Search results for 'tag:Simple present tag:Adverbs' matching tags 'Simple present' and 'Adverbs'

Re: Present Perfect (americans)

Diamondrg — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:40:10 GMT

Hi, YSchneider. I am not a native speaker and this is indeed a tough grammar point for non-native speakers.

Here is an extract from CGEL*:

Did you lock the front door? [5]

in a domestic situation where it is known that the front door is locked at bedtime every night. In that case, [5] is more or less equivalent to Did you
lock the front door at bedtime? (Incidentally, in [5], "the" in "the front door" is another case of situational definiteness; cfS.Uff.)

--

The ATTITUDINAL PAST, used with verbs expressing volition or mental state, reflects the tentative attitude of the speaker, rather than past time.
In the following pairs, both the present and past tenses refer to a present state of mind, but the latter is somewhat more polite:

Do/Did you want to see me now?
I wonder/wondered if you could help us.

--

Where did you put my purse ? [ 1 ]
Where have you put my purse? [2]

The purpose of both of these questions may be to find the purse; but in [1] the speaker seems to ask the addressee to remember a past action; while in [2] the speaker apparently concentrates on the purse's present whereabouts. There are many such cases.

--

Leaving aside such virtual equivalences, we may now focus on the difference between the two constructions, contrasting the meanings of the simple past given in 4.14 with the following meanings of the simple present perfective:

(a) STATE LEADING UP TO THE PRESENT

That house has been empty for ages.
Have you known my sister for long?

(b) INDEFINITE EVENT(S) IN A PERIOD LEADING UP TO THE PRESENT

Have you (ever) been to Florence?
All our children have had measles.

(c) HABIT (ie recurrent event) IN A PERIOD LEADING UP TO THE PRESENT

Mr Terry has sung in this choir ever since he was a boy.
The province has suffered from disastrous floods throughout its history.

Of these meanings, (a) corresponds to the 'state past' use of the simple past, but differs from it in specifying that the state continues at least up to the present moment (cf: That house was empty for ages - but now it's been sold); (b) corresponds to the 'event past', but differs from it in that the past time in question is indefinite rather than definite (cf: Did you go to Florence (last summer) ?); (c) corresponds to the 'habitual past', but, as with (a), the period identified must continue up to the present.

Note In AmE there is a tendency to use the past tense in preference to the present perfective, especially for the indefinite past; eg: Did you ever go to Florence ? (c/4.13 Note lb], 4.22 Note [a ]).

--

Have you seen the Javanese Art Exhibition? [yet]
Did you see the Javanese Art Exhibition? [when it was here]

The first of these implies that the Exhibition is still open; the second that the Exhibition has finished. From this concern with a period still existing at the present time, it is only a short step to the second implication often associated with the present perfective, viz that the event is recent. The simple present perfective is often used to report a piece of news:

_., , > the news? The president has resigned.

Because of this connotation of recency, B's reply in the following exchange must be considered absurdly inappropriate:

A: Has the postman left any letters? B: Yes, he did six months ago.

Since postmen in general deliver letters daily, the implicit time zone in this case would be no longer than a day.

[Note] In AmE, the simple past is often preferred to the present perfective for the variants of the indefinite past discussed in this section. Compare [6 ], for example, with Did the children come home yet? <esp AmE). Other AmE examples are: I just came back; You told me already; and without an adverb: /*m tired -1 had a long day.

* A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Quirk et al.]

Re: correct sentences 24/11

Teo — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:09:54 GMT

They won't smoke ever since they saw a film on lung cancer.

What does "won't" mean here?

Re: correct sentences 24/11

Teo — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:09:49 GMT

http://forums.eslcafe.com/student/viewtopic.php?t=22113&highlight=

Re: simple present + FOR

Clive — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:15:34 GMT

Hi,

So do "I AM here for 2 hours" and "I WILL be here for 2 hours" mean the same?

Generally speaking, yes. However, I feel that the former can also express a little more intention, a little more purpose. eg

My doctor always keeps me waiting for a long time. I resent this. I walk into his waiting room and I tell the receptionist:

I am here for half an hour. After that, I'm going home and I'll find a new doctor!

In addition, don't forget about 'I'm going to go home'.

Is "during" always a preposition and never an adverb? Yes, 'during' is considered a preposition.

Have a nice weekend Thank you, you too.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: simple present + FOR

Hela — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 06:18:35 GMT

Dear Clive,

So do "I AM here for 2 hours" and "I WILL be here for 2 hours" mean the same?

Is "during" always a preposition and never an adverb? e.g. "During the interveiw, Mr Copeland..."

Have a nice weekend,

Hela

Re: simple present + FOR

Clive — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 02:40:14 GMT

Hi Hela,

I know that normally we should use the past (simple or perfect) with the adverb "for" This is not a good way to think about it. eg I will be here for two hours is fine.

but how come that in the following example we can use the simple present ?

I am here for two hours. Without a context, it's hard to know if this grammar conveys the person's meaning. I wonder if she means 'I have been here for two hours' (eg I arrived at 2pm and I am speaking at 4pm?)

I walk in now. It's 2pm. I say I am here for two hours. My meaning is that my intention is to stay until 4pm and then to leave.

eg At the start of my vacation, I might tell someone I am here in Mexico for two weeks.

Best wishes, Clive

simple present + FOR

Hela — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 06:41:34 GMT

Dear teachers,

I know that normally we should use the past (simple or perfect) with the adverb "for" but how come that in the following example we can use the simple present ?

I am here for two hours.

Many thanks,
hela

Re: What is the difference between the past continuous tense and the simple p..

pieanne — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:58:52 GMT

Voltaire101 wrote:

I can differe make the difference between the present continuous tense and the simple present tense.

The difference is :

- The simple present tense is used for a repeated or habitual action that happens always or often or usually. In these cases you'll have an adverb or a complement that tells you you have to use it. Or you use it to express truths that cannot be changed (water boils at 100Â°)

- The present continuous tense is used for an action that is still continuing now. Rather "an action that is happening right now. No continuing for the present continuous tense.

but I can't differe make the difference between the past continuous tense and the simple past tense.

When we use the past continuous tense, we use it as these sentences:

1- The teacher was giving us a lesson.

2- A year, ago I was working in London.

And we use the simple past tense as these sentences:

1- The thief picked his pocket.

2- I passed the river yesterday.

There is no context to all of these sentences, and context gives you the hint for the tense you have to use.

.................

We can also use the simple past tense with the past continuous tense as these sentences:

1- The teacher was giving us a lesson when a little dog walked into the room.

2 - While we were having supper,all the lights went out.

3- All the lights went out while we were having supper.

4 - Harry did his homework while the other boys were playing football.

ÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙÙ

Ok , what is the problem If I say :

1- The teacher gave us a lesson when a little dog walked into the room. Looks as if the teacher gave you a lesson during the very short time it took the little dog to walk into the room; 10 seconds?

2- While we had supper,all the lights went out.

3- All the lights went out while we had supper.

4 - Hrry did his homework while the other boys played football.

..................

When to use the simple past tense and when to use the present cotinuous tense?

Re: First time, Second cake, Third photo, Last...

CalifJim — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:15:46 GMT

You want Could you also check the tenses? (Not with the adverb also between the verb and its object!)

1. Same tense sequence as I advised earlier. Sounds fine to me.
2. Sounds a little strange. I prefer Monday will be the first time I go there. (Simple present for scheduled future event) (I don't think you really meant be be, by the way!) Also possible in this context is Monday will be the first time I've been there.
3. Same as previous example. Again I prefer the versions I gave just above. (Again, no be be)
4. Awkward though it is, if I had to say something with this pattern, I would say This is the first time I'm going there in both clauses. I don't know why you switched from present to future after that set-up of an on-going present time situation ( I'm in my car ... ).

A lot of these seem awkward. An alternate form is less so:

1. Next week [I'll be / I'm] going to San Francisco for the first time.
2. [I'll be / I'm] going there for the first time on Monday.
3. [I'll be / I'm] going there for the first time on Monday.
4. I'm in my car, (and I'm) going to San Francisco for the first time. (I'll get used to it.) [All the rest of this sentence is unrealistically repetitive, except as a grammar question!]
________

The transform to conditional is as follows. (These complexities are not very idiomatic. You will rarely hear this sort of thing. In your place I would not spend a lot of time drilling myself on these oddities.)

If I have to go ..., Monday will be the first time I've (I have) gone there.
If I had to go ..., Monday would be the first time I'd (I had) gone there.
_________

A digression:

Note that some expressions are somewhat limited. For example, be going to for an idiomatic future is really only available in two tenses.

I have never tried eggplant, but I'm going to try it some day. (*I will be going to try it ...)
I had never tried eggplant, but I was going to try it some day. (*I would be going to try it ...)
*I have never tried eggplant, but I have been going to try it some day. [Awful!]
*I had never tried eggplant, but I had been going to try it some day. [Really awful!]

And you can just forget things like *I will have been going to try ...!!!

I think the expression ... first time (that) I ... is similar in this respect. Others may have different opinions, of course.

CJ

Re: The book sold ...

CalifJim — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:03:20 GMT

<...adverb...>

That's a useful test.

Yes, especially the adverb easily, and apparently the aspect is equally important, these middle constructions favoring the habitual or timeless simple present.

The meat cuts easily.
This fabric soils easily.
Idaho potatoes bake beautifully.
Copper rods bend easily.
Labels tape easily to that kind of cover.
That door opens easily.

CJ