recently ??

Hello

I did a test

Both sentences are said to be "correct"

He worked there until recently

He has worked there until recently

I am confused? Past or present perfect tense???

robin lee said:

Hello

I did a test

Both sentences are said to be "correct"

He worked there until recently

He has worked there until recently

I am confused? Past or present perfect tense???

Click to expand...

The first one is correct. The second is not correct.

I agree. You can't use the present perfect with 'until some time in the past', because this tense refers to what is true in the present.

Hi there,

How about this:

He had worked with this company until recently. (That means he already quit)

tks
pete

peter123 said:

Hi there,

How about this:

He had worked with this company until recently. (That means he already quit)

tks
pete

Click to expand...

That's a correct sentence. But you'd only use it where the past perfect was needed.
The fact that he's already quit is implied by the simple past. "He worked ... until ..."
Can you think of a context in which you'd need the past perfect?

Some grammar books say that we use the present perfect with recently, but we also use the simple past too, though when the verb is negative the present perfect is more common, but it's certainly wrong to talk of a rule about using the present perfect with it.

You may notice a difference between British and American usage in these past tenses. Americans often use the past tense where Brits would use the perfect. .For example, (British) have you seen the movie yet? (US) Did you see the movie yet? (British) No, I haven't seen it yet; yes I have seen it. (US) No I didn't see it yet; yes I saw it already.There is no rule against using the perfect with 'recently'. E.g. I haven't seen him recently; I have spoken to her recently, etc,