Comments on: Grammar Guru: Is it past or present perfect? http://annehodgson.de/2010/01/02/grammar-guru-is-it-past-or-present-perfect/ Learning English Online with Anne Hodgson Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:01:24 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Anne http://annehodgson.de/2010/01/02/grammar-guru-is-it-past-or-present-perfect/comment-page-1/#comment-3285 Anne Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:33:09 +0000 http://annehodgson.de/?p=11429#comment-3285 It's really interesting that almost everyone prefers the present perfect here, as actually used in the article. Perhaps it's the word "never", and the knowledge (or is it the hope) that the history of the US ist not quite over yet. It would be the natural choice for speakers of British English, certainly. So: great choice of tense, everyone! But I actually think you might find some speakers of American English quite happy to use the past tense here, as soon as they felt we were talking about finished time, about past events. <strong> Correct:</strong> In the history of this country, the federal government has never required every American to enter into a contract with a private company. (93%, 13 Votes) <span style="text-decoration: line-through">In the history of this country, the federal government never required every American to enter into a contract with a private company.</span>(7%, 1 Votes) It’s really interesting that almost everyone prefers the present perfect here, as actually used in the article.
Perhaps it’s the word “never”, and the knowledge (or is it the hope) that the history of the US ist not quite over yet. It would be the natural choice for speakers of British English, certainly. So: great choice of tense, everyone!
But I actually think you might find some speakers of American English quite happy to use the past tense here, as soon as they felt we were talking about finished time, about past events.


Correct: In the history of this country, the federal government has never required every American to enter into a contract with a private company. (93%, 13 Votes)
In the history of this country, the federal government never required every American to enter into a contract with a private company.(7%, 1 Votes)

]]> By: Tweets die The Island Weekly » Blog Archive » Grammar Guru: Is it past or present perfect? erwähnt -- Topsy.com http://annehodgson.de/2010/01/02/grammar-guru-is-it-past-or-present-perfect/comment-page-1/#comment-3256 Tweets die The Island Weekly » Blog Archive » Grammar Guru: Is it past or present perfect? erwähnt -- Topsy.com Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:26:32 +0000 http://annehodgson.de/?p=11429#comment-3256 [...] Dieser Eintrag wurde auf Twitter von Karenne Sylvester, annehodg erwähnt. annehodg sagte: New blog post: Grammar Guru: Is it past or present perfect? http://annehodgson.de/2010/01/02/grammar-guru-is-it-past-or-present-perfect/ [...] [...] Dieser Eintrag wurde auf Twitter von Karenne Sylvester, annehodg erwähnt. annehodg sagte: New blog post: Grammar Guru: Is it past or present perfect? http://annehodgson.de/2010/01/02/grammar-guru-is-it-past-or-present-perfect/ [...]

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