One of my most common grammar mistakes is about how to distinguish different past tenses, including simple past, present prefect simple and past perfect simple. For example, in a sentence “I ___ (arrive) for about one hour”, what is its tense and what is the accurate form of the verb arrive we should fill in.
Generally, there are three sub-tenses under past tense, which are simple past, present perfect simple and past perfect simple. All of them are used in the condition that the action happened in the past. However, they have significant differences.
Simple past is used for describing acts that have already been concluded and whose exact time of occurrence is known. Furthermore, simple past is used for retelling successive events. That is why it is commonly used in storytelling. Simple past is formed for regular verbs by adding –ed to the root of the word. Example: He did not have breakfast this morning.
Present perfect simple is used for describing a past action’s effect on the present. It is used for events that have just been secluded as well as for events that have not yet occurred. Present perfect simple is formed by combining have/has with the main verb’s past participle form. Example: He has not arrived, but he’ll get here in ten minutes.
Past perfect simple is used for describing secluded events that have occurred before something else followed. Past perfect simple is formed by combining the simple past form of to have with the simple past form of the main verb. Example: After he had visited his relatives, he went back home.
Exercise:
1. She was reading a book when her mother _____ (come) home.
2. My tutorial _____ (finish) yet.
3. He said that he ____ (go) to Australia many times.
2 条评论:
Hi. Good organisation of points by highlighting them. No major errors i see here, though the example used under "simple past" does not tally with the explanation. Thanks.
Generally, there is a good elaboration of different forms of past tense. However, the example under "simple past" does not have any verb with "-ed". In addition, i do not quite understand about what are secluded events that you have used in your paragraph.
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