[Grammar] John has/arrived in San Diego a week ago

[danghuynh88]

Hi teachers.

Can you use both simple past and present perfect for this sentence:

John arrived in San Diego a week ago

John has arrived in San Diego a week ago

Thanks

 

[tedmc]

No, you only use the simple past when the time of the action is stated.

 

[danghuynh88]

Do you mean the sentence has to tell exactly the time ? like John arrived in San Diego a week ago at 5pm

 

[danghuynh88]

How about this sentence

When we first (start) started working here three years ago, the company...

It doesn't state the time of the action, but they used simple past.

Thanks

 

[tedmc]

No, "a week/month ago" is considered a specific time in the past, so only the simple past tense is appropriate.

 

[GoesStation]

How about this sentence

When we first (start) started working here three years ago, the company...

It doesn't state the time of the action, but they used simple past.

Thanks

It does state the time of the action: ​three years ago.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi teachers​. [STRIKE]!!![/STRIKE]

Can you use both simple past and present perfect for [STRIKE]this[/STRIKE] these sentences?

John arrived in San Diego a week ago.

John has arrived in San Diego a week ago.

Thanks.

Do you mean the sentence has to [STRIKE]tell[/STRIKE] state [STRIKE]exactly[/STRIKE] the exact time? [STRIKE]like[/STRIKE] For example, John arrived in San Diego a week ago at 5pm.

How about this sentence?

When we first (start) started working here three years ago, the company ...

It doesn't state the time of the action, but they used simple past.

Thanks.

Note my corrections above. You seem to have trouble with punctuation. Follow these rules at all times:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- End every sentence with a single, appropriate punctuation mark.
- Always capitalise the word "I".
- Do not put a space before a full stop, comma, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Always put a space after a full stop, comma, question mark or exclamation mark.