Should I use '' I had been listening to this concert since it started snowing, at seven.'' or ''I have been listening to this concert since it started snowing, at seven.'' I never know when to use present perfect or past perfect.
577
Non-na­tive speak­ers of­ten get con­fused about what the var­i­ous tens­es  and as­pects mean in English. With in­put from some of the folk here I've put to­geth­er a di­a­gram that I hope will pro­vide some clar­i­ty on the mat­ter.  I of­fer it as the first an­swer to this ques­tion. Con­sid­er it a liv­ing doc­u­ment. In­put is wel­come, and good sug­ges­tions will be  in­cor­po­rat­ed in­to the di­a­gram.    No­ta bene: What this is not is a dis­cus­sion of whether there are  more than two tens­es in English. , to which this ques­tion is not in­tend­ed to sup­ply ar­gu­ments one way or the oth­er.  Here, the aim is to pro­vide an overview of what con­struc­tions English-speak­ing peo­ple use for con­vey­ing in­for­ma­tion about ac­tions re­fer­ring to past, present, and fu­ture, and to pro­vide it first and fore­most to pre­cise­ly the peo­ple who are like­ly to use "tense" as a catch-all term in their search, rather than to lin­guists who know bet­ter.  Break­ing News There is now an ex­cel­lent ELU blog ar­ti­cle ti­tled  . It is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed read­ing.
106354
What is the difference in the meaning between the following two tenses?     I used to travel alone.   I was used to traveling alone.
89247
I came across an English learner writing     It snowed hard Monday.   After saying that it didn't snow on Friday and Saturday.  It didn't quite feel right to me.  I'd be okay with     It snowed hard.   or     It snowed Monday.   Is it okay for there to be two things ("hard" and "Monday") modifying the snowing without an "on" breaking things up a bit?
53855
My friend asked me just today, "Hey, how are you?"        I said, "Tired, sleepy, and can't concentrate on my work."      He then asked, "Why so?"   Here is where the interesting part starts.       I said, "I have had a headache yesterday"   He said that I should have said "I had a headache yesterday" instead of "I have had a headache yesterday"  But all grammar books say that with Present Perfect + Past Tense we mean an action that continues into the present; has consequences in the present.  I didn't want to just tell the fact that I had a headache but I implied that that was the reason I was "Tired, sleepy, and can't concentrate on my work."  Who is right?
86974
When in a sentence I want to use the present perfect of get, I say have/has gotten. A friend of mine (who is American) corrects me, saying I should use have/has got. From my English classes, I remember that the past participle of get is gotten.  Why does my friend tell me that it is not correct to use have gotten?  If that makes any difference, my friend lives on the east coast, closer to the New England zone.
84476
can anyone please tell me the between "have been" and "was"? Suppose my friends calls me and I reply the following.  Are they interchangeable in the following context?    Hey, Paul I was/have been busy working all day. I am very tired now. I will go your home and talk to you there.   Note that I am not working at the moment of speaking. I have just finished it.
39311
I used to study at Cambridge School.  I am used to studying at Cambridge School.  If the verb is continuous tense, it need to be added "verb to be" before used to?
50883
I'm very confused about tenses.  I have examples in two different situations here. Situation 1: I went to New York two months ago and was talking to someone about it.  A. This is the first time I've been to New York. B. That was the first time I'd been to New York.  Which is correct in a daily conversation?  Situation 2: I'm going to New York next month and talking to someone.  A. This will be the first time I've been to New York. B. This is the first time I've been to New York. C. This will be the first time I go to New York.  Which sentence is appropriate?  According to a grammar article I've read before, I think it says that I can use this sentence in both cases:  This is the first time I've been to New York.  But I'm not sure if this is really so. So I'd like to know which tense I should use in each case. Could you explain it?
24216
In Korea, we learned that we should use the past tense when the subject is an historical event, as in "The Korean war broke out in 1950."  However, I think that when the event continues to affect the present (now), we should use the present perfect.  So I think that we can say 'The Korean war has broken out in 1950.'  Am I right?
103192
I think this sentence is correct.     I done something.   This is also correct.     I have done something.   What are the involved tense? How are they different?
47492
Please have a look at this sentence:     We haven't gotten a lot of Finnish groups that we liked here at Bananas but I'm pretty happy with this four tracker from Helsinki, apparently recorded in the same place where the Ramones played in the 70's.     The first verb is in present perfect (up to now) and the second is in simple past tense. I don't understand the simple past for the second verb.  Why "like" is not in its present perfect form as the first verb is?
97316
Should one use has been or was in the following sentence, and why?        For many years the USA has been a British colony.   For many years the USA was a British colony.
28438
To me, using Present Perfect form means the event can occur again. So, saying      someone has died   may not be grammatically correct.  Also, I noticed (it might be just coincidence):     passed away   is used more often than     has passed away   Is using Present Perfect correct here?
120502
A colleague asked me which of these sentences is correct, or if they are both correct which is better to use.   Are you using the current template version? Do you use the current template version?   I recommended using the first sentence but only because it sounds better to me.  Is there anything grammatically wrong with the second sentence or does it convey a different meaning to the first sentence?
24811
I'm describing a situation that happened in the past. To explain it, I want to use a description that is both true now and true when the situation happened.  Specifically, I want something like:     She touched me where my neck met my collarbone.   Since my neck is still attached to my collarbone (thankfully), I'm wondering if I shouldn't use the present tense here instead:     She touched me where my neck meets my collarbone.   Which is preferable, and why?
18629
I've been reading . I have also been reading this . From these two sources it appears that there is no difference between Present-perfect-tense and Simple-past-tense.     I myself thought up two sentences:           The children played in the sandbox.      The children have played in the sandbox.        The only difference that I am able to recognize is that in the 2nd sentence we are putting some emphasis on the fact that children (have) finished the play. If I translate "have" into my language then it is giving the emphasis that children finished the job. On the other hand the 1st sentence is just telling that children played there some time ago. The 1st sentence is giving no emphasis on the fact that they have finished the play.     Please explain me what is the difference between Present-perfect-tense and Simple-past-tense.
25147
I remember (vaguely) reading somewhere that it is wrong to use the present perfect when the subject of a sentence is someone who is long dead:     *Einstein has visited the Philippines.   My question is, What if the dead person is not the subject but an object:     Leo is the best president our country has/had ever had. (The ones who   succeeded him were inferior, even our current president.)   Which tense is proper here