Search results for 'tag:Present perfect tag:Question marks' matching tags 'Present perfect' and 'Question marks'

Re: why?

CalifJim — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 06:27:40 GMT

1. Why using this modal: will; why not You might have ... ?
2. Why is there a question mark at the end; why is it not a full stop?
3. Why using present perfect continuous? why not You should be doing or should do ... .
4. What tense is it?

1. You would have to ask the person who said it why they chose this wording!
     You most likely haven't heard of me before is an approximate equivalent.
     You may/might not have heard of me before is also very close.

2. I don't know. I would have used a full stop.

3. should do is advice for the future.
     should have done is a mild reprimand for 'not having done' in the past.
     should be doing spans the time just before the present and just after, including and surrounding the present, so is usable as either a mild reprimand for 'not doing' in the past or advice for the future, or as both, more or less combined into one idea.
     should have been doing spans the time surrounding some past time in a way analogous to the previous description. But because it was in the past, it can't be advice for the future (counting from the moment the words are uttered). It is as if it is saying, if I had known about this at that time in the past I would have said, ... should be doing, i.e., I would have given a mild reprimand that you had 'not been doing' and advice for (what was then) the future.

4. The main verb carries the tense. were is past.

CJ

Re: why?

Clive — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:30:53 GMT

Hi,

1. You will not have heard of me before but I used to live next door to your sister.
2. That is absurd; they really could not have taken your motorbike by mistake, surely?
3. You are a bit overweight; you should have been doing more regular exercise.
4. You were to have been promoted.

questions:
1. Why using this modal: will; why not You might have ... ? 'will' is definite, 'might' is not definite'.
2. Why is there a question mark at the end; why is it not a full stop? 'Surely' is often used in speech to convert a statement into a question. (In addition, and personally, I'd replace the semi-colon with a period.)
3. Why using present perfect continuous? why not You should be doing or should do ... . The continuous form stresses duration ie exercise over a prolonged period.
4. What tense is it?

'You were (to ...) ' indicates past necessity, eg I was to call Tom yesterday. There is a strong implication that the event did not happen, eg I didn't call Tom.

'to have been promoted' is the perfect passive infinitive.

Best wishes, Clive

why?

Inchoateknowledge — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:39:30 GMT

Re: Present perfect &amp; past perfect tense

ranchhand — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 06:57:09 GMT

Thank you very much ranchhand! I have one more question.

RH: You're very welcome, Infinity. Ask as many as you'd like.

==================
Infinity wrote:
When you report what someone said, for instance,
Tuesday, Kate said this:
âI have been too busy to do anything for my kids lately, so I decided to take a day off tomorrow.â

Friday, if you want to report what she said, can you say
âKate said that she had been too busy to do anything for her kids prior to [last] Wednesday, so she decided to take a day off {yesterday ???}.â ?

RanchHand: Notice the brackets I've place around 'yesterday' and the question marks, Infintity. Don't you mean to say 'the day before yesterday' meaning 'Wednesday'?

Kate spoke on Tuesday, took the next day, Wednesday, off and the reported speech came on Friday, making 'Wednesday' not 'yesterday' but 'the day before yesterday'.

In real life, especially in speech, we don't follow the rules of concord that prescriptive grammars and style manuals suggest.

+++++++++++++
The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course

"Unfortunately, research has not yet revealed a completely satisfying unity among these exceptions."
++++++++++++++

In this case, I'd say that very few ENLs use use the past perfect. "she had been busy". Arguably, because the effects of "Kate's business" are still current to the discussion occuring on Friday, most would say something like this;

Note that the time word shifts to identify the actual day to the present listener {Friday}.

Kate said/told me that she has been too busy to do anything for her kids lately, so she decided to take a day off the day before yesterday.

There is, of course, the potential for a misunderstanding on what day it was that Kate took off but in conversation, we make certain assumptions that we would never make in writing. In speech, potential misunderstandings can be cleared up easily.

Also, in speech, the actual time of the day off may not even be mentioned as it could be peripheral or completely unimportant to the main thrust of the discussion.

Re: Present perfect/ simple past

CalifJim — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 18:25:32 GMT

First, the sentence with the question mark is fine.

All three pairs show the same relationship, but with the third pair reversed!

The ones with "been -ing" emphasize the duration. They suggest a descriptive attitude toward an activity which "has been going on". We should feel the passage of time somehow. These are more "emotional". In the "driving" example, the speaker may be trying to convey disdain, trying to say that it's time for her to buy a new car. The speaker may be pointing out her eccentricity as something comic; or he may be expressing his disapproval. This form is "warmer"; it invites us into the situation.

In contrast, the other members of the pairs are more objective. They simply state the facts, in some cases almost like accomplishments to be listed on a resume.

Aside from these impressionistic differences, the two do not differ significantly in meaning.

Search results for 'tag:Present perfect tag:Question marks' matching tags 'Present perfect' and 'Question marks'

Re: why?

Re: why?

why?

Re: Present perfect &amp;amp; past perfect tense

Re: Present perfect/ simple past

Re: Present perfect & past perfect tense