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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Difference in tenses

What is the difference between these, and when should each be used?

We are given some questions to answer at home.
We have been given some questions to answer at home.
We were given some questions to answer at home.
  

Top answer

Anonymous We are given some questions to answer at home. This describes something that typically happens, something that is the usual event at present. A) What is this course like?

  • Anonymous We are given some questions to answer at home.
  • This describes something that typically happens, something that is the usual event at present.
  • A) What is this course like?
  • B) Well, each day we study something in class, and then we are given some questions to answer at home.
  • Anonymous We have been given some questions to answer at home.
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5 Answers
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AnonymousWe are given some questions to answer at home.
This describes something that typically happens, something that is the usual event at present.
A) What is this course like?
B) Well, each day we study something in class, and then we are given some questions to answer at home.
AnonymousWe have been given some
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Thank you. That was very helpful.

I thought that have been given (we got the papers sometime in the recent past, maybe yesterday) is used for something in the past, and not about to happen today. I can see that in your explanation. Is that correct?

Because I was mainly confused between the use of we are given and have been given.

So are given is used when we talk
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In a context like this, we have been given some questions to answer at home would suggest that we were given the questions in the recent past, probably earlier today, and we are answering them now, or will be answering them in the near future, perhaps this evening.
in a context like this, we are given some questions to answer at home suggests a daily, or recurring,
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Thank you. So the we are given is used for a present situation and what usually happens (as a daily routine) as you said, and it is used a narrative of telling what happens, but it should as the have been given in which we were given something that is due for a later time as you have explained. Have I understood correctly?
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We are given... describes what usually happens.
Have been given... describes something we were given earlier, where the whole activity is not yet complete (we presumably haven't answered the questions yet).

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