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Hsiaoyunh Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Present perfect vs. past tense vs. past perfect

Is this the first time that you___ Beijing ?

A. have visited B.visited
C. had visited

I don't know if I should choose A or B. Also, is there any possibility that we can choose C?
  

Top answer

A. " is the best option. Remember that the Present Perfect is a present tense, and agrees with the present simple "is" in the question.

— Ratiatum

  • A.
  • " is the best option.
  • Remember that the Present Perfect is a present tense, and agrees with the present simple "is" in the question.
  • B.
  • " is unusual.
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10 Answers
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A. "Is this the first time that you have visited Beijing?" is the best option. Remember that the Present Perfect is a present tense, and agrees with the present simple "is" in the question.

B. "Is this the first time that you visited Beijing?" is unusual. A better sentence would be "Was this the first time that you visited Beijing?"

C. "Is this the first time that you
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Thank you very much!

I still have some questions. Could somebody help me out?

1. His grandpa _____ for ten years. (A) has died (B) was dead (C) has been died (D) has been dead



I would choose A, B, and D. Do they have different meanings?

2. I ______ him for a long time. (A) didn’t see (B) don’t see (C) haven’t seen (D) wasn’t seeing
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1. Only (D) is possible: His grandpa has been dead for ten years.

(A) is impossible because we cannot use present perfect with a specific time reference.
(B) is gramatically possible but makes no sense unless after 10 years the grandfather was raised from the dead!
(C) is impossible: "has been" + past participle is a passive structure which only works with a transitive verb ("di
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Can you explain more about answer (B) His grandpa was dead for ten years. I'm still confused about it.
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Can you explain more about answer (B) His grandpa was dead for ten years. I'm still confused about it. Thank you.

Also, so we can use both the past tense and the present perfect with the "for a period of time" without any differernce?

Then the following question:

How long ______ English? For 3 years. (A) do you study (B) did you study (C) are you studyi
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Even in American English, "I didn't see him for ten years" and "I haven't seen him for ten years" have different meanings.
With the first, after a 10-year period, I saw him again. My high school boyfriend joined the Navy, and I didn't see him for ten years, and then, on the eve of my wedding, he showed up and I realized I still loved him.
With the second, the period of time since the last
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How about "already" and "yet"?

1. I haven't eaten dinner yet.

2. I didn't eat dinner yet.

Do the above sentences have the exact same meaning?
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I am told that others in the US do use #2 with the same meaning of #1.
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If I say "my grandpa was dead for ten years", this implies that he is now alive again. It would be like saying:

"My grandpa was dead from 1999 till 2007, but then he rose to life again and is alive and well today." Grammatically this sentence is possible, but it doesn't make sense.

On the other had, I could say "My grandpa was ill for ten years." The implication here is that
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Is the first time that you had visited Beijing?
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