, could we use both simple past and present perfect for one item?” Evidently, the...

Ant_222 wrote: “What was the last movie you have seen?” Using your logic, it does seem correct, but somehow I can't accept it. Hi Ant, Your instinct and your experiences guide you well! However, I think you and Goodman could have read me wrong. I am not trying to advocate the use or...

Hello Goodman, You are really THE BRAVE ONE! – Thank you for sharing your words. Without yours, I thought maybe I trespassed some secret ground or people might have felt the answer is so obvious not worth spending more time for a further discussion. The reason I explore this...

Grammar Geek wrote: Because with words like "should" - realize that how English is used will vary, without one being wrong and one being right. It seems that Americans are more likely to use simple past when either would do, but the present perfect is alive and well. So, that said, where have...

Sorry Cali for using the wrong pronoun. Thanks Grammar. So my discourse grammar thing was not quite right and both simple past and past perfect can be used depending on whether we know when or whether it was pretty recent or relevant. It's all about how we percieve the distance and relevance...

... her his help. <<Are the books we ordered/have ordered used by any other university here? Simple past or present perfect or both with different meanings? It seems to me that discourse grammar forces the use of "have ordered" because the question is in the present and the...

Hi Hoa Thai, Obviously, we have different views in the specific use present perfect. To me "what was the last movie " just sounds unnatural. If the context is about a movie, I would just simple say "what was the last movie you saw?". If you had seen it, it already took place. No need to express...

Cali has always given lucid explanations and I am very indebted to her help. I have a question here not so much about sentence level but about discourse level. First, look at this sentence: Are the books we ordered/have ordered used by any other university here? Simple past or present...