Questions tagged [perfect-constructions]
Perfect constructions employ a form of HAVE as an auxiliary and the past participle of a lexical verb to express past events as a current state.
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I got two questions both are on tenses [closed]
1: there ________ four excellent restaurants in the center of the town
A: is
B: are
C: was
D: being
2: the difference between "have fallen", "fallen", "would fallen" ...
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Using perfect modals for future
I have seen that to talk about some past events by using modals,we mostly use perfect modals(such as could have ,should have, would have, might have ,may have)and to talk about future and present ...
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Perfect or perfect continuous?
Perfect simple and perfect continuous are sometimes confusing for learners. I know we can use "I've worked for twenty years" in place of "I've been working for twenty years". Both ...
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Two years have passed since he died
I'm just wondering. Is the following sentence OK?
Two years have passed since he died.
The word "since" means "from a point in the past until now", so it can be used with "...
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Present perfect or past perfect in a (specific) sentence?
I start with the assumption that the following sentence is correct.
John told me that his father had been ill since Christmas.
My question is whether the above sentence can also accommodate the ...
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She has written novels vs. a novel
When someone says "She has written a novel", the salient interpretation is that the writing is complete: the whole situation is interpreted perfectively.
However, I think it is also possible ...
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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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It was several years since I had been travelling that road
Tell me please, do I understand correctly that we use "since" with the past tense, but we must only use "that" with perfect sentences like this:
"It was several years since I ...
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Left or had left? Older brother Tai Shan left/ had left the zoo for China in 2010
Her mother, Mei Xiang, gave birth to her first cub, Tai Shan, in 2005, but failed to get pregnant for years. Then, a cub born in 2012 didn’t survive. Mei Xiang has since had a third surviving cub, Bei ...
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What is perfect for a stative verb?
I have been struggling with understanding perfect tense since I started learning English. This is what I have learned so far:
It is generally said that if an action happened in the past but it has ...
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why use "had had" instead of just using "had" in this context?
excerpt from a text:
"He’d had a complicated childhood and was especially close to his brother, with whom he works. Friends suggested he was cheating. But I knew he was just trapped in an all-...
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have been painting vs was painting
Situation:
Yesterday I painted half of my room (for any reason I'm not going to continue, maybe I've broken my leg).
A friend of mine comes into the room the next day.
He says: What's the smell?
Which ...
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Is it corect : I had been thinking , in my case?
Is it correct: I thought about killing myself for a couple of hours after I swallowed the pill.
or I have to change in : I had been thinking of killing myself for a couple of hours after I swallowed ...
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The present perfect semantics
How could these explanations be understood?
McCoard (1978) (and also Sorensen, 1964: 78) takes great pains to disprove that 'He has died' means 'He is dead', a line of reasoning which he qualifies as &...
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Passive perfect tense.. Do both sentences have the same meaning?
Older versions of Google Chrome have been detected multiple vulnerabilities.
Multiple Vulnerabilities have been detected in old version of Chrome.
Do both sentences have the same meaning?
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Could you explain the usage of "would + perfect infinitive" in this example?
— Did you have anything to do with the things that were put on the wall there?
— No, that would've been Sam.
I've always seen would've been in conditional sentences, as in "If you were smarter, ...
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I haven't been to the gym since June
I know it is right to say "I've gone to or been to the gym many times since June" according to the answers to my other recent question. But if I want to use the negative form, do both ...
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I've been to Japan many times since 2010
I've been to Japan many times since 2010.
I've gone to Japan a few times since 2020.
Are the two sentences both correct? In these sentences, does "been to" mean the same as "gone to&...
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Is there any difference: "I had an accident." and "I have been in an accident."
I had an accident.
I have been in an accident.
Although the first sentence seems more common, today I have come across the second sentence and got suprised.
I checked online and saw it frequently used ...
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About present perfect continuous tense and present perfect tense
A : How much have we spent on food this week
B : A lot.
In A’s sentence, if ‘this week’ would be ‘for this week’ then, could I use the present perfect continuous tense? Instead of ‘have we spent’. For ...
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Past Simple or Past Perfect? Why do we use them this way in the quote?
Here is a quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird":
When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we
sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain
that the ...
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Present perfect for actions that are still ongoing or have just finished
Can present perfect be used in the following situations? Present perfect continuous is the usual choice, but do native speakers use present perfect simple too?
"It has rained for two hours" ...
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Emphasizing a Sentence in Perfect Tense
If we want to emphasize the predicate of a simple tense sentence, we only need to add the auxiliary verb “do” (or “did”). Example:
I came here.
I did come here. (emphasized)
However, what can we do ...
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Is it okay to use present perfect in this sentence?
You've seen how it happened. So, you're the next that they will come for.
Is it okay to use "have seen" in this sentence, or would past simple be more acceptable? I'm not sure which is ...
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Present Perfect or Simple Past for hypothetical situations?
I wonder what verb tense I should use when I'm making hypothetical sentences.
For instance:
Imagine you're writing a book with an intention in mind, and when people read your work, they get a ...
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What does this sentence imply? Past Simple
"I learned English 2 years ago". What does it imply? Like a fact: I did learning at some time 2 years ago or I finished learning English 2 years ago? As far as I know it means the first ...
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"Who's been here" vs "Who was here" [closed]
"Who's been here?"
"Who was here"
What's the difference between these sentences and when should I use them? And what "i've been here" means by itself?
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Why is it "have you gone to the gym" instead of "have you been to the gym"?
I would really appreciate it if you could help me with the following sentences:
How many times have you gone to the gym this month?
Have you ever gone to a game?
I have double checked the ...
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Use of the present perfect simple by persons in authority making a report
I read this report, made by a senior coroner at an inquest, and I wondered whether it has become common for the present perfect simple to be used in this way?
"She had been missing for a few days ...
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It would have been a good idea for him to have gone
It would have been a good idea for him to have gone to that school.
Does sentence (1) alone provide sufficient information for the reader/listener to assume that "he" didn't in fact go to ...
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Present perfect (has/has been) [duplicate]
Just when I think I have understood Perfect tenses, something comes up and I just can't get my head around it.
In my book it says that:
We can also use the present perfect for states.
1. The shop has ...
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why "has been telling" and not "has told"?
good morning,can someone explain the difference in this sentence I came across recently:
"The point of both is say that the writer has been telling the truth".
I found it on this site when ...
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I’ve been traveling quite a bit since we saw each other last Christmas [closed]
I’ve been traveling quite a bit since we saw each other last Christmas.
I’ve travelled quite a bit since we saw each other last Christmas.
He’s been spending a lot of time at the gym.
He’s spent a ...
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Perfect participle of " While Studying late at night, he fell asleep" [closed]
Would it be:
Having studied late at night, he slept.
Or something else?
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Does "by the time" require the Future Perfect tense?
I've come across this:
Sometimes, you can use the future perfect tense and the simple future
tense interchangeably. In these two sentences, there is no real
difference in meaning because the word ...
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Do these sentences mean the same: "He has been found not guilty" and "He has not been found guilty"
He has been found "not guilty".
He has not been found guilty.
In terms of daily life, both sentences mean the same.
Although the first sentence seems to be correct in terms of grammar, I ...
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Perfect infinitive? What is the correct phrase?
We happened to have been late for school today.
We happened to be late for school today.
What's the right way of putting it?
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Should I write "has returned home" or "returned home"?
I am writing a diary to improve my English. I write it describing the situation at the end of the day. My grandmother arrived home yesterday.
How should I describe this?
My grandmother returned home....
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would have pp for the future perfect
By the end of this month, you would have already worked fifty hours.
If I had known it earlier, I would have helped you.
It looks like: the first would is "future from now" and second would ...
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"I have not been seeing her very often lately"
I have not met her very often lately (that means that I only have seen her once or twice)
BUT if I have seen may be 5 or 6 times can I use
I have not been seeing her very often lately
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auxiliary verb or bare infinitive?
"She might have been waiting for us"
‘Have been waiting’ forms the present perfect progressive tense
‘might’ is a modal verb
The verb that follows modal verbs is suppose to be a bare ...
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past perfect to emphasize a contrast
the Byrds were now a family friends. Joan again
"I remember meeting them inside Ciro's - at first they had seemed older than the English groups. But up close it was clear that they were very ...
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Is the past perfect continuous really necessary?
I've come across the following sentences in one grammar book. I wonder if it's really necessary to use the past perfect continuous in them?
The original sentences:
It had been raining for several ...
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Why present perfect and not simple past in this sentence?
Cold you please help me?
I have tried to find an explanation, but I am stuck.
I watched an interview yesterday. Both people were sitting in a garden and at a certain point the interviewee pointed at a ...
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Using the verb "prefer" with the "perfect gerund"
Is it OK to use prefer with the perfect gerund?
I would prefer having travelled by car last month.
I would prefer having been watching TV for the last twenty minutes.
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Mixed conditionals in a sentence
If I had won the lottery, I would be travelling the world.
OR
If I had won the lottery, I would have travelled the world.
Which one of these is correct?
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have had to do something (for sometime)
Is it possible to use "have had to do something" in this sentence?
I have had to give him a call for one week now. But I am lingering.
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May/might had done
We can use the structure “may/might have done” to talk about what was possible to happen or the past possibilities:
You might have left your cellphone at work. = Perhaps you have left your cellphone ...
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would have done or had done
I would have appreciated it if my colleagues had done the same for me.
I would have appreciated it if my colleagues would have done the same for me.
Is the second sentence correct?
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Perfect tenses after since
guys!
Can you please explain the use of two perfect tenses in one sentence with 'since'? The sentence is original and is taken from R.J. Palacio's book 'Wonder': "It had been a long time since I'...
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