Search results for 'tag:Past perfect tag:Formal letters' matching tags 'Past perfect' and 'Formal letters'

Present Perfect / Past Simple

Ant_222 — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:25:23 GMT

Good Time of Day!

  Well, I just read the list of members online and found this:

  --
  In the past 3 days, the most popular thread for  everyone  has
  been "Sample of formal letter writing". The post with the most
  views is "Live chat room". The most  replies  _were_  made  to
  "GUESS MY WORD"
  --

  The first two sentences are in a present tense while the  last
  one uses Past Simple. What's the reason?

Thanks in advance,
Anton

Re: This is the first time Hamas is running candidates for parliament.

Aperisic — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 17:43:17 GMT

Kooyeen wrote:

I was told to use the present or past perfect in those situations, but I often find the present continuous (even in newspapers).

Kim O'Donnel: This is the first time I'm hearing a negative report.

He is surprised. And he says that hearing reports is happening frequently in his profession.

So when can I use the present continuous?

Sorry, I am not trying to be rude here, but you probably still cannot because you do not feel even when others use it why they use it.

this is the second post I'm writing in this thread

You can if one, some or all these conditions are met and you want to stress it (or them)

it is not a formal letter or post
you are excited or you hate or have some other strong feeling about writing posts (surprised maybe)
this is not going to be your last post written
you expect something after you finish writing
you want to tell us more later about the post you are writing
you want to make difference between writing it and finishing it
you want to say that you are just about the beginning of the post
â¦

Do not be confused. Nobody said about the grammar. Please, use the present perfect, always. This is just the explanation why people or journalists use it: to express excitement, joyâ¦

If you feel sometimes that way you can use the present continuous. But not before you feel this intention when you read it. Grammatically the rule says the present perfect but when you sell the news - who cares about the grammar? It is an effect that is important far more. And that is why the present continuous is used. It is an exception that is permissible within a style. You'll find many of these in many forms.

Donât let them confuse you. If you do not feel that the present continuous should be there - do not use it - but now you understand better, I hope, what it means when you read it.

[People who are born with English as their mother tongue are not only the users but also the owners of the language. They all are above the grammar. If sufficiently many of them feel that something is not appropriate or that something is better or useful, the grammar will change.]

Re: Two days ago

Mister Micawber — Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:55:14 GMT

Morning, Non Con--

'Better'? I would probably use the past perfect here if I were writing a thesis, a careful formal letter, or a piece of literature (and I think I would be overconservative in doing so). What would I say if I were talking about my wierd friend, Jack? 'Jack sang in the park again this morning-- he did it yesterday too-- and the day before!' Or something like that. I think the neutral use sits with the simple past.

Points to consider:

(1) there is a noun phrase clearly indicating the past in the past ('the two previous days')
(2) there is, however, no conjunction indicating the temporal relationship ('as'?)
(3) the pragmatic reason for the clause is to indicate the continuity of his singing habit; it is not to make clear that he had finished singing on the 27th and 28th when he began on the 29th.

(1) and (3) point to the use of the simple past; (2) would encourage the use of the past perfect.

Search results for 'tag:Past perfect tag:Formal letters' matching tags 'Past perfect' and 'Formal letters'

Present Perfect / Past Simple

Re: This is the first time Hamas *is running* candidates for parliament.

Re: Two days ago

Re: This is the first time Hamas is running candidates for parliament.