correct error-Use of present tenses (present simple, present perfect....)

[rmickas1]

Consider the following student errors. After each error, state:
i) What the mistake is.
ii) Why you think it has been made.
iii) How you would explain and correct the mistake with a student.

a) I am a secretary for five years.

i)

ii)


iii)

b) I have eat breakfast.

i)

ii)


iii)

c) She’s liked him since six months.

i)


ii)


iii)







d) When you start work?
i)
ii)
iii)


e) I’ve been knowing her for three months.

i)


ii)


iii)

[PROESL]

a) I am a secretary for for five years.

i) Simple present instead of the present perfect

ii) First language transference

iii) The speaker has five years of experience as a secretary. This started in the past and continues until now. To express this, we use have + past participle. This form is called the "present perfect". Here is the correct sentence: I have been a secretary for five years. This means that the speaker became a secretary five years ago and is still a secretary now. Once again, in order to express this, it is necessary to use the present perfect, not the simple present. The simple present just speaks of what is true now. It does speak in an explicit way about the past, as the present perfect does.

[PROESL]

b) I have eat breakfast.

i) Wrong past participle form

ii) Forgot to add "en" - most likely a performance error - if not then it's simply a case of remembering or studying the correct form.


iii) The sentence is incorrect because you didn't write, or say, the past participle correctly. Add "en" to "eat" - "eaten.