Search results for 'tag:Present perfect tag:Present tenses' matching tags 'Present perfect' and 'Present tenses'

Re: tense checking

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:07:32 GMT

Thank you. It will take some time to reflect upon your response. As to your question of where I wanted to put a semicolon, it was in the underlined part. I was pretty sure a semicolon is appropriate but wanted to confirm.

You changed the tense of the last sentence to present perfect; (semicolon OK?) but I don't think a past is wrong but a present tense is better because the choice made is current and currently related.

Re: tense checking

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:39:27 GMT

Thank you so much.

How would you divide this type of writing (diary or reflection piece?) into paragraphs, especially when the content of a possible paragraph is two or thre sentences long?

You asked:

I am starting to work on my two-month project on ~~today~~ this afternoon;, and when my nephew gets here, I will probably have finished half the project.Tenses are okay. You can finish half of a two-month project in one day?

I think the probable date I noted for his visit is one month from the day of writing and I think I also have noted that the probable period of completion will last two months. What made you think the writing gives out an idea that I will try to finish the project in one day?

You changed the tense of the last sentence to present perfect; (semicolon OK?) but I don't think a past is wrong but a present tense is better because the choice made is current and currently related.

Last sentence that you made a change:

Yes, I have made the choice and that is to finish the project on time.

Re: General Enquiries: Present & Past Perfect tense usage

Mister Micawber — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:06:43 GMT

.
1) we form the Present Perfect tense with "has/have"
+ the past participle. It is used to show:
a) actions that have been completed recently.-- Yes, that is one use

2) we form the Past Perfect Tense with "had"
+ the past participle. It is used to show
a) an action that was completed some time ago-- No; it is used to clarify or emphasize the chronology of two non-simultaneous past events.

Is the abovementioned contrast correct?-- No.

2) we use the Present Perfect tense with ever, never, for and since for an action
which happened from a period or point of time in the past till now.-- Generally, yes

a) I have never been to Maldives before.
(would be alright if i omit or add before) Yes.

b)what if this person just landed on the airport of maldives and told his
friends, "I am so excited! I have never been to maldives before."
In this case, is the above sentence correct? Yes
I have never been to Maldives before. is both used but has different meaning.-- Your 3 sentences are identical in verb form.

c)if i were to use it in the Past perfect tense, which is past in the past form.
can i say, I had never been to Maldives before until a month ago when I when there with my friends. -- Yes

d)To add on to the above example, when people say i had never been/seen/eaten and etc. at that point of time, they already had been/seen/eaten? No
Just that they are illustrating the examples in past forms, E.g. I had never seen such a demure lady in my life before, however i saw one last month.-- It is used to clarify or emphasize the chronology of two non-simultaneous past events.

3) I found this example and sentence in my grammar book.

a)(Function as the past form of the present perfect) - The Chong brothers had never cheated anyone in their lives before.(why present perfect is not used here)-- "Before --- (event)" is in the past.

b)Is it wrong to use present perfect here? - The Chong brothers have never cheated anyone in their lives before. No

Also, found this example in the post here.

c)Jane wanted to stop by his office because she had never met Richard (CEO) in person.
past perfect tense is used here because this is not relating to the present situation but instead relating to a event that has happened before? is it?-- It is used to clarify or emphasize the chronology of two non-simultaneous past events.

d)if we want to use present perfect tense because up till now, is it a fact that Jane still have not met Richard in person.
Can we say, Jane has never met Richard (CEO) in person. Yes

4) Never and before.
whenever there's never and before in a sentence, is it a must to use past instead of present tense. No
i never ate this before. i never been to this place before.
i have never eaten this before. i have never been to this place before.
I will never see him again

General Enquiries: Present & Past Perfect tense usage

dave_amateur — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:26:29 GMT

Hi Mentors, Tutors and Native English Speakers/writers

Can i say:
1) we form the Present Perfect tense with "has/have"                  2) we form the Past Perfect Tense with "had"
   + the past participle. It is used to show:                                    + the past participle. It is used to show

a) actions that have been completed recently.                            a) an action that was completed some time ago
    E.g. Tom has eaten the noodles.                                              E.g. Tom had eaten the noodles.
           He has gone to Beijing.                                                     He had gone to Beijing.

Is the abovementioned contrast correct? Yes/No

2) we use the Present Perfect tense with ever, never, for and since for an action
which happened from a period or point of time in the past till now.

a) I have never been to Maldives before.
(would be alright if i omit or add before) Yes/No. It sounds the same meaning to me.

b)what if this person just landed on the airport of maldives and told his
friends, "I am so excited! I have never been to maldives before."
In this case, is the above sentence correct? Yes/No I have never been to Maldives before. is both used but has different meaning.

c)if i were to use it in the Past perfect tense, which is past in the past form.
can i say, I had never been to Maldives before Yes/No  until a month ago when I when there with my friends.

d)To add on to the above example, when people say i had never been/seen/eaten and etc. at that point of time, they already had been/seen/eaten? Yes/No
Just that they are illustrating the examples in past forms, E.g. I had never seen such a demure lady in my life before, however i saw one last month.

3) I found this example and sentence in my grammar book.

a)(Function as the past form of the present perfect)    - The Chong brothers had never cheated anyone in their lives before.(why present perfect is not used here)

b)Is it wrong to use present perfect here? - The Chong brothers have never cheated anyone in their lives before. Yes/No

Also, found this example in the post here.

c)Jane wanted to stop by his office because she had never met Richard (CEO) in person.
past perfect tense is used here because this is not relating to the present situation but instead relating to a event that has happened before? is it?Yes/No

d)if we want to use present perfect tense because up till now, is it a fact that Jane still have not met Richard in person.
Can we say, Jane has never met Richard (CEO) in person.   Yes/No

4) Never and before.
whenever there's never and before in a sentence, is it a must to use past instead of present tense. Yes/No
i never ate this before. i never been to this place before.
i have never eaten this before. i have never been to this place before.

Thank you in advance. awaiting the replies.
for clarity to other learners like me too, pls reply using 1a) 2) a b c d 3a) b and 4) for easy reference and understanding.
appreciate & with lovess!!

Re: A few more sentences I thought about...

CalifJim — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:25:55 GMT

YSchneider
To me it sounds kind of odd!

Then use the other one! Nobody's going to notice any difference anyway!

The imperative can't influence anything in the past, so I associate a present tense, or a present perfect tense, with an imperative.

You see, the simple past puts an imaginary wall between you and the event you're talking about. The present perfect doesn't. So if I want to command someone (please tell me!) I don't see any reason to put a wall between what happened (someone was hurt) and my command. If I want to be told -- right this minute! -- about someone who is hurt -- exclamation mark and all -- then certainly it's because I think I can still do something to help the injured party. This is not ancient history we're talking about!

Compare, noting the "wall" || :

Ken fell and hurt himself while he was out of town last week. || He's OK now.

Ken has fallen and hurt himself! Quick! Call a doctor!

Re: This small clip consists of different pictures spliced together...

Avangi — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:32:18 GMT

Jackson6612
I believe it's splicing of the pictures/frames which make the coin look as if it were moving on its own. The clip shows the coin moving. It does not make the coin look as if it was.
What do you say?

This strikes me as a philosophical question. Suppose we place a coin on an inclined table which has been fitted with an electric vibrator. We mount a videocamera above, looking perpendicularly at the table top, with no visible reference to the true horizontal. We turn on the vibrator and the camera and record what happens.

In this case it would be fair to say the image makes the coin look as if it's moving under its own power. The coin and the image are both real. But to someone who has not been privy to our setup, the image does show the coin moving under its own power.

But if the coin exists only on the animator's drawing board, the image may well show the coin flying to the moon. To the animator, it's a series of drawings; to the final viewer, it's a movie of a coin flying to the moon. In the movie, the coin "really" flies to the moon.

1: What is your answer to the question which I posed in my previous e-mail to Y. Liat? I think these are both fine

2: What is your answer to the question which I posed to Y. Liat in my previous e-mail?

What is the difference in meaning between the following sentences? Or which one is more correct in the above context? In the first sentence present perfect is used and in the second one present indefinite. How would it affect the meaning it is put between read and ''somewhere?

1: I have read somewhere, perhaps...

2: I read somewhere, perhaps...

I don't think "it" would add anything, so better to leave it out.

I like the present perfect. It seems to allow that you've read it on more than one occasion. "Read" as present tense doesn't work for me. "Read" as simple past is okay, but doesn't seem as positive as the present perfect.

- A.

Re: Present Perfect (americans)

Yankee — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:04:32 GMT

As is the case with British English, whether an American uses the simple present or the present perfect often simply depends on how the speaker is viewing a past activity. That said, when either tense is possible according to the "usual rules", I think there is a noticeable tendency for Americans to choose the simple past tense more often than our British cousins would. There are also a few well-known examples of American usage that probably drive some (but hopefully not all) Brits crazy. For example: "Did you eat yet?" and "I already did that."

The problem with quite a few of your sentences is that there isn't enough context in the sentences themselves (they're very short) and/or not enough broader context with them to say for sure which tense might be more likely in AmE. In a few of your sentences, you haven't really given what I think would be typical wording, so there really isn't much point in trying to say which tense would be used. For example, I can't imagine a doctor asking a patient in his office whether or not the patient had broken his/her arm. And I doubt that the sentences "I've changed my address!" and "I changed my address!" would be used to tell someone I had moved to a new address, so I would need more context there before I could give further input.

It may well be the case (but I don't know this for a fact) that in some cases where a Brit would definitely use the present perfect because there is an effect on the present, we might choose instead to use the simple present tense. If I take your broken arm example, an American might choose to say "I broke my arm last week" (focus on the past event) or "My arm is broken (focus on the current state -- the bone is not yet healed).

Maybe someone else will have some input for you.

Re: dared to dream

CalifJim — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:36:04 GMT

Interesting. The tense switch did not occur to me as a possible problem. There is certainly no implied if, as in if you (ever) dared to dream (such a situation) -- not to my ear.

I would say it's an abbreviated way of saying situation that you have never dared to dream.

never seems to neutralize the difference between the simple past and the present perfect at times. (The present perfect is usually the "more correct" formulation.)

There is nothing that implies an if in these, for example.

This is a situation [you / we / they] (have) never experienced before.

Henry is good at planning ahead. He often brings up potential problems that [the boss / Kate / the staff / the committee] (has) never thought of.

I (have) never made that statement. It is a statement that I (have) never made.

The same situation does not occur with the past point of view because both the simple past and the present perfect have the same backshift -- the past perfect.

Henry often brought up problems that the boss had never thought of.

______

But aside from the subtleties mentioned above, keep in mind that, in general, the mixing of tenses does not really require exotic explanations. Take the example above:

I (have) never made that statement. It is a statement that I (have) never made.

The 'statement' can be spoken of in a timeless way with the present tense even if certain facts about the statement are expressed in the past. Similarly:

These are the very words he said: blah, blah, blah.

This is the book that I [ read / bought ] last month.

A scar is a trace of something that happened in the past.

Hamlet is a play which was written long ago.

These look like the results of the survey we did last year.

Re: wrong to use past tense?

Mr Wordy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:52:17 GMT

He bought a parrot that the seller said it would repeat every word he uttered. Contented, he went home ~~and~~ but later found it didn't say a word. Furious, he went back to the owner and asked him what had happened. The owner answered that he had not lied (didn't lie OK??) to the man.

The lying (or, in fact, absence of it) happened some time before the answering, so "had not lied" (or "hadn't lied") is correct. You might hear native speakers use "didn't lie" in this context, but it's sloppy (IMO) and you should avoid it.

He went mountain climbing. On the way up the mountain, he saw what looked like a box covered in golden paper in a plastic bag. He thought he had gotten (got OK??) something that is was worth a large sum of money but ended up finding there was trash in the bag.

US usage is "gotten" and UK usage is "got". The following is from a British English perspective. I'm not certain if this explanation is also true in Amercan English (with "got" replaced by "gotten").

"Have/had got", in the sense you're using it, is a slightly tricky one. Literally, "have got" means something like "at some point in the past, I got (received/obtained) something, and I still have it", so literally it's the present perfect. Similarly, "had got" is literally the past perfect. However, this sense is, to varying degrees, suppressed, so "have got" can function almost like a present tense (meaning "have"), and "had got" almost like a simple past tense (meaning "had"). In your sentence "had got" is correct (though I suppose "had found" might be better). It can either suggest that he obtained it some time before the moment you're describing, or it can just mean that he had it in his possession. "He thought he had something..." is also OK and replicates the second sense.

[I edited this a little while after posting it to fix a couple of minor typos that were annoying me.]

Re: If you haven't .... I woud

CalifJim — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:24:01 GMT

Doesn't it bother you that a present perfect tense in an if clause is used with would?

Isn't the past usually used with would in that case?

It is unusual. The reason it's OK is that would like to (or would love to) is an idiom equivalent to want to (a present tense).

So it's like

I hope you've seen it, but if you haven't, I'd love to run it for you now. ~

I hope you've seen it, but if you haven't, I want to run it for you now.