3 bothering questions

Question

Howdy,1. Why do we use the past simple and not the present perfect here?Did you miss me? Why can't we say Have you missed me?Isn't the present perfect used when you want to describe something that has started in the past and continues till the moment of speaking?2. Are these sentences correct?My family is typical.My family is small.My family is my husband, my sister and my brother.3. Which one is correct?Many people were searching for the missing girl.Many people searched for the missing girl.I was working for that company for 5 years.I workerd for that company for 5 years.Thanks

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anglista20081. Why do we use the past simple and not the present perfect here?

Did you miss me? Why can't we say Have you missed me?

You say this after you have returned from somewhere, so the idea is "Did you miss me while I was away?" You're not still away when you ask the question.

anglista20082. Are these sentences correct?

My family is typical.
My family is small.
My family is my husband, my sister and my brother.

Yes, but in the third it would be better to say "My family consists of my husband, ...".

anglista20083. Which one is correct?
* Many people were searching for the missing girl.
* Many people searched for the missing girl.

* I was working for that company for 5 years.
* I ~~workerd~~ worked for that company for 5 years.

All are possible. The third is not as natural to my ear, but it could work in the right context.

CJ

Anglista2008 · Answer

thanks a lot,

is there a difference in meaning bewteen those sentences in the last question?

CalifJim · Answer

anglista2008thanks a lot,is there a difference in meaning bewteen those sentences in the last question?

Many people were searching for the missing girl.
Many people searched for the missing girl.

I was working for that company for 5 years.
I workerd for that company for 5 years.

Yes and no. There is a difference in how the speaker is thinking about the situation, but sometimes that doesn't change the meaning very much. Those with the -ing forms are often used as "set-ups" for a following sentence or clause. That is, they are used to describe a background situation against which another event takes place. Those without the -ing forms are usually complete in themselves.

X - the present moment

[event]

<---- activity ----->

Time >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

......< --- were searching --- >...........X...........

...........[searched]...........................X..........

.....< --- was working --- > ................X...........

........[worked].................................X............

CJ

Anglista2008 · Answer

Thanks a bunch CJ.

I'm still wondering about this difference between the past simple and the past continuous. What tense would you use if you didn't want to merely set a background for another past activity? Probably it would be the past simple, right? But what if I want to highlight the fact that something continued for a certain amount of time?

Besides, doesn't the present continuous have this incompleteness embedded in its structure?

I can hardly see any difference between, say:

What were you doing yesterday? I was watching TV.
What did you do yesterday? I watched TV/

And yet, dunno why, the first one sounds better to me.

CalifJim · Answer

anglista2008I can hardly see any difference between, say:

* What were you doing yesterday? I was watching TV.
* What did you do yesterday? I watched TV.

And yet, dunno (I don't know) why, the first one sounds better to me.

I can hardly see any difference either, but both sound fine to me. The -ing form makes the time period open. Without it the time period is closed. (Maybe when you speak of "incompleteness" you mean the same as I mean by "open period".) The speaker and listener may want to conceive of the situation in either way.

The first one could imply "when I called and you didn't answer" or "when the earthquake struck", because, as I said above, the -ing form can imply a background -- an open-ended time period -- against which some other relevant situation occurs. In fact, in reponse to "What were you doing yesterday?" you might get "When yesterday?"

The second one can't be used the same way. It suggests a closed time-period -- a block of time in which something was accomplished. Unlike the -ing form, this form can be used to list in sequence all the things you accomplished yesterday.

CJ

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