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Zygis Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
The Present perfect or the Past simple?
Hi, I want to know which tense you would choose in that kind of a sentence:
He has broken / broke his leg yesterday, so he can't walk now.
The time is clear, but there is a result now - he can't walk. Which of these tenses would be more preferable? Maybe I can use both of them in this situation?
Thanks!
He has broken / broke his leg yesterday, so he can't walk now.
The time is clear, but there is a result now - he can't walk. Which of these tenses would be more preferable? Maybe I can use both of them in this situation?
Thanks!
Top answer
Zygis He has broken / broke his leg yesterday, so he can't walk now. You may want to remember this hint: When you use present perfect, it's incorrect to use past time markers in the sentence. So only past tense is proper with "yesterday".
- Zygis He has broken / broke his leg yesterday, so he can't walk now.
- You may want to remember this hint: When you use present perfect, it's incorrect to use past time markers in the sentence.
- So only past tense is proper with "yesterday".
- However, you can use present perfect in this pattern: He has broken his leg recently, therefore he is unable to walk for while.
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4 Answers
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ZygisYou may want to remember this hint: When you use present perfect, it's incorrect to use past time markers in the sentence. So only past tense is proper with "yesterday".He has broken /broke his leg yesterday, so he can't walk now.
However, you can use present perfect in this pattern: He has broken
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Hi,
Since he broke his leg yesterday, you're allowed to use the past simple form only.
He broke his leg yesterday (so he can't walk now).
However, if you didn't know when he broke his leg, but wanted to emphasize the fact that he can't walk now,
you would use the present perfect form. He has broken his leg.
You don't have to mention he can't walk now be
Since he broke his leg yesterday, you're allowed to use the past simple form only.
He broke his leg yesterday (so he can't walk now).
However, if you didn't know when he broke his leg, but wanted to emphasize the fact that he can't walk now,
you would use the present perfect form. He has broken his leg.
You don't have to mention he can't walk now be
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It is quite confusing , but I would chose Past Simple because we know when exactly the activity happened .
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