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Rafay Shaukat Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Diff. between "sub + to-have" and "sub without to+have"

As the title says, what's the difference between the two?

Examples:
"I have managed to mess my computer up" vs. "I managed to mes my computer up".
  

Top answer

The first uses the present perfect and implies that your computer is now broken (and needs to be fixed or replaced by a new one. The second uses the simple past. Your computer is fixed now or is still broken (and perhaps you no longer use it) Also "mess up my computer" is better and more common than "mess my computer up".

— Ivanhr

  • The first uses the present perfect and implies that your computer is now broken (and needs to be fixed or replaced by a new one.
  • The second uses the simple past.
  • Your computer is fixed now or is still broken (and perhaps you no longer use it) Also "mess up my computer" is better and more common than "mess my computer up".
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1 Answers
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The first uses the present perfect and implies that your computer is now broken (and needs to be fixed or replaced by a new one. The second uses the simple past. Your computer is fixed now or is still broken (and perhaps you no longer use it)

Also "mess up my computer" is better and more common than "mess my computer up".
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