http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aExpressions+tag%3aSimple+pastSearch results for 'tag:Expressions tag:Simple past' matching tags 'Expressions' and 'Simple past'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/SeenFather/gqpdk/post.htm#584130Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:26:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:584130califjimYou can t use the present perfect e g have seen in the same sentence with an expression of a definite time A before clause expresses definite time So have seen doesn t go with before You have to change have seen to saw the simple past I saw your father before I came here I saw your father before coming here CJ http://www.englishforums.com/English/MissingPhrasePlease/gnqvx/post.htm#569701Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:49:49 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:569701cliveHi Hi Would you fill in the blank with the missing phrase I am keen on finding out what verb do you mean what tense can be used I am not particulary concerned about the nature of the phrase Q What does this English expression mean A If you say that you are saying that it possible phrase than you had done First a few comments 1 You have provided no real context 2 The answerer does not appear to be really answering the question directly so his words could go in many many directions 3 The phrase and tense than you had done makes it hard to come up with anything sensible to say without dreaming up some rather contorted context 4 The Past Perfect suggests the missing phrase probably uses Simple Past You could say A If you say that you are saying that it required more work than you had done Best wishes Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/SimplePastOrPastSimple/gngww/post.htmTue, 16 Sep 2008 20:55:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:566873anonymousHi everybody Why do all the Grammar books use the expressions simple present and simple past although all the other tenses start with the tense marker and add the aspect marker then present progressive present perfect present perfect progressive past progressive past perfect past perfect progressive Couldn t it be more logical to then say present simple and past simple Yours D S Elfershttp://www.englishforums.com/English/SimplePastOrPastSimple/gngwd/post.htmTue, 16 Sep 2008 20:47:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:566868anonymousHi everybody I m a teacher of English at a German Grammar School and after 12 years of experience I m still wondering about the following puzzle Why do all the Grammar books stick to the confusing expressions simple past and simple present although it seems quite more logical to say past simple and present simple I really prefer these expressions in my classes because all the other tenses just start with the tense marker and go on with the aspect marker present progressive present perfect past progressive past perfect Can I go on using my preferable expressions Yours D S Elfershttp://www.englishforums.com/English/WouldHaveHad/3/gnzrd/Post.htm#566443Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:23:38 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:566443califjim quote user Kooyeen You never taught me those conditionals quote Maybe I thought you were better off not knowing Or maybe you didn t ask quote user Kooyeen use the simple past instead of the subjunctive formed with the past perfect in informal and casual English quote No While it s true that people do often use the indicative for the subjunctive that is not at issue here These are truly indicative all the way through There is nothing subjunctive about them The simple past in the if clause is truly past in time not a present hypothesis Usually both clauses are in the past If you got there at 6 you were way too early I ll bet no one was there If it was not OK with him for me to take the books he certainly didn t show it If the suspect was at the Blue Gardenia at 8 00 he wasn t in the vicinity of the crime Someone else must be the criminal The teacher was impossible to please If you said grammatical he showed it was ungrammatical If you said ungrammatical he proved it was grammatical You couldn t win If you took the course you probably hated it as much as I did There s one thing you can be sure of If a hurricane passed through that area there was damage No doubt about it It was well known in our town If Brian was invited to a party he got drunk and if he got drunk there was trouble Do you remember how Barney got so fat that year If it was in the fridge he ate it no matter what it was Less formally many of the main clauses above could have been said with would have with hardly any change in meaning e g If it was in the fridge he would have eaten it Or even just would If it was in the fridge he would eat it These use the would of habit _____ quote If he saw the bridge through the fog it would have been a miracle I d take the above example as the backshifted version of If he sees the bridge through the fog it would be a miracle and so saw should be taken as a simple past tense with the same meaning as the subjunctive had seen If he saw the bridge but I don t think he did it would have been a miracle quote Yes Your backshift interpretation seems right to me But I don t see this as necessarily subjunctive It comes off as a sort of borderline case to my ear CJ PS would have baked you a cake is the usual expression http://www.englishforums.com/English/IngVerb/gmmdl/post.htm#563612Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:41:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:563612califjim quote user mbouti 1 I am used to working hard er 2 I used to work hard er quote These are two different grammatical patterns with two different meanings 1 be used to ing means be accustomed to ing I am used to working hard talks about your ablity to work hard because you have worked hard so often before It suggests that you are comfortable in a situation where you are working hard It suggests that working hard comes easily and naturally to you You can use this expression in all the tenses I am used to working hard I was used to working hard I will be used to working hard I have been used to working hard And so on For this idiom you must have a form of the verb to be followed by the exact words used to ________ 2 used to means regularly or habitually in the past I used to work hard talks about a period of time in the past when you had the habit of working hard You cannot change the tense of this expression It is always in the simple past used to didn t use to etc ________Examples I have drunk wine quite often I didn t like it at first but now I do I have become accustomed to it Now I am used to drinking wine Years ago I was not very good at playing the guitar I had not had much practice Playing the guitar had not yet become a natural and comfortable habit for me I was not used to playing the guitar If I practice skiing every day I think I will be used to skiing by December That is I believe that skiing will come naturally to me by then ___ When Karen was a child she used to live one block from school It was her habit to walk to school every day That is she used to walk to school every day You look familiar Didn t you use to work at IBM Wasn t working at IBM something that you did regularly during some period of time in the past I used to walk five miles a day There was a period of time in the past when I had the habit of walking five miles every day Now I don t walk more than one mile a day Mike didn t use to like children until he became a father ___ lt lt lt Can I say I am used to work harder amp I used to working hard gt gt gt No No No The idiom that contains a form of to be am is are was were must have the ing The idiom that does not contain a form of to be must not have the ing CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/FilipinismsFilipinoismsRingBell/glngp/post.htm#559043Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:07:37 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:559043mister micawber I would consider this exercise damagingly prescriptive most are neither uniquely Filipino nor wrong However and my comments refer to AmE BrE 1 Free subscription of Free subscription to prepo issue AmE BrE uses the collocation subscribe to 2 Can I speak with May I speak with To sound more polite ask permission Both OK Can is more casual but just as common 3 Come again I m sorry I didn t get quite get that Excuse me I m sorry would you please say that again English trainers discourage agents to use this because they say that it could mean cum again The English trainers are nuts Come again is common and casual Your examples in parentheses are overly formal for most situations 4 It s for free It s free It s free of charge We re sending it to you for free Filipinos have been used to saying It s for free How do I say that it should be avoided What makes it wrong Nothing makes it wrong it s fine 5 Hold your line For awhile Would you mind if I put you on hold for a second Please hold hold your line is absurd any comment what about for awhile I agree that Hold your line is not natural in AmE BrE Please hold or Could you hold please is the usual 6 Open close the light computer Turn on off the light TV computer how do I explain this it sounds like opening closing the tv for repair This seems to be a direct translation from Spanish Tagalog At least it is the same error that Japanese make 7 Do you mind waiting Yes I ll wait No not at all No I don t mind at all YES is the issue wrong response any other feedback Yes is logically wrong but common when the tag e g I ll wait is also present speakers seldom have the opportunity to stop and think about the Do you mind form and this includes native AmE BrE speakers 8 Anything Is there anything I can do for you How may I help you fragmented seems vague Yes it seems vague and fragmentary out of context 9 I ll ask her an apology I ll apologize to her I should make an apology this sounds illogical Not a natural AmE BrE formation 10 We take lunch We eat lunch We have lunch every Sunday Take seems to be an occasional replacement in this context in many Englishes It is not an egregious variation 11 We accept repairs This shop repairs cars cellphones etc Seems fine to me 12 We accept painting jobs This shop does painting jobs Quite common 13 Tuck out Untuck Odd 14 He was salvaged He was assassinated A new meaning for the word for me and it is not in the dictionary Perhaps some confusion with savaged 15 She delivered her baby yesterday She had her baby yesterday Dr Smith delivered her baby This is fine From the dictionary to give birth to She delivered twins at 4 a m 16 Xerox Photocopy Very common in AmE at least Among my generation to xerox is perhaps more usual than to photocopy 17 Oppositor Opposition member A new word for me Not a bad formation but perhaps difficult to understand by foreigners 18 Hand carry Carry on luggage A new word but reasonable 19 It s traffic today Traffic is heavy It seems vague and fragmentary 20 Senatoriable Senatorial candidate Odder than 1721 At around 2pm At about 2pm around is Am about is Brit Very common in AmE it also appears with this meaning in the Cambridge dictionary 22 I failed in Accent training I failed accent training A common expression though I prefer your alternative 23 We were under Mr Johnson Mr Johnson was our teacher Filipinos are used to saying That student is under my class so this filipinism has started In context We were under Mr Johnson sounds fine while That student is under my class does not 24 My brother is taking up law My brother is taking law My brother is studying law Take up is common but means the overall intention not just the matriculation 25 Where are you studying Where do you go to school What school do you go to Where are you studying is fine 26 Pass by my office before you go Drop by my office before you go Brit Am phrasal Not AmE at least Stop by or Drop by 27 We have one participant only We only have one participant should they say only one participant The only can go in several places at the end is one of those places 28 I talked to her already I already talked to her I need help on adverb order This confuses all Filipinos and me too Where should adverbs be placed Adverbs are relatively variable in their placement In this case both are all OK More interesting is that AmE uses simple past more consistently with yet and already than does BrE which prefers the perfect aspect 29 Will you be at the office at 7am Actually Will you be at the office at 7am Yes Not AmE BrE30 Actually I like Jennifer Aniston I like Jennifer Aniston Actually basically has become Filipinos expressions I wouldn t say that it is unique to Filipinos many AmE speakers develop the habit in various contexts Too much is too much however 31 As per Paul all request forms should be signed by him As per Paul s instructions all request forms should be signed by him This is common bizspeak throughout the English speaking world 32 Wanted Sewer Wanted Tailor or seamstress Yes it is certainly open to misinterpretation But seamstress is sexist 33 Take home Take it home To go For take out Take home food seems like a regional variant of take out food 34 I felt kind of tired I felt rather tired Kind of is very common in informal AmE 35 As to the project About the project A common formality in most Englishes 36 Thank you for that this one Thank you for the information Thank you I need to send this in a few minutes and I still couldn t think of an explanation Phrasing sounds awkward to me But besides getting straight to the point why did for that this one make it wrong One is wrongly used information is uncountable 37 I do love playing basketball volleyball I love playing basketball volleyball this may sound right depending on the flow of the conversation right e g you don t love playing No I do You are correct This is called the emphatic do 38 Currently I live in Quezon City right now Currently I live in Quezon City I live in Quezon City redundant now and currently Yes redundant 39 Actually I like Microsoft Symantec and Adobe I like Microsoft Symantec and Adobe The comma is necessary if Microsoft and Symantec are different softwares 40 As per Mon all request forms should be signed by him As per Paul s instructions all request forms should be signed by him This is the same as 31 and OK 41 I do apologize I apologize This is fine indeed It is the same as 37 and is more polite than your bracketed alternative http://www.englishforums.com/English/Tenses/gkwgg/post.htm#552676Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:58:39 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:552676hexfumes1Cheers Optilang But you know we can use the expression for with simple past tense as well if the action took place for a period in the past What do you think http://www.englishforums.com/English/StayBack/gkzbq/post.htm#551734Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:29:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:551734avangi quote user New2grammar Though there s nothing much she can do to help talking to her does help make me feel better She has been busy organizing a teambuilding event for her team A few weeks ago she went to China to check out a hotel It was pretty cheesy she said But since they were on a budget she took it Yesterday she had to stay back until almost midnight to prepare for the event She has been really busy not only with the teambuilding but also with administration administrative work that a colleague of her hers has passed to her after joining the sales team At times I pity her She rarely gets off at 6 these days I admire her determination though she complains to me from time to time quote You make us struggle to figure out what your problem is After a while we get the idea that maybe you feel sorry for yourself because she s so busy she neglects you Or is your problem that you feel guilty because you can t do anything to help lighten her load I think it would require a lot of skill to say nothing she can do to help HELP WITH WHAT and then gradually reveal what the problem is they were on a budget her team she took it the hotel stay back not a US expression work over stay over work late they kept me over etc has passed to her after joining the sales team This is probably okay but I prefer had passed Passing and joining are both acts which have been completed at some past time prior to her having been really busy with administrative work I m too tired for this You have two present perfect tenses has passed and has been busy One was completed before the other Both were preceded by the joining I guess that s okay but had passed to her sounds better to my ear I know there s no simple past to reference the past perfect Oh well A http://www.englishforums.com/English/PresentPerfectSimplePastSince-Clause/3/gjhmx/Post.htm#547584Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:57:22 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:547584mr wordyI m afraid Marius that you are never going to persuade me that It s years since I ve had a cigarette and similar expressions are in any way exceptional unusual or strange In my experience this form of wording is routinely and quite naturally used by large numbers of native speakers at all levels of language proficiency It s possible that there may be regional differences of course and we ve noted that some individual speakers object to them