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Originally Posted by Casiopea Quote: |
Although "yesterday" and "before" both are adverbs of Time modifying "have seen", the meanings are very different.
| On the contrary, 'before' is not an adverb of Tense. :D That's why it's compatible with the Present Perfect.
"I have seen Simon before/previously" (OK)
'yesterday' is an adverb of Tense, and the reason why it's not compatible with the Present Perfect.
"I saw Simon before." (not OK)
Adverbs denoting time are divided into two groups:
1) adverbs denoting specific time, called Tense/Time (i.e. yesterday)
2) adverbs denoting non-specific time, called aspectual (i.e. before)
Adverbs belonging to group 2) are compatible with the Present Perfect Aspect.
In general,
Tense modifies Tense (Simple Past)
Aspect modifies Aspect (Present Perfect)
:D :D :D |
Agreed. As a layman, I use "Adverb of
Time" in the broad sense to cover both types. There is a difference between the "time" as denoted by "yesterday" and that denoted by "before", which is the difference in their meaning.
I have done this in the past = I have done this before, but not = I have done this yesterday/in July/etc.
Thanks for the clarification. :wink: