Thursday, December 12, 2013

English grammar/writing: use of "present perfect" as opposed to "past tense"



… . The choice of present perfect or past tense depends on the frame of reference (period or point in time) in which the event is conceived as occurring. … . If the frame of reference extends to the present time, the present perfect is used. … . If the frame of reference is a time in the past, or a period which ended in the past, the past tense is used instead. …
The use of present perfect resp. past tense is quite different (as described above [link]), and German native speakers confuse their use in English a lot; by my experience they rather resist accepting the difference and applying them properly in English. (This is rather annoying.)

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