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Paul_h Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
He watched sth. lately / has watched?
Hi,
I'm struggling with present perfect vs. past again.
He has watched too much XYZ lately.
or
He watched too much XYZ lately.
I could see reasons for both, but I'm not sure. Nor do I know the difference.
What about recently?
I've moved into my new office recently.
or
I moved into my new office recently.
Regards,
Paul
I'm struggling with present perfect vs. past again.
He has watched too much XYZ lately.
or
He watched too much XYZ lately.
I could see reasons for both, but I'm not sure. Nor do I know the difference.
What about recently?
I've moved into my new office recently.
or
I moved into my new office recently.
Regards,
Paul
Top answer
Hi, First, permit me to ask if you are OK with the two tenses used by themselves. eg Mary cooked dinner. Mary has cooked dinner.
- Hi, First, permit me to ask if you are OK with the two tenses used by themselves.
- eg Mary cooked dinner.
- Mary has cooked dinner.
- Do you know the difference?
- Best wishes, Clive
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5 Answers
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Hi,
First, permit me to ask if you are OK with the two tenses used by themselves. eg
Mary cooked dinner.
Mary has cooked dinner.
Do you know the difference?
Best wishes, Clive
First, permit me to ask if you are OK with the two tenses used by themselves. eg
Mary cooked dinner.
Mary has cooked dinner.
Do you know the difference?
Best wishes, Clive
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Well in my opinion the first one is lacking a reference to a point in time. The second one I would use when saying something like "She's cooked dinner so we can eat now." The first one I would use to express something like "She cooked dinner yesterday, today it's my turn."
Paul
Paul
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Hi Paul,
OK, fine, I just wanted to know where you were at.
Generally, the addition of these adverbs seems to emphasize the connection to the present. So, in general, I prefer the Present Perfect with them and not the Simple Past. But I think you need to look at the individual sentence, and also the context, which we don't have here.
Here are a few more commen
OK, fine, I just wanted to know where you were at.
Generally, the addition of these adverbs seems to emphasize the connection to the present. So, in general, I prefer the Present Perfect with them and not the Simple Past. But I think you need to look at the individual sentence, and also the context, which we don't have here.
Here are a few more commen
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Thanks Clive!
That sheds some light on the whole issue. Coming from a German background, present perfect is one if the hardest things for me in English. We use it all the time, which makes it hard for me to use in English, because I know it's different there.
I couldn't think of a context for the simple past version off the top of my head, but I believe I understand the concept.
That sheds some light on the whole issue. Coming from a German background, present perfect is one if the hardest things for me in English. We use it all the time, which makes it hard for me to use in English, because I know it's different there.
I couldn't think of a context for the simple past version off the top of my head, but I believe I understand the concept.
00
Hi again,
As a final comment, don't get the mistaken idea that we English speakers always think carefully about the nuances before choosing a tense or making a sentence. We don't.
One of the signs that someone who speaks Engish well is not a native speaker is often that their English is too careful and precise.
As a final comment, don't get the mistaken idea that we English speakers always think carefully about the nuances before choosing a tense or making a sentence. We don't.
One of the signs that someone who speaks Engish well is not a native speaker is often that their English is too careful and precise.
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