Questions tagged [present-perfect]
Questions related to the English Perfect Construction, which is sometimes called "the present perfect tense".
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Why 'begun' instead of 'began' in the following sentence?
I read the following passage from the instagram account of a trans celebrity describing their romantic life pre/post-transition, and was a bit irked by the use of 'begun' (which is funny, because it ...
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"I would have met you on Monday, but I will be out of the country"
I have an argument with a couple of friends about the following situation:
I want to meet someone on Monday, in the future, but I can't because I will be out of the country. So I told him:
I would ...
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'I would have liked to see' or 'I would like to have seen'? [duplicate]
When teaching my students the usage of the verbs 'like, love, hate, prefer' with the modal verb 'would', I stumbled upon the following:
"It's a shame we didn't see Anna. I would like to have seen ...
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simple past or present perfect issue
I would like to ask the reason of using present perfect tense instead of past tense in the italic words in the sentence below:
She has gotten older since we last met her. She also seems to have ...
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Can leveraging only tense convey that some action is no longer relevant?
There are two sentences I myself come up with:
I haven't checked my inbox for the last few days.
I didn't check my inbox for the last few days.
Is #2 grammatically correct and idiomatic? Does #2 ...
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Can we use present perfect tense with past time expressions?
Can we use the present perfect tense with past time expressions if we are not telling stories or talking about the past, but if it is important to let know that an action happened at the exact time in ...
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Which tense should follow “I've just heard” and why? [duplicate]
There is a sentence
"I've just heard that your dog died/has died".
What tense should be used and why? Past Simple or Present Perfect?
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Can a while clause be followed by the present perfect?
Is it correct to say the following?
While working on my project I have found an interesting research paper.
I mean whether while and the use of present perfect in the same sentence is correct.
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Why is James Bond saying "We didn't get yet"?
I've recently seen the trailer for the new James Bond movie and he is saying: "We all have our secrets. We just didn't get to yours yet".
Shouldn't have he said "we just haven't got to ...
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Use of past tense or present tense with "to (not) understand"
I'm struggling to see which of the following sentences are grammatically correct ?
She just understood what you haven't understood yet.
She has just understood what you did not understand yet.
She ...
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Present perfect vs simple past in main and relative clause [duplicate]
I would like to ask if the following sentences have different meanings. lately I've been overthinking about tenses which I've been using fluently my whole life. Specifically present perfect
Context: ...
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Is the passive constructed correctly: "The city will have been being locked down for 15 days from tomorrow"? [duplicate]
That is what I learned from grammar books.
"I go to the cinema tomorrow" means I am scheduled to go there at that fixed time
“I am going to the movies tomorrow” means I bought the ticket (...
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Have been thinking vs had been thinking [duplicate]
It's a bit confusing due to the nature of thinking.
If I was thinking something and it turned out to be false:
I have been thinking that I'm getting sufficient sleep, but it turns out I wasn't.
Or ...
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Present Perfect in main clause
I cannot determine whether both of these instances are appropriate uses of present perfect.
Scenario: We just pull up to a restaurant and notice we are the first/last ones there, and someone utters:
&...
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Negative Present Perfect
I have a question regarding negative present perfect for past events with effects extending into the present.
Scenario: Just leaving coffee shop with friend #2. “That was fantastic; I haven’t seen ...
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Why is present simple used here?
We had a sentence in an exam, and we were asked to choose the right tense of the verb, the sentence goes as follows
They are having dinner; they (haven't had, don't have) any problems at all.
Now ...
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WHEN + PAST PARTICIPLE
I am struggling a little with a question I received from one of my Russian students today.
She doesn't understand the sense of :
You can go to the country break when you have passed your last ...
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Are These Sentences Equivalent or is One More Appropriate than the Others? (Present Progressive Tense)
These all seem equally "valid" to me:
"I have recently been reading some research papers about..."
"I recently have been reading some research papers about..."
"I ...
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What is a complex/difficult example of English tenses? [closed]
I'm a native English speaker, and while learning other languages, I've learned that English has more complex tenses than other languages. I don't know what all of the English tenses are, but the most ...
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"Is / was / has been / had been used" in a statement
I'm confused whether I should use are or were or have been or had been in the following statement when describing the use of language in a passage
In paragraph 6, detailed adjectives ____ used to ...
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On official forms, does the present perfect imply that the situation is ongoing or has not yet concluded?
I have a question specifically about present perfect usage in legal and “bureaucratic” writing. On official forms (for example, application forms from US government agencies or IRS forms), I sometimes ...
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Use of Present Perfect in this case [duplicate]
Why does Ross use Present Perfect here if he's speaking about the past?!
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being removed vs gets removed?
Question I: Which one is grammatically correct?
1. Does order A remain effective after object B gets removed?
or
2. Does order A remain effective after object B is being removed?
Question II: What ...
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Present continuous vs present perfect followed by temporal 'for' / 'since'
In a newspaper I read the following sentence:
We are waiting for the past few days with a hope.
Is the grammar correct ...
can we use the present continuous with temporal for and since?
English ...
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I've known you "since after" I met you. This looks so absurd!
I've encountered these structures today.
I've known you since after I met you in Paris.
or
I've worked here since right/just after I graduated.
What is it?
Having researched I just can say that some ...
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"is head of xyz since" vs "has been [...] since" ? Is "is" ever acceptable?
Isn't it wrong to write "Mrs X is head of $department at $company since 2015" ?
Shouldn't it be "has been head of xyz since 2015"?
I have seen quite a few examples of "is [...]...
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A rare structure need to be explained in terms of grammar: Have+ noun+ been [closed]
Dear Enlish Language & Usage Exchange members:
I was reading a text and came across a remarkable structure for me. Here is the text:
It would, I suppose, be universally agreed that seldom, if ...
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I've studied vs I've been studying
What's the difference from these two phrases? How would I know if keep studying or if I did it in the past?
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What does simple really mean in grammar?
Problems with explaining English grammar often reside in the terminology.
There is often a big assumption that we understand what the terms mean.
Simple is, in my opinion, one of the most important ...
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Use of present perfect tense in news articles
When to use present perfect tense has always been confusing for me.
I know that it carries a sense of continuity from the past, but many times in news articles, I come across sentences with present ...
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"I'm working on a project" - present continuous or present perfect continuous? [closed]
I want to say that I'm working on a project lately, maybe this month or this week, but I don't specify the time in the sentence. I'm still working on a project and I will be working for some time. It ...
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tense for past job experience?
When talking about a past job experience, can we use present perfect tense?
For example; "after I started working for x co., i have had experiences on ... (I want to emphasize that i stil have ...
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present perfect, past simple, present perfect continues
I cannot understand these.
1st
We didn't win our first four games, but now we are second in the league. (o)
We haven't win our first four games, but now we are second in the league. (x)
2nd
For ...
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What's the difference between simple past and present prefect? I quite have a doubt with the below statements. Do they convey the same meaning?
Do these two convey the same meaning? And if not, what's the difference?
Judy had visited Thailand in 2014
Judy visited Thailand in 2014
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The difference between "have got" and "have got to"?
I have been asked about the difference between
Have got
Have got to
Are they considered as present perfect forms?
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Which present tense should you use when talking about continuous pain?
The speaker can still feel the pain in the moment of speaking (he's asking if he's still able to go abroad with this back pain) & it's some sort of dialogue between some ordinary guy & a ...
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In which cases is present perfect equal to simple past?
In which cases present perfect is equal (exactly or in common usage) to past tense? For example, these two questions have pretty much no difference in common usage (as far as I'm aware):
"Have I ...
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Why the shift to past perfective when the whole sentence is in the present?
I was looking at Collins' definition of double-cross:
If someone you trust double-crosses you, they do something which harms you instead of doing something they had promised to do.
So we have double-...
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Is it correct to say "he has got hurt for 5 minutes" and "it has got tangled for 5 minutes"?
To describe events which began in the past which continue to the present.
I know that
"he has been hurt for 5 minutes" and "it has been tangled for 5 minutes" are correct
but what ...
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Past tense vs present perfect tense
I have queries about past tense and present perfect tense.
I have made a appointment to see the university careers advisors immediately after the seminar,So I will need to leave on time.
I have done ...
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What are the two tenses used in this passage? [closed]
Which are the two tenses used in this passage?
I have known my friend Rebecca for a long time. We first met at a friend's birthday party five years ago. We found out that we both liked techno and ...
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What's the difference between present perfect and present perfect continuous? [duplicate]
I need to know if this two sentences have different meaning
a) The client has been telling us that the site is likely to be around the Krakow area.
B) The client has told us that the site is likely to ...
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A question regarding present perfect continuous
I have been devouring information for the past three months.
I have read that perfect tenses should not be used in sentenced with adverbs or adverb phrases of past time. Is the sentence mentioned ...
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What should I choose in this situation? [closed]
Why are your hands so dirty ?
Well,I________ in the garden
1-Worked 2-
Have worked 3-
Have been working
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Verb Tenses: Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Progressive
Please answer and explain this:
"David could help, as he (has been serving/has served) as an ambassador for the last seven years and won't retire until 2010."
According to the book that i'm ...
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Past simple or present perfect? [closed]
Is it better to say "I learned" or "I have learned English from a very young age"?
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The Past Perfect in the narrative set in the present
Have been reading a lot of fanfics lately, so what follows is quotations from unedited stories published on AO3. These are real excerpts from the writings of the US and the UK authors:
She looks up ...
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Adverb "Really" + could + present perfect
My question is about the adverb placement "really" when combined with "could" and the present perfect in a sentence. Below are four possibilities.
I really could have made more ...
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Past perfect or present perfect?
We didn't go to the party last night because we have had a fever
Or
We didn't got to the party last night because we had had a fever
I know the past perfect describes an completed before a certain ...
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Present perfect or past perfect with Already
Look at the sentence :
• When we got to the theater, the play (already start)
how should I write it properly?
• When we got to the theater, the play already has started.
Or
•When we got to the theater,...
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