0
Nugso Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Why is present perfect used?

  1. Hello.
  3. 1-) My friends visited the Grand Canyon National Park last year.
  4. 2-) I have never been to the Grand Canyon National Park.
  5. 3-) But I have seen lots of wonderful pictures.
  6. 4-) And yesterday I bought a book about the Grand Canyon.
  7. 5-) I have read 30 pages already. It's really interesting
I'd like to know why present perfect is used instead of past tense in the 3rd sentence. According to site, where I quoted these examples from( ego4u.com), if we want to express what happened in the past, we use past tense whereas if we want to emhpasise the result we use present perfect. So should not the sentence have been " But I saw the lots of wonderful pictures. "

Thanks.
  

Top answer

The present perfect is often used to describe your experience (in this case the experience of having seen many Grand Canyon pictures). Besides, it's a natural continuation of the preceding sentence. I' ve never been to Grand Canyon but I' ve seen lots of wonderful pictures (of it).

— Ivanhr

  • The present perfect is often used to describe your experience (in this case the experience of having seen many Grand Canyon pictures).
  • Besides, it's a natural continuation of the preceding sentence.
  • I' ve never been to Grand Canyon but I' ve seen lots of wonderful pictures (of it).
  • (the experience of having never been there as well as the experience of having seen many pictures of it)
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

3 Answers
0
The present perfect is often used to describe your experience (in this case the experience of having seen many Grand Canyon pictures).

Besides, it's a natural continuation of the preceding sentence.

I've never been to Grand Canyon but I've seen lots of wonderful pictures (of it). (the experience of having never been there as well as the experience of having
0
0
Thank you, Ivanhr. But I'd also like to know whether it would still be correct if I wrote I saw lots of wonderful pictures.

Thanks.
0
0
No, it would be wrong in this context.
0

Related Questions