Grammar
Corner
1. The Present Perfect
Tense
This is the verb tense many people do
not always use correctly.
A. They use the Present Perfect
when they should
be using the Simple Past.
Examples
(a) I
have told you yesterday. ý
(b) I told you yesterday. þ
(c) I have met him an hour ago.
ý
(d) I met him an
hour ago. þ
Note: Told and met are
verbs in the Simple Past. The Past Tense should be used in the above sentences
because the specific time yesterday or an hour ago is important to the speaker
and is expressed. It should be used even when the specific time is not expressed
in the sentence, but the speaker has it in mind or has stated it in an earlier
sentence
More Examples
(e) Last night I have seen your son at the airport.
ý
(f) Last night I saw your
brother at the airport. þ
(g) I was at the airport last
night. I saw her there. þ
(h) I have told you many times since
last Sunday. þ
(i) She is not sure whether she
has taken the pill. þ
(j) He has seen her picture but has never met
her. þ
Note: Have seen, have told, has taken, has seen and
has met are verbs in the Present Perfect tense. You use the Present Perfect when
you do not regard the specific time as important and you don't mention it.
Therefore it follows that you must not use specific time expressions such
as last night, one afternoon, in July, during the interval and at 10 o'clock
when using Present Perfect. But you can use expressions like always, yet,
already, so far, since and never with Present Perfect.
B. They use
the Past Perfect tense when they
should be using the Present Perfect.
Examples
(k) She is not here. She had gone
home. ý
(l) She is not here. She has gone
home. þ
Note: You use the Present Perfect has gone to express the idea of an action
just completed without expressing a specific time. To use the Past Perfect had
gone here is wrong because Past Perfect is used when you want to express the
idea that happened before another action in the past. For example: She
had gone home long before they arrived.
More Examples
(m) He had always loved his wife. (Not any more!)
þ
(The Past Perfect tense
had loved is used here.)
(n) He has always loved his wife. (Even now.)
þ
(o) She said that she had updated the website.
þ
(The Past Perfect tense had updated is used here.)
(p) She says that she has updated the website.
þ
(q) I have updated the website. It is now more
interactive. þ
(r) He had seen her picture but has never met her.
ý
(s) He has seen her picture but has never met her.
þ
(t) He has just bought a digital camera but does not
know how to use it. þ
(u) "I'm not sure whether I've taken the pill," I said
þ
(v) I said I was not sure whether I had taken
the pill. þ
End of
lesson 19.06.2002
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