Search results for 'tag:Present perfect tag:Learn English' matching tags 'Present perfect' and 'Learn English'

Re: the tense

Doll — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:57:58 GMT

Hello New Guest,

I really understand what you are looking for because when I was at intermediate level, I was questioning everything like you and interested in thinking every sentence in detail. Past perfect tense was my favourite.I questioned and thought about its usage for years because it wasn't an existing tense in my native language. I felt inefficient when I didn't use past perfect or had questions about it in my mind. To tell the truth, sometimes I still have. This is because I learn English as a foreign language and I don't have a native spaking environment key which will open the doors of questions so, it takes ,really, years to completely grab the real and accurate usage of something. This goes for present perfect tense and modals too. The thing you should do, if you care what I say, just to be patient. After years, I am sure, you will regard both tenses same even the past simple better in similar contexts as your original question.

One more thing, your thinking too much analytical on grammatical forms of the language may be an effect of your English teacher. You know, they do unnecessary exams and want you to find the right choice and want you make a discrimination between whether to use simple past or perfect though sometimes both can be used. To be frank, I still suffer from this. I am still too analytic.

Re: had had

Yankee — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:27:54 GMT

Hi Mkyol

I'd like to point out a few things:

- The word 'since' does not work in your sentence as it is written. It seems that you want to use the word 'since' to talk about 'from a point in the past up to now', but that doesn't work well with the verb 'started'. The start of something is usually a very short point in time and does not take place over a period of time.

- The word 'since' is usually used with the present perfect continuous, and in that verb tense the verb is extremely connected to the present ('up to now'). To talk about the past time when something began, you need the simple past tense, but you can't use the simple past tense (started) together with the time word 'since' as you have done.

- Using 'had had' would suggest something that was finished/ended before you 'started' -- i.e. she was no longer interested at the time you started. But that wouldn't really make much sense in your sentence. You should use the simple present tense if your mother is still alive and still has this interest.

I would suggest rewriting your sentence in one of these ways:

If you want to talk about a time from the past up to the present, you could write it this way:
"My mother has an intense passion for education, and I have been learning English since junior high school."

If your mother is now dead, or if all of the verbs (events/activities/states) are in the finished past, you could write it this way:
"My mother had an intense passion for education, and I started to learn English in junior high school."

I can't think of any really logical way to use had had (past perfect) in your sentence.

Re: Frank Sinatra - My Way(present perfect vs. past perfect).

Goodman — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:03:49 GMT

WesternAmerican wrote:
Oh. So coming to think about it, if he says 'A life that is full', the IS indicates present? right?

Furthermore, 'it's been three long years''..
The mentioned lyrics belong to his PAST, why not 'it had been three long years'?

Hi Western,

My opinion is not to learn English from song lyrics if you are looking for correct English because grammar correctness is not a requirement in composing the lyrics of a song. You'll learn much more with reading "Newes Weeks" or "Times".

Re: Is grammar essential for learning a language?

Kooyeen — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:12:52 GMT

Hi everyone,
I read some articles about this, not long ago.

Clive wrote:
Is grammar essential for learning a language?

The answer is NO, NO, NO.

Bird of Paradise, the book you read is right. We didn't learn the grammar of our first language before we were able to use it. I believe no native speaker of English was taught that you have to say "Do you have a car?", using the auxiliary "do" and subject-auxiliary inversion, instead of "You have a car?" or "Have you a car?"
I believe every native speaker started to say sentences like "The bank was robbed" before they knew what a passive sentence is. I also believe no native speaker has ever been taught when to use the present perfect and when to use the past simple (which is one of the hardest things to master for ESL students).

Maybe now you are wondering if you can do the same, if you can learn English like native speakers, without remembering a lot of confusing rules. I'm sorry, but the answer is you can't, unless you are less than 6 years old, generally speaking. What you read in that book only applies to native speakers and very young learners. For the other learners, like me and you, grammar is important, at least the basic grammar (advanced grammar might not be necessary).

And if you think grammar is necessary in order to get proficient and using high level correct English, well, that's not true. Those who use perfect and idiomatic English are able to do so because of their personal experience, not because they know grammar rules. Personal experience practically just means "How much you read and what you read". I don't know of anyone who speaks or write their language perfectly because they know the rules of their grammar.

So, to summarize, grammar is only necessary for grown-up ESL students, and is only necessary to "get started", not to get "proficient". To get proficient you need constant exposure to good and idiomatic English. That's all.

WARNING: The author of this post is not responsible for any damage to the readers' brains. This post is not meant to brainwash anyone. In case of brainwashing, call 911.

Difference between present perfect tense and simple past tense

Chandrasek — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:41:57 GMT

Hi All,

I am beginner to learn English.

Can any body explain difference between present perfet tense and simple past tense?

Thanks

Chandra

Re: Present Perfect

Nef — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 22:14:07 GMT

Innocentsa22 wrote:

I want your help.

one day a question stopped me. it is about the present perfect tense.

I need to know the different types of questions used in present perfect i.e I knew later that we couldn't use "when" in making questions in this tense.

Please help me as I learn English as a second language.

The present perfect tense is used for 2 main reasons:

1. to express action started in the past and still continuing

2. to express action completed in the recent indefinite past (no particular time given)

Examples:

How long has Karen lived in Canada? (The assumption is that Karen STILL lives in Canada OR did live in Canada until recently.) Karen has lived in Canada for 30 years. Karen has lived in Canada for three weeks. Karen has lived in Canada...

Have they finished yet? (The assumption is that they were doing something and may STILL be doing it OR that they finished recently.) Yes, they have finished. No, they haven't finished. I'm not sure if they have finished...

Present Perfect

Innocentsa22 — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:53:48 GMT

I want your help.

one day a question stopped me. it is about the present perfect tense.

I need to know the different types of questions used in present perfect i.e I knew later that we couldn't use "when" in making questions in this tense.

Please help me as I learn English as a second language.

Re: Present perfect tense question

Diamondrg — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 20:46:23 GMT

Goodman wrote:

Time does not qualify one to be an expert of something. 1- A guy working in as a prep cook for 20 years doesnât qualify him as a chef. Donât you agree?

There are many immigrants living in the US for as long as or even longer than I have but didnât bother to seriously learn the Language. 2- The meaning of native to me is someone was born and raised, and speaks this language all his life. At the best, I maybe qualified as âhalf-nativeâ.

1- If he has no ambition to be a chef, passing years will not make a him a chef.

2- How do immigrants learn English? Do they take courses? How did you learn? Now, after 20 years in the USA, what do you think is the difference between you and someone who is a native speaker and at your age as far as proficiency in English is concerned? Do you have any difficulties in using English compared to a native?

Re: Best way to learn English?

Mister Micawber — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:01:31 GMT

Simple past: I went home. (It is finished and done with; the action is in the historical past.)

Present perfect: I have gone home at 8 pm every night this week; I haven't gone home yet. (There is potentiality for completing the action in the present or future; it is not finished and done with.)

Re: Best way to learn English?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:50:06 GMT

would y give me the difference

between simple past and present perfect