Questions tagged [perfect-aspect]
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Adjectival participles and perfect
I read a wonderful article on this resource about the Perfect construction - Canonical Post #2: What is the perfect, and how should I use it? - and came across this part:
Adjectival participles
The ...
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I ___(to read) your book. It's fantastic. I'll finish it tonight
I have passed the English grammar test. I'm B1 and can't complain about that. But I have a major questions about verb tenses anyway.
I ______ your book. It's fantastic. I'll finish it tonight.
have ...
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Tense in the subordinate clause when the main clause in the present perfect tense
Which tense should I use in the subordinate clause when the main clause in the present perfect tense.
I'm thinking about this particular scenario: "I've seen a great nation fell." versus &...
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"To be" VS "to have been" ( the impersonal passive)
Is there any difference between (1) and (2)?
(1) Almodovar's film was considered to be the most innovative.
(2) Almodovar's film was considered to have been the most innovative.
(1): means that the ...
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I am walking VS I have been walking
I am walking.
I have been walking.
I know those sentences have the same meaning. But under what context is it better to use one rather than the other?
Maybe below.
I am walking for more than 2 hours....
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When do we use haven't had, hadn't had, and didn't have?
For example:
I haven't had my breakfast.
I hadn't had my breakfast.
I didn't have my breakfast.
Could you clarify if the abovementioned sentences are grammatically correct, and if yes, then what are ...
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Are these sentences in the past perfect & present perfect tenses grammatically correct?
Past Perfect
Last week our teacher gave back the essays we had written the week before.
The house was quiet when Andrew got home. Everyone had gone to bed several hours earlier.
Annie didn't want to ...
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how to decide between simple past and past perfect?
The question is to find error if there is one.
The current economic scenario (a)/ could possibly undo (b)/ the growth that followed (c)/ the economic liberalization of 1991. (d)/ No error (e)
I am ...
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What is the appropriate use of the modal 'Could' in this example?
(Question moved from English Language & Usage.)
I was writing a passage of dialogue wherein one of the characters reflects on their ability to not do something in the past. See a similar example ...
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Can stative verbs be completed?
Action(dinamic) verbs are presented in 2 different forms:
The progressive which means that the action is not completed(finished) and the perfect which means that the action is completed.
Action verbs ...
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What is the difference in meaning between "I want to do something" and "I want to have done something"?
In the 12th episode of the 2nd season of Suits one of the characters said the following.
I want to have talked to everyone of my clients by the end of the day.
That's the first time I've seen the ...
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Verbs in the simple present vs. perfect present
Please help me and tell me, which one of these sentences should I use?
Until they have prepared our room, we will wait in the hotel lobby.
Until they prepare our room, we will wait in the hotel lobby....
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Has been raining vs Had been raining
This question came in the Dhaka University admission exam 2002-03
Q) It ____ raining since morning
(a) is
(b) was
(c) has been
(d) had been
My question bank says that the answer is (c). An alternative ...
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The United Kingdom had its coldest April night since 2018
Normally, you'd need the present perfect (or the past perfect) when accompanied by since, as in:
The United Kingdom has had more than 1 million diagnosed cases of the coronavirus since the start of ...
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Telling about recent actions in modern English
Let’s suppose that a few days ago your friend recommended a certain book to you, so later on you took went out
and bought that book for yourself.
How would you normally relate the foregoing sequence ...
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Which Perfect aspect should be used: "I’ve read / been reading this page three times already…”? [closed]
I’ve been reading this page three times already, but I still don’t understand it.
Or
I’ve read this page three times already, but I still don’t understand it.
Is the action in progress or is it ...
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Is it correct: I had been staying , in my situation?
Is this correct:
I had been staying in the Emergency Department for three days until the doctors could identify the missing diagnosis.
where "staying" is used together with another action ...
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I was building it, but I didn't build it
Many natives told me that simple past always tells about completion, so I've been wondering how to speak about actions that you were doing at a specific time in the past, but in the end didn't finish. ...
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Past perfect without Past tense
As a technology visionary, Elon Musk has created cars that have
challenged the conventional automobile industry and rockets that have
saved space transportation costs.
Is this sentence correct? It ...
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A: What did you do yesterday?
Please help me out, what extra words are needed to convey the incomplete nature of the actions?
A: What did you do yesterday?
B:
I read books.
I wrote my book.
I built the wooden ship (which you had ...
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What is the difference between "blame someone for doing something" and "blame someone for having done something"?
Could you tell me what is the difference in meaning between blame someone for doing something and blame someone for having done something? For example:
Kate blames Jack for ruining the cake.
Kate ...
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Continuous aspect for something happening again and again. What nuances does the aspect add to the meaning of sentence?
About continuous aspect in this site British council>Continuous aspect, they say that continuous aspect can be used to describe something happening again and again. I don't really understand the ...
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Present Perfect vs Past Simple. Which one is correct?
I was watching a movie yesterday and came across a dialogue:
"What is this?"
"It's the technology I developed"
Is the word "developed" here used in the right tense? ...
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Answers from quiz, why this answer is correct in particular?
First answer:
✅ Have you always been living in a big city?(ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀ)
❌ Have you always lived in a big city? (ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀ)
Second answer:
✅ By the end of August they’ll have been working on ...
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Do I use "I" and "I have" for skills I gained and still possess?
When discussing skills I gained from a past job but still possess, do I use "I" or "I have?"
In my work as a Communication Specialist, I/I have developed communication and ...
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Shift back tense in reported speech
I have a situation as below:
A: Who read my diary?
B: I didn't read it
A: It is only you who read it.
B: I told you I didn't read it/ I told you I hadn't had read it.
Is that both sentences are ...
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2
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Why not using present perfect tense when it comes to since?
"Aduhelm is the first novel therapy approved for Alzheimer’s disease since 2003."
On June 7th America's food and Drug adminstration approved the first drug since 2003 to treat Alzheimer's ...
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Conditionals and past perfect continuous
I have a question about the third conditional and past perfect continuous.
The form of the third conditional is:
If+past perfect,...... would+have+past participle
Is it possible to use past perfect ...
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Is it possible to use “next” between subject and verb?
When we next see Alex and Max, who are presently parents of two
children, they will have had a new baby in their family.
Source: English Grammar Digest by Trudy Aronson.
I know Only a few adverbs of ...
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State-change verbs are mostly in perfect tense?
I know one of the uses of the perfect tense is to describe an action from the past that influences the present.
Then I would expect most of state change (changed, grew, transformed, moved) verbs to be ...
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"would like to have Vpp" or "would have liked to V"
Suppose you were reading a dictionary that wasn't available when you were a student. Which of the following forms would you use?
This dictionary is excellent. I would like to have had a copy when I ...
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- Have you already finished your essay? - No, I will ___ it by this Thursday
In an online placement test that is, frankly, not the best of the best, this sentence is provided with a gap to be filled:
Have you already finished your essay? - No, I will ___ it by this Thursday
...
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Based on "I would have stayed", did Edward stay or leave?
Normally, if I hear somebody say "I would have stayed", I would expect a "but" coming along stating the reason why instead the speaker did not stay. Or, I would expect subsequently ...
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The word "have" in different contexts
I have a rather unusual question about English for native speakers.
Recently a friend of mine showed me a book to learn my native language (non-English obviously) and I saw a section about "...
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Present Perfect questions?
If we have sentences like (he is a teacher) can we make it in present perfect to be (he been a teacher)? If the answer no why?
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Is this sentence gramatically correct? Use of would have and had
Is this sentence correctly written?
I would never have had the chance to become who i am if would not worked as hard as i did.
Also, I'm a native Spanish speaker and i can't find the differences ...
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Have arachnophobia or had arachnophobia?
I wrote this question:
Why hadn’t you said to me that you have arachnophobia before we went there?
Now I’m worried I should have used this version instead:
Why hadn’t you said to me that you had ...
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"never did before" vs. "has never done before" [duplicate]
What is the difference between these two phrases:
something he never did before
something he has never done before
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present, past, passive and perfect participle usages
Which is correct grammatically?
Beaten severely, he died immediately. [past participle]
Having been beaten severely, he died immediately. [perfect participle)
I would like to put my understanding of ...
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She hoped to have done [duplicate]
I saw a sentence
She hoped to have done
Or a sentence, created with the same structure. I don'tunderstand how it works. Then I saw a full version of it:
She hoped that she had done
So, it's like a ...
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Can I use the helping verb "had" instead of "has" in the Perfect Tense when talking about the present period of time?
When I talk about a period of time that hasn't finished yet (at the moment of speaking), can I use the helping verb "had" instead of "has" in the Perfect Tense?
For example, should I still say:
By ...
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Has vs had grammaticality for something that happened last week
In my English class, my professor posed the following question:
Manuel (has / had) asked Pedro to help him fix his computer last week.
He said the answer was has, but that seems present tense to ...
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Using infinitive instead of perfect infinitive
Here I see below sentence:
We hope to have finished the building works by the end of March
My question is if I write this sentence using infinitive instead of the perfect infinitive then will it ...
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"have liked"/"have been liking"/"had liked"/"had been liking"
I have liked you since childhood.
I have been liking you since childhood.
I had liked you since childhood.
I had been liking you since childhood.
What is the difference between the above sentences?
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"But the idea that someone might be arming the Seam would never have been allowed" — why "would have"?
From The Hunger Games:
My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers. My father could have made good ...
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Problems with perfect tenses
I have some problems with Present Perfect tenses. I often see in movies or in books where 2 characters are talking about situation that take place right now. When they see the result, instead of using ...
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Grammar: Past perfect tense
If someone just told me about some celebrity I didn't know about all my life. would it be natural to express this in past perfect tense.
For instance:
Someone tells me about me about Mohammed Ali and ...
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Future Perfect continuous question
Wondering if it is correct to use Future Perfect continuous time in the sentence:
"We will have been eating by 8pm tomorrow, so plz come at 9pm."
Or it is better to us Future Perfect:
"We will have ...
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Equivalents of Russian perfective/imperfective verbs
Which one of the sentences means "Ne ustanovili pravila", but don't "Ne ustanavlivali pravila"?
They didn't set rules.
or
They didn't have to set rules.
What is the difference? Which one makes ...
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Does every present perfect sentence have some kind of connection between what happened in the past and the present time?
We use the present perfect tense to address something that happened in the past, but we don't specify precisely when it happened. We also use present perfect to suggest some kind of connection between ...