Comments on: Grammar Guru: Which tense is correct here?

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:43:05 +0000

Final count:
I saw Judith recently at an event held for new students. (85%, 11 votes)
I’ve seen Judith recently at an event held for new students. (15%, 2 votes)

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:08:05 +0000

Sure. Your example sounds natural enough to me.

Of course, living in North America, as I am, I have to hear native speakers use the simple past when they should be using the present perfect. Classic example from a children’s song: “Did you ever see a whale with a polka-dot tale?” (Raffi)

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:07:59 +0000

Agree! Keywords are not enough to determine which tense is used. This is not always easy for English learners, though.

But does this ever happen to you:
I sometimes find myself changing tenses in mid-thought.
I might start responding to the question “Have you seen her recently?” – or even better: “Have you seen her lately?” with a “Yes in fact I have, it was at an event for new students.” And that might get condensed into what sounds like a present perfect sentence. “Yes in fact I have, at an event for new students.”

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:51:22 +0000

You give away the answer with your grammar logic tip. The second one doesn’t work in the present perfect, because it is still referring to a specific moment in the past. The pastness of that moment is only implied, but nonetheless real.

This sentence says nothing about a specific moment in time: “I have been to the zoo.” But this sentence implies a specific moment:: “I saw her at the zoo.”