|
|
 #2 (permalink) Wed Jun 22, 2011 11:46 am simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
Hello, Salmonella:
IMHO:
1a and 1b are "bad" English.
2a. He no longer lives there.
2b. He still lives there.
James |
|
James M
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 15 May 2011
Posts: 573
|
|
| #3 (permalink) Wed Jun 22, 2011 13:31 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
| Thanks James. So, could you suggest the correct sentence for number one? |
|
Salmonella
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 15 Apr 2011
Posts: 190
|
 |
| #4 (permalink) Wed Jun 22, 2011 16:58 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
He bought the house approximately 15 years ago.
_________________
Cheers m' dears! |
|
Beeesneees
Language Coach
Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Posts: 20463
Location: UK, born and bred
|
|
| #5 (permalink) Wed Jul 27, 2011 16:28 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
| I got a situation which there is a person who live in a house before getting involved in fire. I just wrote a report which one of the statement is "The risk premises has been occupied since 15 years ago". But my manager corrected the statement as "The risk premises was occupied since 15 years ago". May I know why the first sentence is incorrect? |
|
Salmonella
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 15 Apr 2011
Posts: 190
|
|
| #6 (permalink) Wed Jul 27, 2011 16:32 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
Neither sentence is correct.
'since' and 'ago' should not be used together.
These are possible:
The risk premises has been occupied for 15 years.
The risk premises has been occupied since 1996.
The risk premises was first occupied 15 years ago.
The risk premises was first occupied in 1996.
If you mean occuped by the person involved in the fire, you need to clarify that too:
The risk premises has been occupied by the person involved for 16 years, etc.
_________________
Cheers m' dears! |
|
Beeesneees
Language Coach
Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Posts: 20463
Location: UK, born and bred
|
|
| #7 (permalink) Wed Jul 27, 2011 16:44 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
Sorry, I accidentally put 'ago' in both sentences. =p
So, this is between these two sentences:
1. The risk premises has been occupied since 15 years
2. The risk premises was occupied since 15 years
So, I feel very weird why she corrected my statement... |
|
Salmonella
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 15 Apr 2011
Posts: 190
|
|
| #8 (permalink) Wed Jul 27, 2011 17:12 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
Hi Salmonella
When you use 'since' you should say when the time started - e.g. since Tuesday, since 1996, since 4pm.
When you use 'for' you should say the number of hours, days, months etc. - e.g. for 3 hours, for 6 months, for 15 years.
So your possible sentences are:
The risk premises has been occupied since 1996.
The risk premises has been occupied for 15 years.
I'm wondering whether "risk premises" is correct too - I don't know anything about insurance though, so maybe it is an acceptable expression.
TTT |
|
Tinyteflteacher
New Member
Joined: 12 Oct 2010
Posts: 6
Location: Chichester
|
|
| #9 (permalink) Wed Jul 27, 2011 17:23 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
| Salmonella wrote: |
Sorry, I accidentally put 'ago' in both sentences. =p
So, this is between these two sentences:
1. The risk premises has been occupied since 15 years
2. The risk premises was occupied since 15 years
So, I feel very weird why she corrected my statement... |
They are still both wrong, for the reasons already mentioned. You need to use 'for' in your sentence instead of 'since'. Your manager would need to give the actual year instead of write '15 years'.
Your manager seems to be disputing the verb tense rather than the part which is actually incorrect though.
Depending on the rest of the statement, there is a chance that your manager's tense choice is correct but it is far more likely that your verb choice is the correct one!
This is the correct version:
The risk premises has been occupied for 15 years.
It's a sad fact of life though - you will probably have to accept your manager's decision as she has the greater power.
_________________
Cheers m' dears! |
|
Beeesneees
Language Coach
Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Posts: 20463
Location: UK, born and bred
|
|
| #10 (permalink) Wed Jul 27, 2011 19:50 pm simple past vs present perfect |
|
|
Hi.
I would use a plural verb form after 'premises'.
Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple |
|
Alan
Co-founder
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
Posts: 14476
Location: UK
|
|
|
| Paragraph about importance of English | the articles |
