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

Grammar doubts, please!

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:50:52 GMT

Hi, there!

Here are my doubts. Could you help me, please?

- He (write) a composition since lunch time. In this kind of sentence I could use e.g. the * Present Perfect Progressive:

- He has been writting a composition since lunch time. In this case since is a starting point and the verb tense shows an action that started in the past and continues up to the present moment, isn't it?

   But I think I could also use the Present Perfect Simple e.g.: "He has written a composition since lunch time." If so, I believe that there is not a difference between these two verb tenses, but only that the * first reinforces the continuity of the action up to the present moment, isn't it?

And in: "It (rain) all morning." I believe that I can say:

"It has rained all morning" (Present Perfect Simple here gives an idea that the action finished already because it's afternoon now, for example);

           or

"It has been raining all morning." (Present Perfect Progressive here if we want to emphasize that it started raining in the morning and it is still raining = We are still in the morning).

Thanks for the help (I hope my thought be right),

  Sakamura

Re: about tense

Clive — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:32:51 GMT

Hi,

I have a question about tense in this sentence below.

"My family has been in this rural village for generations,

so I never had to commute by crowded public transport."

The person " I " have no experience of commuting by crowded transport

until now. However, "had to" is the past tense.

Please teach me why "had " can be used in this case?

'I never had to commute . . . ' The use of the past tense suggests that the speaker no longer lives there at the present time.
eg "My family has been in this rural village for generations, so I never had to commute by crowded public transport until I moved to the big city where I live now."

'I have never had to commute . . . ' Use the Present Perfect to stress 'until now', ie this sounds like 'I' still live in the village.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: I will pass it on to you when Dorothy...

Doll — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:09:09 GMT

To me, first one is correct. There may be situations where the present perfect and future tense can be used together but in your sentence I couldn't make a sense out of it.

In the first sentence you are talking about a condition. If X happens, Z will happen.

Re: find: in present perfect or simple past?

CalifJim — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:58:01 GMT

paul_h
I'd say

Philosophers of the nineteenth century contributed much to our understanding of consciousness.

Yes. You can use either tense. The point was that events distant in the past can be expressed with the present perfect. There's no rule that says present perfect is always recent and simple past is always long ago. But maybe you knew that already, in which case you can ignore my post on the subject.

Re: find: in present perfect or simple past?

CalifJim — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:32:02 GMT

I don't understand why "I have found a book I like" would be wrong -- not as an isolated sentence, at least.

It must have been something else in the context of your phone conversation that caused your friend's reaction.

paul_h
to be correct after a week?

The amount of time that has passed rarely has an influence on the choice between those tenses.

I saw the strangest thing this morning.

Philosophers of the nineteenth century have contributed much to our understanding of consciousness.

Re: Present Perfect Vs. Simple Past

CalifJim — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:08:44 GMT

Regardless of the guidelines so often given in books in terms of "current relevance", in the case of throwing out the books, what you need is an explanation of why you don't have the books anymore (My parents threw them out.) -- not a commentary on what your parents may have done at some point in their lives (They have thrown out my books.)

Recall also that the present perfect cannot be used with a definite time. It's an 'indefinite tense'. Therefore you can talk about "what happened when you were a kid", but not about "what has happened when you were a kid".

On the other hand, I realize that we don't know exactly when your parents threw the books out, but the context suggests that it probably wasn't very recently. So it must have been close to or shortly after 'when you were a kid' if not exactly then.

Re: Present Perfect Vs. Simple Past

Magic79 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:14:01 GMT

Another question on page 8:
Complete these sentences in any way you like, taking care to choose appropriately between the present perfect and past simple tenses.

d) A: Do you still have your school books from when you were a kid?
B : No, my parents ...

My answer : have thrown them all out.
Book answer: threw them all out.

The question is Why not present perfect just like when you say :
I have lost my books ( you dont have them now). Whereas when you say
I lost my books ( you may have them now as I lost them but then I found them)
I have eaten ( I am full now)
I ate ( I might be hungry now and can eat again).

By the same token, if we say My parents have thrown them all out (means I dont have them now)
The simple past will work but the present perfect will emphasize the fact that I dont have them or that the effect of throwing is still present now in the fact that I dont have them.

What do native speakers think?

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.

questions on tenses

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:58:23 GMT

Hi,
1. Would you say it is appropriate to use the present perfect "have loosened" here (sort of an amusement park report) in a subordinate clause?

With a small hiccup, the ride tilts to the side and *** young ones who have loosened their grip are send sliding into the center of ..

2. Can you correct tenses here? Or for that matter, correct everything written if possible. Thanks.

I did great in my middle school. Few things I remember most about my days at school so far are my great teachers and the fun we had together. But now, I have to graduate. I have only a month before graduation. I remember Sue, who transferred to another school just two monthes before this graduation date. Had she stayed in our school, she would be expecting to graduate in a month like me. I miss her. She had great humor that could liven up the classroom atmosphere as quicky as a blink of an eye (with some exaggeration, ha, ha...). Anyway, after a month, I will be sitting in my house, sipping a cool lemondate, thinking of days I will be spending at *** High School and students and teachers I will be meeting. Before then, I should be enjoying (I should enjoy??) this time of remembrance and expectations.