The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time.
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1answer
940 views
“The news is good.” Why?
We use "the news is good" instead of "the news are good."
What is the rationale behind this? Are there similar situations in English?
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2answers
3k views
“The train will leave” vs. “is going to leave” vs. “leaves” vs. “is leaving”
From the grammatical point of view all are correct, just the meaning are different, please bring your clarification, thank you.
The Train will leave at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
The Train is ...
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3answers
7k views
Difference between “are you done” and “have you done.”
I was just wondering, how can we differentiate "are you done?" and "have you done?", and
what is the appropriate way to use each?
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votes
3answers
599 views
What tense is “If I were a bird, I could fly”
The sentence is not referring to any time past, present of future. It's just referring to an imaginary condition which has never existed and seemingly will never exist. Still, the sentence and other ...
6
votes
3answers
5k views
Simple Past vs. Present Perfect: “was” vs. “has been” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Did it close” vs “Has it closed”?
Which is correct: “has died” or “died”?
How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?
...
6
votes
2answers
19k views
'I get it' vs. 'I got it'
When someone tells me something, how should I respond, "I get it" or "I got it"? I have a feeling that "I got it" means "I already knew the thing before you told me," and "I get it" means "Now I know ...
6
votes
3answers
242 views
Present simple on temporary action
Mary is sleeping in the living room while we redecorate her room.
Why is the present simple "redecorate" used? Present simple is used when there's something permanent, but they don't want to ...
5
votes
4answers
586 views
“He was the first person” vs. “he is the first person”
What is the correct tense to be used when talking about firsts?
He was the first person to reach the South Pole.
He is the first person to reach the South Pole.
The first one seems right, ...
5
votes
1answer
504 views
Past simple with today
For example, I want to say that I found a ball today. But "today" means action in present, am I right?
I've already searched the Internet and it seems the right way is this:
I found a ball today
...
5
votes
3answers
343 views
“He didn't know where New Jersey was”
I know the past tense carries the past tense in every dependent clause, but referring specifically to places or to things that are eternal, like the Earth, seems a bit weird and therefore we sometimes ...
5
votes
2answers
334 views
“The author wrote” vs. “the author writes”
What is the rule for the following examples?
In the passage, the author writes. . . .
In the passage, the author wrote. . . .
I’m trying to explain to my son that both are correct, but I can’t ...
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votes
3answers
446 views
Present tense for future events
Why does it sound perfectly natural to say Our flight leaves tomorrow at 6pm but weird to say It rains tomorrow at 6pm? What kind of scenario, if any, could make the rain sentence sound natural?
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1answer
180 views
Tense used with statistics
I would like to place a statistics in front of the sentence, followed by the agency that has reported it. The findings and reports were done many years ago. Which of the two is correct and why?
...
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1answer
2k views
Why are the past and present tenses of “read” spelt the same?
and only have different pronunciations?
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votes
1answer
320 views
Is every sentence in a tense?
I know that "tense" indicates time. If that is true, then not every sentence can be indicated of its tense.
Please review these sentences:
"If I could go to the market , I must have taken breakfast ...
5
votes
2answers
421 views
Grammaticalization of third person singular -s
Is there any evidence that the third person singular -s can be traced back to a lexical item before it became an inflection ? I am trying to see if the theory of grammaticalization applies to its ...
4
votes
3answers
434 views
Tense change: previous actions on something that's currently true
I'm describing a situation that happened in the past. To explain it, I want to use a description that is both true now and true when the situation happened.
Specifically, I want something like:
...
4
votes
2answers
174 views
Why present perfect in “When the night has come”?
In the song “Stand by Me”, we see a sentence like “when the night has come.”
I was taught that in a when clause, we use the past tense, yet the present perfect has been used in the sentence cited ...
4
votes
2answers
136 views
“Decided to do X the next time she went for a walk” vs. “…the next time she goes for a walk”
I came across this sentence in the book Grammar Essentials for Dummies which confused me.
The lion with a thorn in her paw decided to wear sneakers the next time she went for a walk in the jungle.
...
4
votes
1answer
152 views
Is it appropriate to omit “will not be”?
Often, someone will say:
I'm not living in a senior's home!
When the intended meaning is:
I will not be living in a senior's home!
Is this acceptable?
4
votes
1answer
383 views
“Why aren't you listening to me?” versus “Why don't you listen to me?”
What should I use, "Why aren't you listening to me?" or "Why don't you listen to me?"
Example:
I'm chatting with my friend, who seems to just ignore some issues:
Bill, why aren't you listening ...
4
votes
2answers
387 views
Past simple or present perfect? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Present perfect for past action with present effect
Is this sentence correct? What exactly does it mean?
Person 1: Where did you hide my keys?
Person 2: I put ...
3
votes
3answers
2k views
Present Progressive or Present Continuous?
What is the correct term used to describe this tense in English — Present Progressive or Present Continuous? I see both terms used in grammar books.
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2answers
2k views
“Whenever you arrive/are arrived/were arrived”
Which one of these sentences is grammatically correct? Would it be alright if the other sentences were being used in daily conversations?
Let me know whenever you arrive.
Let me know whenever ...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
“By clicking submit you agree…” or “By clicking submit you are agreeing…”
By clicking submit you agree to the Terms and Conditions.
By clicking submit you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions.
Which is correct? Why?
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Which is more correct here: “find” vs. “have found”?
I recently came across this sentence from an e-mail I received and have pondering thoughts about it:
I have completed an evaluation of your application file and find that the items listed below ...
3
votes
2answers
892 views
“They knew what mercy is” vs. “they knew what mercy was”
They knew what mercy is.
They knew what mercy was.
Mercy is something that always exists so can I say is as in the above example?
3
votes
1answer
66 views
'Comes in' instead of 'is coming in' or 'came in' [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is the historical present tense used so often by sports broadcasters?
Yesterday I watched a basketball game. There was a substitution, and a commentator said “Vince ...
3
votes
2answers
253 views
Verb agreement for something that was discussed in the past, while the issue still exists in the present
How do you write something that was discussed in the past, while the issue still exists in the present?
The discussion resulted in the committee members highlighting crucial areas that need to ...
2
votes
3answers
946 views
“I am gonna have to” vs. “I have to”
What is the difference between "I am gonna have to" and "I have to"?
When would you use the first one?
update: I am specifically asking about situations like the one described here.
2
votes
2answers
178 views
“Connection to/with the server was/has been lost”
Which one is correct?
Connection to the server was lost.
Connection to the server has been lost.
Also, should to or with be used with server?
2
votes
1answer
153 views
“There are several reasons proposed for the collapse of the bridge.”
There are several reasons proposed for the collapse of the bridge.
Is this present simple tense or the present perfect tense? I thought it might be the latter since there is a retrospective ...
2
votes
3answers
73 views
“U.S. stocks were modestly higher at the opening bell Wednesday” vs. “… are higher …”
Here's a news heading from CNN:
U.S. stocks were modestly higher at the opening bell Wednesday as political wrangling over the fiscal cliff continues to dominate the market.
The author used ...
2
votes
3answers
3k views
“I've just arrived” vs. “I just arrived” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is “I just spent all my money” grammatically incorrect?
“I just ate them” and “I've just eaten them” — what's the difference in American and British English?
...
2
votes
3answers
513 views
Use of “I am having” in SO sites
I use Stackoverflow a lot and have noticed a certain trend that I myself got caught up in at one time of using the phrase "I am having a problem" in place of "I have a problem."
I would use this ...
2
votes
1answer
105 views
Present perfect continuous
Are the answers I chose correct. My choices are in bold.
I have been pumping/I have pumped up three tyres. Would you like to do the forth?
I have been greasing/I have greased my car. That's why my ...
2
votes
3answers
452 views
What tense to use here (sending an email)
What should be the correct tense:
Dear XY,
As agreed, I am sending / I send this email so you can find...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
Differences between ways to express future actions
I asked this question on a different site but I haven't gotten a useful answer. Could you tell me the difference in meaning between these sentences?
Do you think you will visit them next week? ...
2
votes
2answers
57 views
“The more time a person invests” vs. 'the more time a person will invest'
Consider the following two sentences:
Because the more time a person invests into specific interests, the better their results.
Because the more time a person will invest into their specific ...
2
votes
1answer
757 views
Questions in indirect speech and verb tense change
Today I had another English lesson and all students were instructed by teacher to ask each other few predefined questions and then to report them. I got the following questions:
"What kind of ...
2
votes
1answer
109 views
“Is someone covering/going to cover this event?”
Which one of the following is better or more correct?
Is someone covering this event?
Is someone going to cover this event?
1
vote
2answers
223 views
Does Caesar and Augustus refer to the same person? [closed]
In this recording of a Documentary about Dark Age
For three days, the great capital of Caesar and Augustusis ravaged by its unwelcome guests, the stunning architectural marvels that stood for ...
1
vote
4answers
226 views
“I came from Italy” or “I come from Italy”
If I originally lived in Italy and then moved to the United States and currently live in the United States. Then somebody asked me where I am from. I say:
I come/came from Italy.
Should it ...
1
vote
3answers
296 views
Correct use of tense
Can you please confirm which of the following three is correct?
I shared some ideas with Jon, which he agrees is a good solution for the problem we are facing.
I shared some ideas with Jon, ...
1
vote
4answers
3k views
“Done” vs. “did” & “seen” vs. “saw”
I am trying to find a logical way to explain how/when to use "done" vs "did" and "seen" vs "saw". The person I'm coaching uses the terms in the following manner and I just don't want to correct him, ...
1
vote
1answer
856 views
Confused by the past tense and the present tense
Suppose I'm talking about some design scheme. I say something like
"foo was once designed and implemented in a way called bar that ...". Then I want to introduce the original scheme "bar", for ...
1
vote
1answer
481 views
What tense should be used here?
Is use of present simple correct in these examples?
My daughter goes to school tomorrow [for the first time].
I go to school to talk to my daughter's teacher tomorrow [and this happens ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
“I am going to bed” vs. “I will be going to bed”
What is the difference between saying the following?
I am going to bed in a few minutes.
I will be going to bed in a few minutes.
Or
I will be getting off here. Or, I guess, I will be ...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
Present Continuous or Present Simple in a Meeting
Which one of the following should be used if I am asking about an event or a meeting:
Are we meeting today?
Do we have a meeting today?
Are we going to have a meeting today?
Are we going ...
1
vote
2answers
398 views
Can the preposition “in” be used instead of “for” in the following sentence?
English grammar books say that when you express a period of time in present perfect, the prepostions such as "for" or "since" should be used.
Example sentences:
I have lived here for 20 years.
...
