# Past Simple vc Present Perfect



## Arthur Korablyov

Though I missed my bus stop and had to take a taxi to get home (there was no bus traveling in the opposite direction 'cos it was too late) , I am happy: I've attended a Bi-2 live gig today - it was awesome! I loved it! 

I am wondering to know if the choice of the tenses in this sentence is correct.

What do you think about it? Or maybe you noticed another mistakes?

Thanks in advance!


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## rusita preciosa

Your sentence is very convoluted and difficult to understand. I suggest you split it in two. 
Your tenses are OK, although I'd use past simple.
Also, I'd use *I went to *or* I saw *instead *I attended *("attended a gig" sound funny, "gig" being slang and "attend" a pretty formal word).

P.S. Why not ask this question in English Only and get input from the natives?


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## Sobakus

The rule says Present Perfect isn't used when time is mentioned. So it should be "I was at a gig today". In the cases where no rule prevents you from using either, in BE they mostly use Present Perfect and in AE - Past Simple. Although I'd like to see the natives' opinion on their usage as well, shame the English Only forum is such a crowded place you don't really get any elaborate discussions there.


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## gvozd

Sobakus said:


> The rule says Present Perfect isn't used when time is mentioned. So it should be "I was at a gig today".



Где он там упомянул время? Today - это не время, это ПЕРИОД, в течение которого произошло действие. Секунда, день, век, тысячелетие - это все НАСТОЯЩЕЕ время, если период не истек на момент речи. Следовательно, употребление перфекта здесь вполне оправдано.


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## Enquiring Mind

Sobakus said:


> ... I'd like to see the natives' opinion on their usage ...



Rusita preciosa's reply is correct in every respect.  If you had *started* your sentence with "I'm happy, I've been at (or been to) a gig today", the present perfect is fine. The following tenses in the same time sequence of events must then (normally) be simple past.

"I've been to/at a gig today." This tense answers the question: "What did you do today?", or "Have you ever been to/at a gig?" not "When did you go to *the* gig?" The answer to this second question could be "I went to *the* gig today", or (possibly, but less likely) "I've been to/at *the* gig today".  

After the first present perfect ("I've been ..."), the tenses must all (normally) be simple past, so "I went to/I've been to/I've been at a gig today. I met my friend Yuriy at the station, then we caught the metro to Putinskaya, and walked from there to the venue."

However in a normal sentence like your example, describing a sequence of events, if you start with a simple past, the following verbs in the same sequence of events must be in the simple past too.  I went...  I met... we caught... we walked...  You can't (normally) use a present perfect in this same sequence of events ("I went... I met... we've walked ).  There *are* circumstances where you *could* do this (for special effect, in dialectical tense usage, if you describe an action that took place outside or before the sequence of events you are describing) but it's impossible to cover every eventuality of tense usage in this reply.

This is British English tense usage.  American English often uses a simple past where British English uses a present perfect, e.g. (BE) I haven't eaten anything since breakfast = (AE) I didn't eat anything since breakfast.   If there are further posts from users of AE, they may say something different about the use of tenses...     Hope this helps.


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## Sobakus

gvozd said:


> это все НАСТОЯЩЕЕ время, если период не истек на момент речи.


 Да, глупость я сказал, today и вправду не может быть прошедшим периодом времени


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## morzh

Enquiring Mind said:


> This is British English tense usage.  American English often uses a simple past where British English uses a present perfect, e.g. (BE) I haven't eaten anything since breakfast = (AE) I didn't eat anything since breakfast.   If there are further posts from users of AE, they may say something different about the use of tenses...     Hope this helps.




As boorish as we Americans are, actually believe it or not, I never heard anyone say what you've just said. I hear exact same BE usage, at least with "I haven't eaten anything since morning". Never heard "didn't". (Maybe it is a peculiarity of NJ AE)


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## Arthur Korablyov

Thank you for your answers. They really help me analyse my choise of the tenses.


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## MedaBeda

Hello guys,

when I say without any context: " I started my career as an actor and then I worked as......".

Should I
a) use present perfect because I am not saying when I started my career as an actor ???
b) variant a) is correct when the person/people to whom I am saying this know when I started this acting career, and present perfect has to be used when they dont know when I started this career.

thank u,


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## Vovan

Я начал/начинал карьеру как актёр ... - both options work here.
Начинал is less usual, though, and is usually used to start a description of how it was (in a way, it's like the continuous aspect in English for the purpose of giving the background against which something else happens).


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## Vovan

If you're speaking about the English language, MedaBeda, you should only use the simple past in your sentence.


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## MedaBeda

why never present perfect? The people to whom I am saying this might not know when my acting career started. Isnt it the same like:

I have seen a great film.

not the same? if not the same.....wait for it..... why? 

thank you


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## Vovan

MedaBeda, you're giving an account of a sequence of past events (you use "then"). That's the main reason the present perfect would be meaningless in your sentence.

You can say, though, "I have started my career!!!"
And someone will tell you, "Congratulations, MedaBeda!!!"


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## MedaBeda

ahaa... so without the word "then" - I would say: I have started my career as an actor.

ok - thank you


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## Vovan

If you have *just *started it, yes.
If you started it in the past, you would say, "I started my career as an actor."


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## MedaBeda

ahaaa

so without any context:
I have seen a great film - this suggest seeing it recently
I saw a great film - suggests seeing it a longer time ago

Am I correct?  I know that I am more or less repeating you but to be sure...


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## Vovan

MedaBeda said:


> so without any context:
> I have seen a great film - this suggest seeing it recently
> I saw a great film - suggests seeing it a longer time ago.


This sentence _requires _context so that we know which tense to use.

Your original question is a lot like "I was a stubborn teenager": it refers to some definite period of time, i.e. when you were a teenager, - _even if_ the person you're talking to doesn't know how old you are.


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## MedaBeda

ok so I cannot say out of the blue - I saw a great film - with someone else e.g. asking me - Yeah? What about?

I would have to say e.g. I saw a great film yesterday.

Correct?

Thats weird......


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## Vovan

MedaBeda said:


> ok so I cannot say out of the blue - I saw a great film - with someone else e.g. asking me - Yeah? What about?


If the person you're talking to doesn't have a clue what time you're referring to or why you're saying this, you can't. At least, not in standard British English.

But you can say this to mean "once" and then add a few more sentences, i.e. to tell a story about seeing the film.


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## MedaBeda

English tenses.....never dull)) thank you again


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## rusita preciosa

Mod note: the discussion moved onto use of tense in English language. That topic is more suited for English Only. The thread is now closed.


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