Hi~ I'm an EFL learner.
I'm studying English tense and aspect.
and I know simple past tense and perfect present tense are different.
for example, we can think
1.I didn't see him for a long time.
2.I haven't seen him for a long time.
first one would make sense in reference to a previously mentioned past event or time(e.g., I saw him at your wedding in 1994, and then I didn't see him for a long time)
and the second one might appear as an answer to the question Have you seen him lately?
but I can't explain these sentences in a way I tell you above.
1.The plane just arrived.
2.The plane has just arrived.
What situation can you think of at these sentences??
plz tell me the situation or context with detailed examples.
Have a nice day~ AND I love this site and people here.
I'm studying English tense and aspect.
and I know simple past tense and perfect present tense are different.
for example, we can think
1.I didn't see him for a long time.
2.I haven't seen him for a long time.
first one would make sense in reference to a previously mentioned past event or time(e.g., I saw him at your wedding in 1994, and then I didn't see him for a long time)
and the second one might appear as an answer to the question Have you seen him lately?
but I can't explain these sentences in a way I tell you above.
1.The plane just arrived.
2.The plane has just arrived.
What situation can you think of at these sentences??
plz tell me the situation or context with detailed examples.
Have a nice day~ AND I love this site and people here.
paradingbut I can't explain these sentences in a way I tell you above.I think that's because of the word just. It makes the action of arrival something that happened very recently, regardless of the tense.
1.The plane just arrived.
2.The plane has just arrived.
It's as if you had a picture with reds and greens, and you covered your picture with black paint, and then tried to find where the reds and greens were. You have sentences with differences -- you have "reds and greens":
The plane arrived. (Any time in the past, even years ago.)
The plane has arrived. (Very recently.)
And then, by adding "just", the differences are neutralized -- you've "covered up the reds and greens":
The plane just arrived. (Very recently.)
The plane has just arrived. (Very recently.)
Once you add adverbs, it becomes more difficult in some cases to explain the differences between tenses. The adverbs can almost overpower the meaning of the tenses.
CJ
P.S. I just noticed that Mr Wordy gave a much more succinct answer. I wonder why he is "Wordy", and not me.
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Comments
"I just saw him."
"I've just seen him."
I think the standard justifications for present perfect over past are:
(1) more immediate
(2) more intimate
Since "just" covers the first one, we're left with the second one.
it makes me smile.~ really thanks.
but what do you mean with the 'intimate' in your post?
is there any friendly relationship or something?
With the simple past (even with "just") it's more remote.
If I add now in the sentence, is it ok? The plane has just arrived now in Macao.