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

Re: I am living here now for three years now

Ruslana — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:19:48 GMT

#1 wrong
#2 OK

If you want to highlight something done during a period of time between a particular moment in the past and the present moment, you have to use either Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous.

I've lived here for 3 years OR I've been living here for 3 years.

What will you do this weekend? - OK - You use it when it's supposed that the person whom you ask doesn't have any plans for the weekend yet and he hasn't thought of the way to spend it.
What are you doing this weekend? - OK - You use it when it's supposed that the person whom you ask already has some plans for the weekend, he's already made up his mind on it. This question implies a greater degree of certainty than the previous one. If you ask this way, it means that the person to answer is more or less sure of what he'll be doing this weekend. In other words:

I'll go to a library - "maybe yes, maybe no... I'm not sure very much yet and this is kind of uncertain"
I'm going to a library - "I've planned to go there and I'm sure I'll do it, if nothing important prevents me to"

Hope my explanations are not too vague.

Re: What's the last movie you've seen?

Goodman — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:33:52 GMT

ETJW-CMD wrote:

Dear Goodman,

I am one of Hoaâs friends, a member of a friendly yet private English-To-Join-the-World Club that we co-founded here in Vietnam. Last night, she showed me this thread and asked for my opinion. My first reaction was that the present perfect and past tense combination - in that particular example - is illogical. However, I could understand where she came from - It is not grammatical correctness but situational acceptability.

When we get together at our weekly meetings, we sometimes have a good, respectful laugh at the craziness and freedom of English language. Richard Lederer writes, âIn this unreliable English tongue, greyhounds arenât grey; a woodchuck is a groundhog; glowworms are fireflies, but fireflies are not flies (they are beetle)â and âhot dogs can be cold, darkrooms can be lit.â â¦ âSometimes you have to believe that all English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?â

Such a free spirit coupled with the humors of poking at oneself is what makes the language and its people so wonderful to us.

Having said that, I must be fair to Hoa, whom I know of, is a rather sensitive and wonderful lady. I read the text from the sites that she shared - particularly the BBC site â and found out the reason why she selected it. On page one of the BBC text, we see, âWhat was the last film you saw?â and on page five, âthink of the film you have seen recently, what was it called?â The last one Hoa equated it to âwhat was the film you have seen recently called?â That is her way to express her âcoexistenceâ ideal: an ungrammatical sentence â but informally acceptable - can coexist with a prescriptive one.

Perhaps, the missing connection for all of us is the word recently, which goes rather well with the present perfect!

Thank you and Have a good day!
Chau My

Hello ETJW-CMD,

First, on behalf of the forum,welcome! I am not exactly sure the purpose of your post but I take it that you are speaking on behalf of Hao Thai. The particular sentence that touched off a rather messy debate was " what was the last film you have seen" if I am not mistaken. By the face value of this sentence, it's deemed ungrammatical in my opinion but as usual, there are always different views. What I said two postings ago which in some ways seemed to share something in common with your post, if I read it right. Nonetheless, I still believe that past tense and present perfect can't coexist in one single sentence. But they are possible in relative clauses. If we want to talk about the name of the movie you saw, we can say "what is the name of the movie you saw last week?" which is clearly a grammatically correct past tense sentence . But when we try to combine simple past with present perfect, such as "what was the name of the movie you have seen recently?", it just sounds awkward to most ears, although it may be understood. That said, I agree adverbs such as "since" and "recently" along with many others can reflect a present perfect tone. But "what was the name of the movie you have seen recently?" is still not a sound sentence.

Two postings ago I said:

_{There are plenty of instances where present perfect and simple past can co-exist, but not in the same frame of sentence structure. i.e. âwhen was the last time you have visited Disneylandâ? (wrong)}

_{If my English knowledge is correct, the following is a valid sentence. Not only it contains present prefect and past, it has a present reference as well.}

_{I have been to Disneyland with my family many times but I canât remember which year the last visit was.}_{This kind of mixed tense scenario happens}

Re: What's the last movie you've seen?

ETJW-CMD — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:34:57 GMT

Dear Goodman,

I am one of Hoaâs friends, a member of a friendly yet private English-To-Join-the-World Club that we co-founded here in Vietnam. Last night, she showed me this thread and asked for my opinion. My first reaction was that the present perfect and past tense combination - in that particular example - is illogical. However, I could understand where she came from - It is not grammatical correctness but situational acceptability.

When we get together at our weekly meetings, we sometimes have a good, respectful laugh at the craziness and freedom of English language. Richard Lederer writes, âIn this unreliable English tongue, greyhounds arenât grey; a woodchuck is a groundhog; glowworms are fireflies, but fireflies are not flies (they are beetle)â and âhot dogs can be cold, darkrooms can be lit.â â¦ âSometimes you have to believe that all English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?â

Such a free spirit coupled with the humors of poking at oneself is what makes the language and its people so wonderful to us.

Having said that, I must be fair to Hoa, whom I know of, is a rather sensitive and wonderful lady. I read the text from the sites that she shared - particularly the BBC site â and found out the reason why she selected it. On page one of the BBC text, we see, âWhat was the last film you saw?â and on page five, âthink of the film you have seen recently, what was it called?â The last one Hoa equated it to âwhat was the film you have seen recently called?â That is her way to express her âcoexistenceâ ideal: an ungrammatical sentence â but informally acceptable - can coexist with a prescriptive one.

Perhaps, the missing connection for all of us is the word recently, which goes rather well with the present perfect!

Thank you and Have a good day!
Chau My

Re: sentences correct? - 1

Yankee — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:22:13 GMT

Solomon_13000 wrote:
Are the sentences using the underlined word (pronoun and so on) as shown below correct?

Interrogative pronoun/relative pronoun

The lady whom you saw just now is my teacher.

I consulted a doctor whom I met in Paris

I am not sure whom ~~did~~ he invited for the wedding

This is the girl who told me where to park my car.

Who owns that car?

Who is responsible for the accident?

indefinite pronoun

The kid was disappointed when there was nothing in the box.

I found nothing in the envelope

There is nothing in the postbox

Noun

Only after doing her revision was Sally allowed to watch the cartoon show.

He was doing his homework. (was doing = past continuous of the verb do)

I was doing nothing. (was doing = past continuous of the verb do)

Adjective

The floor looks clean because it has just been scrubbed (has been scrubbed = present perfect, passive voice of the verb scrub)

Those dangerous training programs should have been scrubbed. (verb)

His reputation has been scrubbed clean. (verb)

Hi Solomon

You are using the words well, but you often do not label them correctly.

Re: Does 'recently' indicate time?

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:43:42 GMT

Hi WA,

Yes. In fact, "recently" is a perfect modifier in present perfect structure or unspecified time in my opinion.

I have recently met a girl whom I would consider a potential candisate for a long term relationship.

He had collaborated OR he collaborated

Rex — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:35:34 GMT

The Pope has named a new archbishop of Warsaw after Stanislaw Wielgus quit admitting he had collaborated with Poland's communist-era secret police.

Pope Benedict XVI named Kazimierz Nycz, 57, who has been bishop of the Baltic city of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg since 2004.

Bishop Wielgus resigned on 7 January at the service intended to install him as the city's new archbishop.

He admitted spying on fellow clerics, many of whom had opposed the Soviet-backed government in Poland.

Church investigation

Bishop Nycz is thought to have an unblemished record under communist rule.

Bishop Wielgus has apologised for his actions but said he was blackmailed and harassed into co-operating with the secret police.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please look at the following sentence of the above.

The Pope has named a new archbishop of Warsaw after Stanislaw Wielgus quit admitting he had collaborated with Poland's communist-era secret police.

When you write 'The Pope has named a new bishop' , it is the present perfect tense. When you write 'he had collaborated with Poland's secret police' , it is the past perfect tense.

Is it proper to write the past perfect here? I think it would be fine to write the simple past tense here. Just he collborated with Poland's secret police is fine.

Your comments please.

Re: Quick help needed, this is important (grammar).

Ant_222 — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:17:11 GMT

«Um.....I think the "helper" needs more help than the poster requeting for help. Many simple errors....»

Ok. If I corrected some of the poster's mistakes and introduced several new ones, why not look at my corrections and omit the mistakes! Anyway, I warned Jacek about that...

By the way, could you point the "simpliest" mistake? I am very interested.

«2. It has just been announced that everyone of those who obtained (Past Simple or Present Perfect?) less than 50 percent will have to take another exam. All of those, who will not be able to come to the US in Spring may apply for taking the exam in US embassies.»

"everyone of those" and "all of those". Do you really want to keep them? Maybe replace them by "those who" or something like that?

«Past Simple or Present Perfect?»

To me, both are acceptable but Past Simple is better.

«4. The new synthetic costs three times as much as cotton. But since it's here, no teenage girl will even look at old costumes. Well, the money which they spend isn't theirs, but their parent's.»

Parents'

«5. The fact is that no female journalist from the newspaper, whom had thrown these accusations was present at the dinner, during which the Collonel has been telling or, as he claims, he hasn't been telling those racist jokes.»

"Colonel was...". Surely.

«Anyonymouns: This can't be done your way, because the situation is set at present time. It's like two blokes sitting in a room and talking about another one behind the looking glass, and now they're willing to figure out if he noticed he's being recorded or not.»

Are you speaking to me, to Ant_222? I thought they were analyzing a recording, not listening in real time.

«sounds slightly better than "of convincing", but it does not convince me... Help?»

to prove?

«Oh, and although some parts of these sentences may seem incorrect I have to leave them as they are, because they were set up this way by the author of my exercise book.»

Well, how does one decide which parts can and which cannot be corrected?

P.S.: I recommend that you remove your e-mail from the signature...

Re: Quick help needed, this is important (grammar).

Jacekkr — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:36:30 GMT

Ok I had a look at these sentences and altered a few things, so here they are again... Voila:
The text in red are those 'updated' sentences and the text in dark green are my comments.

1. We certainly cannot accuse Fred of being shy. Look how he enjoys talking about himself in front of television cameras.

2. It has just been announced that everyone of those who has obtained less than 50 percent will have to take another exam. All of those, who will not be able to come to the US in Spring may apply for taking the exam in US embassies.

2. It has just been announced that everyone of those who obtained (Past Simple or Present Perfect?) less than 50 percent will have to take another exam. All of those, who will not be able to come to the US in Spring may apply for taking the exam in US embassies.

3. Since no more than half a bottle of syrup was left, Granddad must have been taking his treatment very seriously. I bought five bottles last Monday.

4. The new sytnthetic costs three times as much as cotton. But since it's here, no teenage girl will even look at old costumes. Well, the money which they spend isn't theirs, but their parent's.

4. The new synthetic costs three times as much as cotton. But since it's here, no teenage girl will even look at old costumes. Well, the money which they spend isn't theirs, but their parent's.

OR

4. The new synthetic costs three times as much cotton does (is this correct?). But since it's here, no teenage girl will even look at old costumes. Well, the money which they spend isn't theirs, but their parent's.

5. The fact is that no female journalist from the newspaper, whom had thrown these accusations was not present at the dinner, during which the Collonel has been telling or, as he claims, he hasn't been telling those racist jokes.

5. The fact is that no female journalist from the newspaper, whom had thrown these accusations was present at the dinner, during which the Collonel has been telling or, as he claims, he hasn't been telling those racist jokes.

6. Having decided months ago in advance what will be the topics of main speeches and who will be making them after whom, the organisers were unwilling to make any changes last-minute changes.

6. Having decided months ago in advance what will be the topics of main speeches and who will be making them after whom, the organisers were unwilling to make any last-minute changes.

7. Listen to this! Doesn't this change in Simon's voice suggest, that he might have realized at that moment, that the conversation is being recorded.

@ Anyonymouns: This can't be done your way, because the situation is set at present time. It's like two blokes sitting in a room and talking about another one behind the looking glass, and now they're willing to figure out if he noticed he's being recorded or not.

8. Because of safety regulations we had to send two drivers instead of one. After a few hundred kilometers it turned out, that although they both have been driving buses for many years, none of them was used to driving in such heavy traffic.

9. I doubt wheter they have a clear idea themselves how many rehearsals there should be before the show is ready for television.

10. Before the conference I would never have thought that translating a lecture about the history of fashion can be so difficult. I am afraid that a few listeners could have had doubts about my knowledge of French.

11. Please do not expect owners not to get upset when they are told that since the beginning of the strike you haven't managed to make a list of negotiators and experts.

12. As far as buying cosmetics is concerned, Laura is sceptical about advertising. She thinks, that the least advertised products are usually much cheaper than those that can be seen on TV.

12. As far as buying cosmetics is concerned, Laura is sceptical about advertising. She thinks, that the least advertised products are usually much cheaper than those seen on TV.

I'm having a dilemma here, cause I'm not sure whether to use the expression "those that can be seen on TV" (which sounds awfully) or maybe the one in the sentence in red - "than those seen on TV".

13. From our point of view the latest proposal seems to be acceptable under the condition, that we won't have to pay for the equipment, we will not be using in the future.

14. Let's not argue about specific questions to be asked both guests until we make sure that Father John won't have anything against appearing in the same show with a strip dancer.

15. The manager decided that the best way of convincing customers that the juice is not radioactive was having every hundreth bottle checked by an independent laboratory.

15. The manager decided that the best way to convince (sounds slightly better than "of convincing", but it does not convince me... Help?) customers that the juice is not radioactive was having every hundreth bottle checked by an independent laboratory.

Oh, and although some parts of these sentences may seem incorrect I have to leave them as they are, because they were set up this way by the author of my exercise book.

Re: Word agreement

Goodman — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 21:29:38 GMT

She has found relatives whom she never knew [have] existed. The present perfect implies the relatives are still alive. Without [have] it implies that they passed away. How could she find the dead relatives?

Existed in the context you presented is a past participle used as adjective IMO. I think [have] is needed in this context to make better sense.

Whom -is the relative pronoun in this clause for the existed relatives.

Re: Is the present perfect being shown the door?

milky — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:13:06 GMT

By whom? I'm told that is accepted as standard.

<It's interesting to note that the artificial language Ido at first did not have perfect tenses they were introduced by popular demand.>

Yes, interesting. The thing is, the AE use of the preterite, where BE would normally use the present perfect, cannot connect past and present without reliance on adverbs, or more context. The present perfect does connect past and present.