Brock,
That's also a good example of an instance when the simple past tense definitely means something very different from the present perfect ("I lived here for 5 years" means you don't live here anymore, though your example below means you're still hanging in here).

I don't believe most examples of the perfect are much different content-wise from past tense, so yours is a great example for students to understand that the perfect is sometimes essential.

larry



>>> "Haussamen, Brock" <[log in to unmask]> - 4/3/01 10:59 AM >>>
Gretchen,
    An example of the present perfect tense that is clearly not "completed":

                I have lived here for five years.

A speaker might use the progressive--I have been living here for five
years--but not necessarily.

Brock


-----Original Message-----
From: Gretchen Lee [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 11:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Verb Tense


In a message dated 4/2/2001 8:00:28 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:<<  It
 might be interesting to change that play-by-play to a newspaper report. >>

Bob,

Thanks for the suggestion.  My students write newspaper articles all the
time.  We covered the election in history by producing a newspaper, and it's
one of the most popular choices in my reader's workshop ("Turn an event in
the book into a newspaper article or write an editorial on an issue that was
presented in the book you read").

They are very comfortable with the format which makes it ideal for this kind
of assignment.  I'll try it.  It's certainly simpler than the advertising
poster for the time travel agency I was toying with ("Book your trip to the
Coliseum today!  Scores of people are enjoying this exciting trip each and
every minute!  By this time next week, you will have been thrilled and
excited by the gladiators who fought centuries ago . . . .")

Gretchen in San Jose
[log in to unmask]

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