So we left off yesterday with a big question:
«HAVE you ever...?»
When we ask that question, are we expecting an answer related to a certain point in time? We’re not, right? Because we are asking about just «ever». This word «ever» means at any point in your life. So it doesn’t really matter how long ago it was. It doesn’t really matter when it was. We just want to know the information you’ve done. We will continue our theme today, but we will specifically contrast this with our Past Simple, because there can sometimes be some confusion in there. I’m going to throw out a few questions and see if this makes sense.
«HAVE you ever EATEN dinner yesterday?»
Does that question make sense? Yeah, it’s wrong. The yesterday and «ever» just might even sound weird when I ask that. Sounds strange even if I were to ask
« HAVE you EATEN dinner yesterday?»
As with all English grammar, we will learn another thing about Present Perfect and then we’ll keep switching it up, because that’s what English grammar does. We give you one rule and then we tell you another rule. And I will say Present Perfect is one of the more tricky. Well honestly, all the perfect tenses are some of the more tricky English grammar to understand. And especially the way that we teach it. Again, taught you one thing yesterday, teach you another thing today. Guess what? I’ll teach you other things in the next days. But we’ll just kind of build on the rules over the next couple of days.
PAST SIMPLE versus PRESENT PERFECT
We use Past Simple to talk about what do you think? Actions that started and finished in the past.
One of the big things about Present Perfect is it’s used to talk about things that started at some point and are still happening today.
So, using this question «HAVE you ever...?» is also talking about things that started and that are still continuing, are still happening right now.
So, yeah, we’re going to focus mainly on Present Perfect with these two keywords here to talk about time. When we use Present Perfect to talk about things that started, but are still continuing, if we use the words for or since, we can talk about periods of time «for…a certain amount of time» or fixed points, when that action started specifically «since…a certain point in the time, fixed points».
So, here’s the thing: the words for and since override that rule about HAVE BEEN or HAVE GONE. So, if you see the word «for» in a sentence it means it’s still continuing. If you see the word «since» in a sentence, it means it’s still continuing.
So we often talk about, you might hear people say: «Oh, Present Perfect doesn’t talk about a specific point in time». It can talk about a specific point in time, but it only talks about when that action started. And again, «for» and «since» both indicate that the action is still continuing, without those – it indicates that the action is over. So, yeah, when we use the Present Perfect and when we use «for» (we use «since»), we typically use this structure, because we don’t know when the action is going to finish.
If I say «I HAVE EATEN sushi», it means that I completed and an action is not continues right now. But yeah, if I say «I HAVE EATEN sushi for two weeks», I might still be eating sushi right now. So, without this «for» and without this «since» (take away those) that’s done.
For that previous example that I said about the sushi, like, I have eaten sushi for two weeks straight, that doesn't mean I've been continuously eating the whole time. That doesn't mean the actual action is, like, still going on right now. Right? That means that's probably all, like, maybe just one meal a day has been sushi, but it means «I'm still eating sushi there» hasn't been a stop to it yet. So, yeah, this can be a tricky one to wrap your head around, and especially the differentiation there, because yeah, I guess it doesn't mean that the action is the literal action isn't always going on, but the general action is always going on or is still going on.
And now let’s talk about the Past Simple with for quickly. Again, «for» can talk about a period of time in this case. If you use «for» with the Past Simple, this just means that’s how long an action that both started and finished in the past took. Just see what structures you recognize.
So, Past Simple will always be something that started and finished in the past. Past simple is all is done. Present Perfect sometimes it's done, but sometimes it's still continuing (when we have those keywords here, right?).
PRESENT SIMPLE versus PRESENT PERFECT
«I’m trying to get fit, so I HAVE WALKED to work every day for the past five weeks».
This is not permanent action. This is talking about the general action of walking to work. Meaning – it’s happened every day and it still happens every day. And you could say:
«I’m trying to get fit, so I walk every day».
But if you want to indicate how long the act of walking to work has been going on or how long the daily act of walking to work has been going on, then you need to make it using Present Perfect. That’s actually a really good thing. That probably should be clarified, because it's not really explained that I know I didn't actually explain that.
So it could be «I have been running since 05:00 a.m.» And I'm still running right now. Or it could be «I have played tennisevery day for the last three weeks». It doesn't mean that I'm playing it right now, but it means every single day up until today, I have played tennis. That action is still continuing.