Verb tense – Past simple or present perfect?
Monday, October 17, 2011, 08:45 GMT+7
Dr. Grammar says:
“What’s wrong with this sentence? I lived in Vietnam for 6 years and still love living here.”
EXPLANATION:
We looked at past simple and past perfect in the previous lesson. And we will look at past simple and present perfect in this unit.
How do we make them?
Past simple
(See the lesson entitled “Verb tense – Past simple or continuous?”.)
Present perfect
(Note: V3 = past participle e.g. been, done, studied)
Positive
Subject + has/have + V3 + (object, adjunct etc)
e.g. They have eaten lunch.
She has eaten lunch.
We have stopped to eat lunch.
Negative
Subject + has/have not + V3 + (object, adjunct etc)
e.g. They have not eaten lunch. She has not eaten lunch.
We have not stopped to eat lunch.
Question
Has/have + subject + V3 + (object, adjunct etc)
e.g. Have you eaten lunch?
Has she eaten lunch?
Have we stopped to eat lunch?
When do we use the past simple?
(See the lesson “Verb tense – Past simple or continuous?”.)
When do we use the present perfect?
The present perfect is used to describe an action that happened at an unspecified time in the past. The time is not so important, just that it happened before now.
This means if we are saying a specific time when something happened, we use the past simple.
However, there are various ways we can do this:
To show experience or achievements
Use the present perfect to show you have the experience of doing something, or that you “have done” something, or that something has been achieved/done already. For example:
I have eaten at that restaurant many times.
= before now, but not at any exact time, I went to the restaurant and ate there more than once.
They have climbed to the top of the mountain.
= before now, but we don’t know how long ago, some people got to the top of the mountain.
People have climbed Mount Everest many times.
= climbing Mount Everest has been done, but we don’t need to know when.To describe changes
Use the present perfect to describe a change that has happened over a period of time. For example:
My English has improved since I started reading the Tuoi Tre articles online.
= Now my English is better than before, it has changed.
My daughter has grown a lot in the past year.
= My daughter is now taller than she was, her height has changed.
To show an action isn’t finished, but will be…
If an action is expected to be done soon, but isn’t yet, we can use the present perfect. For example:
My wife hasn’t finished her book, but she is writing every day.
= I think my wife will finish her book soon, but she is still writing.
My grandson hasn’t started walking yet.
= my grandson should be walking soon, but not yet.
To describe multiple actions at different times
Use the present perfect to describe an action which has happened in the past more than once, but not at the same time. Again, when the actions happened is not mentioned. For example:
Manchester United have won the Premier League quite a few times.
= before now, Man U came top of the league more than once.
I have visited many countries, but Vietnam is my favourite.
= before now, I have travelled many times and to many countries.
How can we learn to use these tenses?
By doing the exercises below!
So…
I lived in Vietnam for 6 years and still love living here. X
= past simple means I don’t live here, but I still love it…?
I have lived in Vietnam for 6 years and still love living here. √
= ah! I live here now, and have done for 6 years.
EXERCISE:
Choose the correct tense of the verbs in brackets to fill the gaps:
1. I ………………… (move) to Australia on the 1st of January, but ………………… (visit) my family in Vietnam many times. 2. I ………………… (be) really hungry now because I ………………… (not eat) lunch yet.
3. Many people ………………… (travel) to Vietnam from overseas in recent years, and a lot of them ………………… (say) they love it here.
4. Not many people ………………… (explore) the Amazon Rainforest, and two hundred years ago, no one ………………… (know) who or what ………………… (live) there.
5. We ………………… (never fly) to another country, but my friend …………………(fly) many times. Last year he ………………… (fly) to the USA and it ………………… (take) him 15 hours!
Answers:
1. I moved to Australia on the 1st of January, but have visited my family in Vietnam many times. 2. I am really hungry now because I have not eaten lunch yet.
3. Many people have travelled to Vietnam from overseas in recent years, and a lot of them have said they love it here.
4. Not many people have explored the Amazon Rainforest, and two hundred years ago, no one knew who or what lived there.
5. We have never flown to another country, but my friend has flown many times. Last year he flew to the USA and it took him 15 hours!
FURTHER PRACTICE: Find some stories (short stories, newspaper stories, anything written in the past!) and look for sentences which have both the past simple and present perfect.
Does the sentence follow the rules we have studied today?
When you are confident that you understand the two tenses, write your own story about anything from your past and present, focusing on actions with no particular time. Show it to a friend and have them correct it for you.
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SUMMARY IN VIETNAMESE Try to read and understand the lesson in English first. Just use the Vietnamese summary to check your understanding if you are unsure. THÌ QUÁ KHỨ ĐƠN – THÌ HIỆN TẠI HOÀN THÀNH I. Cách thành lập: (như trên) II. Cách sử dụng: (ví dụ xem trên) a. Thì Quá khứ đơn được sử dụng: 1. Trong văn kể chuyện hoặc tường thuật/mô tả lại một sự việc xảy ra trong quá khứ. 2. Với từ/ngữ chỉ thời gian quá khứ xác định và đã chấm dứt. b. Thì Hiện tại Hoàn thành được sử dụng cho bất kỳ trường hợp nào dưới đây: 1. Để mô tả một hành động xảy ra tại thời điểm không xác định trong quá khứ. Thời gian không quan trọng, điều quan trọng là hành động này đã xảy ra trước thời điểm hiện tại. Như vậy có nghĩa là nếu có thời gian xác định, ta dùng thì quá khứ đơn. 2. Để nói về kinh nghiệm, thành tựu hoặc bạn đã từng làm điều gì đó. 3. Để mô tả những sự thay đổi trong khoảng thời gian vừa qua. 4. Để mô tả một hành động chưa hoàn tất hiện giờ, nhưng rồi sẽ nhanh chóng kết thúc. 5. Để mô tả một hành động đã xảy ra nhiều lần ở những thời điểm khác nhau trong quá khứ. Lưu ý là những thời điểm này không cần đề cập tới. |
This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).
