In Past simple^x, Expressions^x

Hi 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...

Hi 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...

Hi,Think of it this way.I put the phone down. The door bell did not ring sooner than that action.In other words, it rang at the same time or later.But not very much later at all, otherwise I wouldn't use this particular expression.Clive

Hi Giuseppe, and welcome!The structure you're referring to is called "inversion."Your examples fall into a singular category (that of negative/restrictive expression) which includes other expressions, such as barely, scarcely, hardly, seldom, little, never, under no circumstances,...

MrPedantic wrote: You often encounter "now" + simple past in narrative, where it denotes a reported present, e.g.Thank you MrP, yes, that is another way to use "now" with the past simple tense. But I was actually looking for more examples at the present time, not in the past. That is, "now" and...

Hi everyone, I'm back.I just posted anonymously, damn login.I said that I think it is the verb "understand" that is odd, not the structure... I don't know why. I still think "Ok, I got it now, thanks" is perfectly ok, instead.Can't you think of other examples where "now" means "this time" and it...

The expression by the time often takes the appropriate perfect tense, though it doesn't have to. The time sequence is not always relevant. (before also has this property.) I think it will probably start to rain , the theatre was already closed. CJ See also Post:281427

Biggie wrote:can anyone help me right now with some expressions in either british or american english with their meanings. not just words but expressions like...the british say here you are...and the americans say there you go. I'd start by saying that most Brits would say both 'here you are'...

CalifJim wrote:Kooyeen, Were there any other adverbs with this property (nearly always require a perfect tense in BrE)? Or just just? I'd be interested, because I think there are several. I believe already is another, for example.I was told "just, yet, already, ever, never" had to be used...

Grammarian-bot wrote:Recently I saw an ad of a multinationl company "Telenor". There was a sentenec that they repeat two or theree times in that 30 sec ad. "It's time you moved to the best".Is it gramatically correct to jump from simple present to simple past? If so, then what difference does it...