A little English question.
- Thread starter Azza
- Start date
I 'want'Rachael....
Am I being whooshed?
Looks like I'll have to stand down from my position.. *but*
No one's got it quite correct yet.. It's the 'Has wanted to learn' has wanted is in the past but to learn continues in the present.
No one specifically mentioned learn yet. So we were all partly right and wrong.
According to my learned friend. Trixy grammar questions.
No one's got it quite correct yet.. It's the 'Has wanted to learn' has wanted is in the past but to learn continues in the present.
No one specifically mentioned learn yet. So we were all partly right and wrong.
According to my learned friend. Trixy grammar questions.
Deleted member 66701
Deleted member 66701
But not when conjoined.
Gets my voteThe Violin! That was the present. Perfect!
The verb form in the present perfect is has wanted.
She wanted to start learning the violin at some point in the past, and still does to this day. She hasn't started yet, hence her still wanting to learn the violin.
The present perfect is formed by have + past participle.
It's used, amongst other things, to refer to an action in the present that started in the past and is still relevant to the present.
For example,
I have lived in London for 4 years. I moved to London for years ago and I still live London.
The overall tense is of course a present tense (as opposed to past, future or conditional).
Propel are confusing present tense with present simple. In English, there are four main tenses that are used to describe things in the present: present simple, present perfect, present continuous (also called present progressive) and the present perfect continuous.
She wanted to start learning the violin at some point in the past, and still does to this day. She hasn't started yet, hence her still wanting to learn the violin.
The present perfect is formed by have + past participle.
It's used, amongst other things, to refer to an action in the present that started in the past and is still relevant to the present.
For example,
I have lived in London for 4 years. I moved to London for years ago and I still live London.
The overall tense is of course a present tense (as opposed to past, future or conditional).
Propel are confusing present tense with present simple. In English, there are four main tenses that are used to describe things in the present: present simple, present perfect, present continuous (also called present progressive) and the present perfect continuous.
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But you're qualifying that with 'and I still live here'
I have lived in Leeds for four years.
Does that mean i still live in Leeds?. Maybe..
But if I currently live in Edinburgh.. Shouldn't it simply be 'I lived in Leeds for four years'?
Why the have?
I have lived in Leeds for four years.
Does that mean i still live in Leeds?. Maybe..
But if I currently live in Edinburgh.. Shouldn't it simply be 'I lived in Leeds for four years'?
Why the have?
Yes, if you now live in Edinburgh then you would need the past tense to refer to the time spent living in Leeds. Hence "I lived in Leeds for 4 years."
By definition, the present perfect refers to an action started in the past and relevant to the present. So by saying you have lived in Leeds for 4 years, you are automatically implying that you still live in Leeds.
Unless you say, "In my life (so far), I have lived in Leeds, London and Edinburgh."
In this sentence, the thing starting in the past and relevant to the present is your life, hence the use of the present perfect for all cities.
Although if you wanted to be absolutely clear, you'd use the present perfect continuous (used for an action started in the past and is still occurring to this day [the present]) and you'd say:
"I've been living in Leeds for four years now."
What about:
"So far today, I've eaten a sandwich, a pizza and some ice cream."
This is the only grammatically correct way of saying what you have eaten since you woke up this morning as the day is not yet over.
It's interesting you said inefficient. What do you mean by that?
Well no, but then neither did the other sentence account for where you might live in the future.
The problem is that English grammar has many rules and contexts.
Does the use of the present perfect in the original sentence in the OP make sense to you now?
How else would you phrase it?
It's about time grammar is taught in schools again. The main problem with mother tongue speakers is that the grammar is picked up automatically with no real understanding of why and when certain structures are used.