Some Phrases about time.

MIA6 — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 21:00:23 GMT

I have some problems,they are the phrases about time: yet, today, so far, to date, up to now, recently, lately, up to these few days, this morning, now, up to present. what do they mean? Are some of them duration? Do some of them represent sometime/some time in the past? yet: 1.up to the present time 2. at this time, for the present. so here what does up to the present time mean? does that mean from the past to now,include now this moment Or some time before now this moment? i think so far, to date, up to now, up to present have the same meaning. if they mean from the past to now,include now this moment, so they are duration. I hope you can tell me the meanings of every phrase i gave you, if you know their usages, like what kind of sentence i can put them in it, i hope you also can tell me the usages of them. Thanks.

So if so far, to date.... are durations, then we can use those phrases in the sentence of present perfect tense. just like I have seen six people so far. it means i saw six people,and still looking at six people now Or it is like from the past,i saw 5 people, and i am now looking at the sixth person Or it means i saw six people before.(because i heard my teacher also use so far in the past tense,so i am not sure if so far means from the past to now this moment) Sometimes i am confused about the usage of present perfect tense is Actions which started in the past and are still continuing. just like I have eaten chicken for half an hour, it means i ate it in the past, and still eating now. but if i say I have written letterS for 2 hours. does it mean I wrote letterS at the same time in the past and still writing THEM now for 2 hours?(i think you have no able to write 2 letters or 3 letters at the same time, we only can write one letter once,and then write another letter.) Or it means i wrote letters before (not the same time),and i am now still writing letter(no "s")? How about this: I have seen six people for 1 hour, does it mean i saw six people at the same time in the past, and still looking at them now Or I saw 5 people before,and i am now looking at the sixth person? So my point is sometimes if the objective noun is plural in a present perfect tense sentence and it means Actions which started in the past and are still continuing, how can we understand it? we understand we did them in the same time,and now still doing them?or we need to according to the daily experience,just like I have written letters for 2 hours, we won't write letters at the same time, we only write one letter once,and then write another letter,so it may not mean i wrote letterS in the past,and still writing THEM now.

I really hope all of you who see this post can answer my questions, guide me to the correct direction. Thanks a lot.

Plurals

Guest — Wed, 04 May 2005 17:01:00 GMT

How do you make "Last Will and Testament" plural? How about "Power of Attorney". As you can probably tell I work for an attorney and I don't want to sound ignorant when writing letters to people including more than one document. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

These compound words

lowsq — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:31:56 GMT

Are they completely the same between writing letters and letter writing? Do we normally write a heading in plural or singular e.g. Writing Letters or Writing a Letter? I think i post this in a wrong section. Anyway, hope any response from you.
Regards,

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Some Phrases about time.

Plurals

These compound words