The present perfect tense is contradictory by nature. It uses present tenses to indicate something is happening at the moment. But, it also uses past participles, which shift events to a time frame that has passed. We call it the present perfect tense because it uses present verb tenses, specifically “has” or “have,” depending on …
Most are familiar with past, present, and future tenses. But outside of school, we stop consciously thinking about the effect of simple, continuous, and perfect forms, especially in our writing, which can make knowing which tense to use a little bit tricky. Contrary to popular belief, past perfect tense can stand alone without another clause. …
The Backstreet Boys told us, “What makes you different, makes you beautiful.” Christina Aguilera said, “You are beautiful, no matter what they say.” With so much positivity, can anyone be absolutely beautiful? It is correct to say “absolutely beautiful.” The adverb “absolutely” means completely and totally. “Beautiful” is an adjective that refers to someone very …
Most of us understand the basics of past, present, and future tense. Tenses help show when an event took place. And sometimes, you may need to use more than one tense in a single sentence. Present perfect tense and past perfect tense can be used in the same sentence. Present perfect indicates something that happened …
Imagine you are a high-school student again — your report card has just arrived. Next, you’ll hear the inevitable lecture about how you’ll need to be more focused in your studies…or is it on your studies? This confusion probably explains your B in English. “Focus on” is correct when “focus” is a verb, usually related …
Imagine that you look up at the sky, the pink and golds of the sunset fading away while deep blues emerge from the edges of the horizon. The day ends, and a hush seems to fall over the world — is it “nighttime”, or should it be “night time”? “Nighttime” and “night-time,” the latter a …