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Grammar and Linguistics > Uh - Oh, I am stumped! ´Grammar ugh!´
Uh - Oh, I am stumped! ´Grammar ugh!´
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Vickiii
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Uh - Oh, I am stumped! ´Grammar ugh!´
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Question: Have you ever been to a wedding?
Answer: Yes I have, or, No I haven�t.
Problem:
Why do we answer a question about the past using the present tense of �have�?
BTW - I have no idea what the answer is to this question - I would love for someone to be able to tell me why i say this... |
3 Oct 2008
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Pattette
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Hi Vickii!
We don�t use the past because we are no asking about an specific point in the past
Ex: Did you go to a wedding yesterday / last month / last year?
When we use the Present Perfect it means that something has happened at some point in our lives before now, the exact time the action happened is not important.
Hope this can be helpful!! |
3 Oct 2008
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PurpleFlower
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Hi Vickii,
First thing; I always wanted to say thanks for your great contributions!!!
We use "Have" to answer present perfect questions because this is the auxiliary for this tense. It is in the same way we use "do� or �will". In this case Have replaces the whole question. Yes I have (Yes, I have been to a wedding)
I hope this helps. |
3 Oct 2008
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Logos
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If I may just add my little interpretation of using the Present Perfect. This tense is used precisely as Pattette said, for an event that happened in the past, but the big difference between the present perfect and the simple past is that the event still has some �influence� or �significance� to now.
It is commonly used of experiences - things that you may have done up till this point now. Have you been to a wedding? means from the day you were born up till this point in time, have you had the experience of attending a wedding and both answers Yes, I have or No, I haven�t can be correct.
The problem can come defining the term �now�. Now can be a very long time. If there is a time clause in the sentence, or it is intimated as being a fixed time then the tense used is the simple past. Also if the action is one that is a simple complete action then it is the simple past. But let�s examine this statement. �The president has died.� (I am not wishing ill will on any presidents) But this could be announced on a radio or tv broadcast. Now the presidents death is a completed action - he/she is dead - simple past tense, but if this has happened recently an the effects of the death are still being felt by the people, then it is reported in the present perfect.
The same could go with a report on a disaster. There has been a major flood in the area. The flood has stopped but the effects of the flood are still being felt now.
But in one week, or whenever the significance of the event has died down, then both would be reported as simple past tense.
Hope this helps |
3 Oct 2008
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CotterHUE
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Logos,
That�s a good explanation. I�d like to add the following points:
1. The present perfect can�t be used with a specific point of time. For example, the following would be wrong: "I have waited at the airport at 2:00." Here we use the simple past. (This alludes to the idea of an action as ongoing.)
2. However, with "for" and "since," we can express when an action began. Because of the nuance of the present perfect, we understand that the action continued for a length or time (or is continuing at present). For example: "I have waited at the airport since 2:00." or "I have waited at the airport for 4 hours."
3. The present perfect progressive is in most ways identical to the present perfect, but adds slightly more emphasis on the action as ongoing. "I have been waiting at the airport since 2:00! Where were you?!"
Hope this helps.
Chris Cotter
www.headsupenglish.com |
3 Oct 2008
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goodnesses
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DEAR , Vickiii
Thanks a lot for initiating such an interesting topic. I like it it.
Though I don�t have much to add to what the colleagues already stated, I can say I learned more than I thought I knew.
THANKS TO ALL and BEST REGARDS.
Hope the discussion will go on.
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3 Oct 2008
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Vickiii
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Thank you to everyone for their help. Now I am giong through with an ESOL jargon dictionary to ensure I understand the explanations. I am not sure how I manage to teach english somedays - I seriously get muddled when people start speaking about present perfects, simples pasts, and etc.
It was nice to receive sucha range of feedback from simple and straight forward with no jargon - right through to using proper terminology to describe the solution. I appreciate both ends of the spectrum even if I only understand one of them (at the moment!!!) 
BTW Chris - I love your website - have even recommended it a couple of times on the forums here. My students love the activities you have. I use your website and BBC english exclusively at the moment for my current events.
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4 Oct 2008
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CotterHUE
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Vicki,
Thank you so much for the positive comments. Developing materials can sometimes feel like working in a vacuum, even when you go and test them with a class. It feels very, very good to hear other people are using the materials and finding them useful.
Thank you again!
Chris
www.headsupenglish.com
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5 Oct 2008
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Vickiii
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Well thank you all for your incredible help.
I just did my first grammar lesson all about the present perfect (my student wanted the explanation - and I am here only to please!). Your explanations were very helpful and I found the website where pattette got that wonderful picture above - turned out to be an excellent resource! I am now in the process of making a worksheet with a very clear explanation. I couldn�t actually find one on this website that was exactly what i was after.
Cheers
Vicki |
7 Oct 2008
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Ayaniw
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Hi Vickii ,Logos and CotterHue and all the other colleagues. Thank you all.
Let me just add the following:
According to me, the Present Perfect can be used in the following cases:
A. A recently completed actions.
1. Our cat has just had kittens.
2. He has just left the house.
B. In questions without any time reference given.
1. Have you ever eaten snails?
The answers can be:
-Yes, I have(eaten).
-Yes I have never(eaten).
-Yes, I have already eaten snails.
-Yes, I ate some at John�s party last Saturday. (Notice, here we use the simple past because a time reference is mentioned in the answer.
2. Have you read any books by Kant?
-I�ve read four of his books so far.
-I read one of his books when I was a student.
C. It can be used with some adverbials:
-I have seen him lately.
-She has gone to London recently.
-Now that you have finished your work, you can go out and play.
-I have worked / I have been working for him since 1998.
D. A present result of a past activity:
Compare:
1. I came to school without my glasses this morning. (An event in the past, without any relation with the present.
talking about an event that happened this morning)
2. I�ve come to school without my glasses. (So, now I can�t see to read. An event that happened in the past but has a relation with the present.)
3. He has been jobless for six months.(He finds it difficult to feed his children.)
4. He has stayed ten years in England.(He probably knows a lot about the English and their language.)
E. Simple past or Present perfect with for ?
He was in prison for ten years. (Now, he is free. From 1960 to 1980? or from 1997 to 2007?. We don�t know. All we know is that he spent 10 years of his life in prison.)
He has been in prison for 10 years. (He is still in prison.) He was arrested in 1998, tried and imprisoned and he is still in prison.
Hope this helps. Bye all.
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8 Oct 2008
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