[Grammar] Does the past simple need a indication of a specific time?

[bernardofernandes]

Hi.
Should we always indicate a specific time to use the past simple? Or should we always use the present perfect when we do not indicate a specific time?
Are these just rules for formal writing? In the real life, I have ever seen people using the simple past even though they do not indicate a specific time (e.g., yesterday, last week). And even in formal writing, sometimes I don't identify the use of these rules.
I have read some english books of advanced grammar in use, but I'm still in doubt.

Thank you.

 

[GoesStation]

Should we ever indicate a specific time to use the past simple? Or should we ever use the present perfect when we do not indicate a specific time?

They're both possible:

Specific time with past simple: I went to the museum yesterday.
No specific time with present perfect: I've been to the museum.

I wonder if you meant to ask whether you always have to use those tenses in those situations.

 

[bernardofernandes]

Yes, with the use of the "ever" I meant "always". My fault.
Can you answer me whether I should always use it?

 

[Glizdka]

Yes, with the use of the "ever" I meant "always". My fault.
Can you answer me whether I should always use it?

Hi.
Should we [STRIKE]ever[/STRIKE] always indicate a specific time to use the past simple? (...)

Not a teacher
------

Hello, bernardofernandes!

English is just a language, spoken by normal people. Don't you think It would be ridiculous if you had to always indicate a specific time in the past? It would be very "robotic" and unnecessarily repetitive to have to always add, say, yesterday or two months ago at the end of every single sentence in the past simple.

The practice of adding these words in every sentence is just something that you find in textbooks because many students have difficulty learning the difference between the past simple and the present perfect. The most obvious difference is that the past simple is a past tense, which is what they aim to teach you by pointing out that if a specific time in the past is indicated, you should use the past simple.

This is especially useful for people who make exercises for textbooks. It's extremely difficult to produce exercises where only one construction is correct. If I want to test if you understand the difference between the past simple and the present perfect, the easiest way is to indicate a specific time in the past, like yesterday or two months ago, in the sentence that I'm expecting you to put in the past simple.

You seem to have gotten it the other way around and think that if you use the past simple, you should always indicate a specific time in the past, which is not true. We're all just humans. We're lazy. We don't use more words than we need. If it's obvious from the context that I'm talking about the past, why would I have to include it?

 

[bernardofernandes]

Thank you for your answer. It certainly helps me.
However, a question is still unanswered.

In the formal English (formal writing), for instance in a professional email, an official letter or in a scientific paper, should we always indicate a specific time in the past simple phrases?

 

[Glizdka]

In the formal English (formal writing), for instance in a professional email, an official letter or in a scientific paper, should we always indicate a specific time in the past simple phrases?

Why don't you find one or two and read them? You'll see for yourself what language they used.

 

[jutfrank]

Should we always indicate a specific time to use the past simple?

No. Usually, we don't.

Or should we always use the present perfect when we do not indicate a specific time?

No. Absolutely not.

Are these just rules for formal writing?

No. They're not rules at all. You have a major misunderstanding somewhere, or more likely you've found a resource that has given you the wrong information. I suggest you start again with the basics.

In the formal English (formal writing), for instance in a professional email, an official letter or in a scientific paper, should we always indicate a specific time in the past simple phrases?

No. The use of past simple has nothing to do with whether it's written or spoken and nothing to do with formality. You've obviously learnt that you have to specify a past time in order to use the past simple. That is not correct.

 

[Tdol]

If I say I was born at home, there's no specific time- we're talking about home/hospital births. There is no need to add a date.

 

[5jj]

The narrative tenses of most novels is past simple. There are few mentions of specific times unless the plot requires them.

 

[Phaedrus]

Hi.
Should we always indicate a specific time to use the past simple? Or should we always use the present perfect when we do not indicate a specific time?
Are these just rules for formal writing? In the real life, I have ever seen people using the simple past even though they do not indicate a specific time (e.g., yesterday, last week). And even in formal writing, sometimes I don't identify the use of these rules.
I have read some english books of advanced grammar in use, but I'm still in doubt.

In real life, both in conversation and in writing, sentences occur in context. The past tense does need to be anchored to a past time or past time period; however, that is often accomplished by preceding sentences, by actions, or by what we see, hear, touch, taste, or feel in the vicinity of our interlocutors.

To illustrate, the sentence "I went to Paris" doesn't work (well) in isolation. But if I were already talking about a trip that I took to Europe and what I did during that trip, the sentence would work perfectly well. It would also work perfectly well in response to a question like "What did you do yesterday?"

In contrast, the sentence "I have been to Paris" could be used in isolation, provided I had some reason for uttering the sentence. Thus, on a typical grammar test, with uncontextualized sentences, a sentence like "I have been to Paris" would work fine. The sentence "I went to Paris" would have a past-time adverbial.

 

[bernardofernandes]

Why don't you find one or two and read them? You'll see for yourself what language they used.

I'm a Brazilian Ph.D. student. I am not native in English, but I have read almost a thousand papers in English, I think. Mainly from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. And, since I had not identified a pattern, I decided to ask about it.

 

[Tdol]

Scientific literature is not life, but there is no area of language where the simple past is always tied to a visible time marker.