Comparison of Tenses with relation to Past Events.

[070281achilles]

Hi guys! I'm new here hope u can help me. I've been studying English and i've been having a hard time differentiating tenses that have a connection with past events which are Simple Past, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Past Progressive, Present Perfect Progressive and Past Perfect Progressive. Thanks in advance.:?:

 

[Raymott]

Hi guys! I'm new here hope u can help me. I've been studying English and i've been having a hard time differentiating tenses that have a connection with past events which are Simple Past, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Past Progressive, Present Perfect Progressive and Past Perfect Progressive. Thanks in advance.:?:

Well, that's about three or four chapters of a grammar book. It's all been done. Can you ask a more specific question, with examples.
At least give us some indication of what you know about those tenses.
Oh, and please don't call us 'u'.

 

[070281achilles]

Sorry about that, I really dont know where to start. Sir Raymott can You help me with this one;
Ex: When he graduated, he had been in London for six years.
Correct me if i'm wrong but what i know is if "had" + "been" is used it should be Past Perfect Continuous.
Another one... Does the sentence "They have been outrebounded" falls in the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Well, what i'm thinking is Past Perfect Continuous is conctructed by "had" + "been" + verb-ing..
Thanks...

 

[Barb_D]

Hello achilles,
In addition to using "you" please also remember that the pronoun "I" is always capitalized.

"Had been" is the past perfect. It doesn't require the continuous.
"Have been" is the present perfect. It doesn't require the continuous.

I think the Online Writing Lab at Purdue is a great resource. Take a look here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/

This should help you with some basic understanding of tenses.

 

[070281achilles]

Madam barb thanks for the link.
I use the letter "I" in lower case on purpose. That's been a habit of mine because I'm not comfortable using capitalized "I" which looks the same as the lower case "l". Anyways I only do that in informal writing.
How about the use of the Perfect Continuous tenses which I read in an article.
Thanks...

 

[Raymott]

Sorry about that, I really dont know where to start. Sir Raymott can You help me with this one;
Ex: When he graduated, he had been in London for six years.
Correct me if i'm wrong but what i know is if "had" + "been" is used it should be Past Perfect Continuous.
Another one... Does the sentence "They have been outrebounded" falls in the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Well, what i'm thinking is Past Perfect Continuous is conctructed by "had" + "been" + verb-ing..
Thanks...

1. No "had been" does not always signify the past perfect continuous. It only does so if there's a present participle at the end, as in, "He had been swimming." If you had, "He had been sick", that is the past perfect.

2. "They have been outrebounded" is a passive construction. It's not past perfect continuous. It's the passive voice of the simple past. "Someone outrebounded them". (What is 'outrebounded'?)

3. The bit I labelled in blue is correct.

 

[070281achilles]

Thanks a lot sir Raymott that would be very usefull.
One more thing sir Raymott, so the use of "have been" in the sentence "They have been outrebounded." is to signify a passive form?
I got the word "outrebounded" in basketball terms though i really don't know if I should write it this way, "out rebounded" or "out-rebounded."

 

[emsr2d2]

Regardless of your assertion that you only use the lower case "i" for the first person singular pronoun in informal writing, please stop doing it. This forum is dedicated to the correct use of the English language. We have capitalisation rules and one of those rules as that the word "I" is always capitalised. I can assure you that to the rest of us, it does not look like a lower case "L". Apart from anything else, the letter "L" never appears on its own with no other letters around it because "L" is not a word. If we see I, we know it is the first person singular.

I can't speak for any other members, but if you continue to write "i", I certainly won't help you with any of your posts.

 

[Raymott]

Thanks a lot sir Raymott that would be very usefull.
One more thing sir Raymott, so the use of "have been" in the sentence "They have been outrebounded." is to signify a passive form?
I got the word "outrebounded" in basketball terms though i really don't know if I should write it this way, "out rebounded" or "out-rebounded."

Also, please don't give me a knighthood (sir). I've never been corrupt or sycophantic enough to earn one of those. 'Raymott' is fine.
Your question could have been phrased a lot better. I can only refer you back to my past post. But, to the question you've asked, "have been" is part of the construction of the passive tense in this case. It is not a specific signal of the passive tense; though if you see "have been + past participle", it's possible.

 

[070281achilles]

I'm sorry for that Mr. emsr2d. I really don't mean to annoy or insult anyone. I think your right, I should do it the right way since I'm writing in a forum which is dedicated to the correct use of the English language. I'm also studying the English language so it's more appropriate to use it the correct way.
I would be very glad and very thankful if you can help me with my post.
Thanks.

 

[070281achilles]

I'm glad I can call you "Raymott", I would prefer casual conversations.
How about these two sentences,
Jordan "has" six rings.
Jordan "had" six rings.
What's the difference?
Thanks...

 

[Barb_D]

Please just use our forum names. No Madam, no Mr., etc. Ems is female, in any case.

He has = he currently possesses
He had = at sometime in the past, he possessed. He may no longer possess them.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm sorry for that Mr. emsr2d2. I really don't mean to annoy or insult anyone. I think [strike]your[/strike] you're right, I should do it the right way since I'm writing in a forum which is dedicated to the correct use of the English language. I'm also studying the English language so it's more appropriate to use it the correct way.
I would be very glad and very thankful if you can help me with my post.
Thanks.

Raymott already asked you not to add "Sir" to his username. I will now ask you not to add "Mr" to my username. Firstly, I am female so "Mr" would be incorrect anyway. Secondly, we do not require any kind of salutation at all. You can use our usernames or you can dispense with it completely.

We are not annoyed or insulted. We try to help people to speak/write correct, natural English. I am grateful that you now plan to capitalise the word "I". Don't just do it on this forum - get into the habit of writing it that way all the time.

 

[070281achilles]

Sorry barb, I had written that post even before I read Raymott's.
Thanks...

 

[070281achilles]

Well, using your names without salutations is more comfortable.
Thanks for the advice of using capitalized "I".
Anyways, can you help me with this one,
- Women have voted in presidential elections since 1921.
I have read in a lecture that this is an example of the Present Perfect tense. If I'm not mistaken Present Perfect tenses are not used with specific time reference.
Thanks...

 

[070281achilles]

2. "They have been outrebounded" is a passive construction. It's not past perfect continuous. It's the passive voice of the simple past. "Someone outrebounded them".

Raymott, don't you think it's more appropriate to write the passive form of the sentence "Someone outrebounded them" this way "They were outrebounded." Actually when I wrote the sentence "They have been outrebounded.", at that present time, the other team had a lot more rebounds than they are and the game isn't finished yet, so that is their current state. And is it correct if I say that the sentence "They have been outrebounded.", in this scenario, active form is "Someone have outrebounded them."

Hope to hear from you sooner...
Thanks in advance....

 

[Raymott]

2. "They have been outrebounded" is a passive construction. It's not past perfect continuous. It's the passive voice of the simple past. "Someone outrebounded them".
I know that.

Raymott, don't you think it's more appropriate to write the passive form of the sentence "Someone outrebounded them" this way "They were outrebounded."
In the context (playing against another team), saying "Someone outrebounded them" is silly, since the only agent who could do this would be the other team. I would therefore use the passive here. But you could say, "Team B outrebounded them."

Actually when I wrote the sentence "They have been outrebounded.", at that present time, the other team had a lot more rebounds than they are and the game isn't finished yet, so that is their current state. And is it correct if I say that the sentence "They have been outrebounded.", in this scenario, active form is "Someone has outrebounded them." 'Someone' is singular.

Hope to hear from you sooner...
Thanks in advance....

R.

 

[070281achilles]

Sorry, I was confused. Hope I' not this time. Honestly, I already know that someone is singular. But, is there a plural form for "someone"? If "someone" is singular and a team is composed of a number of players, what would I use to talk about a single team? Does the word "team" considered as plural since it is composed of a number of players even though we want to talk about a single team...
Well, I think I'm confused.
Anyways, with regards to the first paragraph above, it was originally yours that I cut and pasted in my post and I know that you know about that. Sorry fo. That..
Looking forward to your response.

 

[Barb_D]

If "someone" is singular and a team is composed of a number of players, what would I use to talk about a single team? -Does- Is the word "team" considered as plural since it is composed of a number of players even though we want to talk about a single team...

Note: "Is the word" not "Does the word"

Americans are more likely to use the singular verb for group nouns - the company is, the team is, the jury is, etc. However, we are not conisitent - if the team name is plural, you'll hear the plural: The Bulls are playing well tonight. The Heat is not playing good defense. (But when you just say "The team..." then use "is" not "are."

I understand that our British friends are more likely to use the plural.

 

[070281achilles]

Another lesson learned. It has only been three days yet I've learned so much. I really love this site. Hope to learn more.
Thanks Barb.