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#31
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"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 |
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#32
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2. I agree with you re the examples after adding "before": the "past time expression" becomes "parenthetic" in a sense. (d) "I have eaten lunch (in the afternoon) before" is equivalent (grammar-wise) to "I have eaten lunch (in the presidential suite) before". With or without "before", the adverb phrase "in the afternoon" remains as such BUT in the latter case the adverb phrase is further modified by the adverb "before", and the meaning changes. :wink: |
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#33
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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: |
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#34
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#35
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| You and I agree. You and me don't. :wink: |
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#36
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| [ I shouldn't have opened this can of worms!! Maybe you shouldn't. It did become (or should I say 'has become'?) more confusing. After all this discussion the idea of the following passage seems quite appealing. Would it be possible to suggest some addition regarding the issue of the Past Simple - Present Perfect? Euro-English The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English". In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter. * In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru. In light of the discussion at hand, don't you think that one of this confusing tenses should be dropped entirely (preferably Present Perfect)? |
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#37
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| Why not. Getting rid of the -s in the third erson present would make life easier too. |
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#38
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In my opinion,I do not think that using less of the PP would solve the problem(if at all it is one).I think there is a simple way out of this usage impasse.The simple past or past simple expresses a finished or completed "job" which has no current relevance or import.However,the present perfect expresses,also,a complete or finished "job" but with a current relevance.In other words,the present perfect seeks to connect the past to the present.For example,"I ate" and "I have eaten"... The first sentence suggests a complete action in the past which could be immediate or remote."I HAVE EATEN" probably suggests that I can no longer eat anything as the one I ate has not yet digested...(connecting the past to the present)...the time I ate and now(that I speak)are connected. "I saw him"...complete and past "I have seen him"...I not only saw him but also is he at sight. "I have seen him before'...the memory still lingers thereby giving the past action a current import. "She came"...who knows,she may have probably left... 'She has come"...could mean she is here...(link) "She has been here before"...though the action is past,I can still remember it vividly(link) |
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#39
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| It's not a problem for native speakers, but it is for many learners as many languages don't have this distinction. However, as a native speaker, I like it. |
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#40
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| thank u so much |
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