tenses

Question

Good morning,I often read "I Bold*have just been offered*Bold a new position in this company", so the Simple Past Perfect/Past Perfect. Why is this tense used?Could one not say "I Bold*was just offered*Bold a new position in this company". Is it wrong? Is there a slight difference?Thanks for your help

Canadian45 · Accepted Answer

AnonymousGood morning,I often read "I Bold*have just been offered*Bold a new position in this company", It's present perfect tense. Why is this tense used? Because it is one of the correct ways to say that.

Could one not say "I Bold*was just offered*Bold a new position in this company". Yes, you can. Is there a slight difference? no

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousIs there a slight difference?

You can say either one.

have just been offered updates the listener about your current status with respect to your application for a position.
was just offered merely relates that a certain event happened.

CJ

Canadian45 · Answer

CalifJimAnonymousIs there a slight difference?

You can say either one. have just been offered updates the listener about your current status with respect to your application for a position.was just offered merely relates that a certain event happened.CJ

I quite disagree. "was just offered" also updates your current status. That's what "just" means! Which tense one uses makes no difference.

CalifJim · Answer

canadian45"was just offered" also updates your current status.

Only by implication, in my opinion. Not because of the verb tense itself.

Consider having a drink at an outdoor table at a cafe. A naked woman streaks by.

Did you see what just happened?
Have you seen what has just happened?

There is no reason for an update of current status to be given; it's an unexpected event; so the second version is anomalous. I don't think the word 'just' is the determinative factor.
__________

Also, sometimes it "doesn't make a difference" which tense you use, but that doesn't mean there can't be a slight difference in meaning between the one tense and the other. It just happens that in certain cases the slight difference is irrelevant to the situation. Both shades of meaning might apply.

CJ

Canadian45 · Answer

a) CalifJim canadian45"was just offered" also updates your current status. Only by implication, in my opinion. I would say it is much more than implication; it says so. Not because of the verb tense itself.
That's my point; the rest of the sentence makes the meaning clear amd the same regardless of which tense one chooses.

b) Consider having a drink at an outdoor table at a cafe. A naked woman streaks by.
Did you see what just happened? Have you seen what has just happened? There is no reason for an update of current status to be given; it's an unexpected event; so the second version is anomalous. I don't think that has any relevance to a). I don't think anyone with more than a passing knowledge of English would say "Have you seen" there.

I don't think the word 'just' is the determinative factor.________ But that's what makes it clear, especially with the simple past, that it is current information.
Also, sometimes it "doesn't make a difference" which tense you use, but that doesn't mean there can't be a slight difference in meaning between the one tense and the other. The question is whether the two tenses in our sentence do or do not have the same meaning. I think they clearly do.

It just happens that in certain cases the slight difference is irrelevant to the situation. Both shades of meaning might apply. I can't comment without specific examples.

CJ

For those who are interested, the below is a thread partly related to this one. The views I expressed there are not shared by everyone else, especially by some speakers of British English, but I think they are quite valid views..

**The views in that thread are not correct because they are my views. Rather, they are my views because they seem correct to me.

Fivejedjon · Answer

*Personal Opinion*

I think that this is one of those cases where there is simply no single answer that will please everybody. At one end of the scale we have people who claim that there is always a difference in meaning, admiittedly slight at times, between the present perfect and the past simple. At the other end of the scale there are people who claim that there is no difference at all between the meanings of the two forms when we are talking about a very recent past-time situation, especially if words such as 'just' or 'already are part of the utterance.

Until very recently, we preferred the present perfect in BrE; indeed many of us felt, and some still do feel, that the past simple is wrong. I have the impression that the past simple is beoming more acceptable for some Brits.

RandomGuy · Answer

I must say that this is an interesting subject. For months I have mulled over the nuances between the past simple and present perfect in such situations to the point of delirium. To a certain extent, I agree with every post above. You all make good points. All things considered, from now on I will just use whichever tense sounds best to me, saving myself a severe headache!

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonAt one end of the scale we have people who claim that there is always a difference in meaning, admiittedly slight at times

I would be one of those! To me the past is always narrative; the present perfect always a report of 'how things stand now', even if that's the result of a past event.

CJ

Canadian45 · Answer

CalifJimfivejedjonAt one end of the scale we have people who claim that there is always a difference in meaning, admiittedly slight at times

I would be one of those! To me the past is always narrative; the present perfect always a report of 'how things stand now', even if that's the result of a past event. CJ

In my opinion, that is an entirely arbitrary distinction, without basis in reality. But you are not the only one who makes that distinction.

'I received your letter of August 10.' is no more or less narrative than 'I have received your letter of August 10.' Neither one tells us how things stand now.

CalifJim:

Sorry for the late addition. Something got me thinking about this topic again a few days ago and I remembered what you said in your last post here. I should have commented earlier, but I am doing it now. My comments are above in blue..

CalifJim · Answer

canadian45Sorry for the late addition.

As 'they' say, better late than never.

canadian45'I received your letter of August 10.' is no more or less narrative than 'I have received your letter of August 10.' Neither one tells us how things stand now.

In any case, you can surely predict by now my response.

Consider adding something like and it made me angry, which is clearly narrative; one thing happened, then another thing (the reaction) happened.

I received it. It made me angry.

The simple past makes sense to me there, but I would not choose any of the other of the possible permutations because the use of the present perfect in either part of it breaks the sense of narrative for me.

I have received it. It has made me angry.
I received it. It has made me angry.
I have received it. It made me angry.

It's possible, as you say, that I'm imagining things, but I don't think so.

CJ
______________

In any case I have to admit that if you say them all over and over, trying to work out the subtleties, they all start to sound completely alike.

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