has baked/baked

Question

Hi everyone,I would like to ask. There is this situation: I come to visit my friend and there is a cake on the table. I would like to know Who has baked it / Who Baked it.Which form should be used? And why?Thank you a lot. Michal

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

"Who baked it" would be the correct form here.
"Who baked this cake?" or "who baked the cake we ate last Tuesday?" both refer to a particular cake.
"Who has baked a cake?" does not refer to one particular cake, and, depending on the context, might mean something like "Who has experience of baking a cake?" or (perhaps if some people had previously been asked to bake cakes) "Which of you baked cakes today?"

Misko Pisko · Answer

Thank you for your answer but I still don't get it.

Why couldn't I ask whether someone has (an?, the?, O?) experience of baking this particular cake? (btw, why didn't you use an article for the word experience?)

Is there any situation suitable for using: "Who has baked the cake?"

What if I'm not asking about baking but tasting. Should the present perfect be used? I.e. "Who has (already) tasted this cake?"

When would I ask "Who tasted this cake"? Could you give me an example sentence?

Is there a rule that every time I can feel already in the meaning, I use the perfect tense?

Who directed this move?
Who has (already) directed this kind of movie?
Who ate my cake? (complaint)
Who has (already) eaten my cake? (the piece I gave them for a dessert)
I will have (already) done it by the time you are here.
How many books had she (already) written by her thirties?
...

Is this the answer to my previous questions?

Misko Pisko · Answer

already or never

Anonymous · Answer

I wrote a reply to your follow-up question, but it seems to have got lost somewhere, so let me quickly reply again.
First off, I'm sorry if I confused you more.
I didn't use an article with "experience" because "an experience" is a single encounter with a situation, but "experience" means knowledge gained from encountering, or doing, something one or more times.
"He had an experience of flying a plane." (He once took the controls of a plane for a few minutes)
"She has experience of flying in the Arctic" (She has flown in the Arctic before, and knows what to do)
I was using "who has experience of baking a cake?" in the sense of "who has done it before and knows how to do it?"
"Who has (already) tasted this cake?" would probably be asking who has personal knowledge of the flavor of the cake.
"Who tasted this cake?" sounds ,to me as though there is a problem. Maybe nobody was supposed to touch the cake, but someone nibbled a bit from the corner. Or maybe someone should have tasted this awful cake before it was served to the guests.
Is there a rule that every time I can feel already in the meaning, I use the perfect tense?

Who directed this move?
Who has (already) directed this kind of movie?
Who ate my cake? (complaint)
Who has (already) eaten my cake? (the piece I gave them for a dessert)
I will have (already) done it by the time you are here.
How many books had she (already) written by her thirties?

Is this the answer to my previous questions? I think you've got it.

Misko Pisko · Answer

Thank you very much. You helped me a lot. Have a nice day <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Grammarfreak · Answer

This is how I see you questions:

Why couldn't I ask whether someone has (an?, the?, O?) experience of baking this particular cake? (btw, why didn't you use an article for the word experience?)
In natural English, article sometimes is not needed in questions of this nature, i.e. Do you have time for a cup of coffee". Or, a mother would ask her kid before he leaves for school " do you have money for lunch?".

Is there any situation suitable for using: "Who has baked the cake?" Not idiomatically in my opinion.

What if I'm not asking about baking but tasting. Should the present perfect be used? I.e. "Who has (already) tasted this cake?" Say " has anyone tasted the cake?"

When would I ask "Who tasted this cake"? Could you give me an example sentence?
No, I'd say " did anyone taste the cake?"

Is there a rule that every time I can feel already in the meaning, I use the perfect tense? No, the use of "already" is based on the the semantics of the sentence. If I repeated my answers to you 3 times and you still don't understand, I could say " I've already explained 3 times".

Who directed this move? --Good
Who has (already) directed this kind of movie? -- Not good
Who ate my cake? (complaint) -- Good
Who has (already) eaten my cake? (the piece I gave them for a dessert) Idiomatically awkward.
I will have (already) done it by the time you are here. --- The use of "already not natural at all.
How many books had she (already) written by her thirties? ----Not semantically clear and incorrect use of "already"

Misko Pisko · Answer

Hi grammarfreak, thank you for your response.

I know that "already" should be used only to stress that something happened prior to some specific time. I used it in brackets only to assure myslef that I understand the concept of using perfect tenses well. Because everytime I say "something has happened" it logically means that "something has already happened at least once". No? It would sound awkward to use it all the time - that might be the reason people use it only to stress the information saying that it happened before.

Could you please correct the sentences into the way a native speaker would say them? (if possible

)

Who has (already) directed this kind of movie? -- Not good

Has anyone directed this kind of movie?

Who has (already) eaten my cake? (the piece I gave them for a dessert) Idiomatically awkward.

Has anyone tried my cake yet?

I will have (already) done it by the time you are here. --- The use of "already not natural at all.

I will have already done it many times by the time you are here! (I'm just trying:)

How many books had she (already) written by her thirties? ----Not semantically clear and incorrect use of "already"

How many books had she written by her thirties?

Grammarfreak · Answer

You've just corrected all your previous questions. No need for anyone's help. I am curious though for the reason(s) you posted the awkward questions in the first place if you already knew the answers.

Misko Pisko · Answer

I didn't know that my sentences sounded awkward when I asked before. I corrected them the same way you corrected the first one ("Who tasted the cake" -&gt; "Did anyone taste the cake?") plus I removed "already" (which I supposed could be there because it says "something has happened before at least once" without emphasising it). I just wanted to be sure i did that right. Thanks

has baked/baked

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