{"id":80,"date":"2013-08-10T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-10T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monkeygrammar.org\/index.php\/2013\/08\/10\/the-past-1\/"},"modified":"2020-04-15T14:43:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T14:43:48","slug":"the-past-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/the-past-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Past (1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: This post is about how to talk about things in the past<\/b>.  To your surprise, you will learn that there are (at least) two types<\/b> of past in English.  Yes, you are right, two<\/b>.  In a way, this post helps you understand the differences between <\/span><\/span>the <\/span>present perfect simple<\/b> (PPS) and the simple past<\/b>, <\/span>but not in terms of boring grammar, but with a <\/span>love story<\/b>. <\/span>
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How do your boss talk to you?  <\/span><\/span>Finish it<\/span><\/span>\u2019 or \u2018<\/span>Finish it by 6:00pm<\/st1:time><\/span><\/span>\u2019.  <\/span>Which one do you prefer<\/span>?  <\/span><\/span>None<\/span> <\/span>of them.  But which one is <\/span>clear<\/span>?  And which one is <\/span>unclear<\/span>?  The second one (with a time) is clearer, right? So what is my<\/span> point<\/span>?  My point is the same applies when you talk about \u2018<\/span>past<\/span>\u2019 in English.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n<\/span><\/span><\/span> There are<\/span> two<\/span><\/b> types of past: <\/span><\/span>past<\/span> that is <\/span>clear<\/span><\/span> <\/span>and<\/span> <\/span>past <\/span>that is <\/span>unclear<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
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\n<\/span><\/span>An Unclear <\/span>Past: How unclear <\/span>is it?<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>
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Sorry<\/span> that you have to meet your boss again.  At a <\/span>meeting<\/span>, your boss may say something like this: \u2018JM<\/span><\/span>B, <\/span>our main competitor<\/span>,<\/span> has changed<\/span> its selling strategy<\/span><\/span>.\u2019  <\/span>(<\/span>The short form of <\/span>\u2018has changed\u2019 <\/span>is<\/span> \u2018<\/span>The company<\/span>\u2019s changed<\/span> <\/span>it selling strategy<\/span>.<\/span>)  <\/span><\/div>\n

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                                                                       <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Based on your boss\u2019s words, do you know when<\/span> ABC changed its strategy? Or in which year<\/span>? Which month<\/span>? Which date<\/span>? <\/span>Not<\/span> sure, right? But <\/span>one thing<\/span> you are pretty sure of is that: <\/span>It is<\/span> in the past<\/span><\/span>. <\/span> <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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This is what an<\/span> unclear<\/span> <\/span>past is about.  That is, somehow you know something has happened but you know nothing about the <\/span>exact<\/span> <\/span><\/span>year<\/span>, <\/span>month<\/span>, <\/span>week<\/span><\/span>,<\/span> or<\/span> date<\/span><\/span>.  <\/span>Other <\/span>examples<\/span><\/span> from your boss may include:<\/span><\/div>\n

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       <\/span><\/span>Our profits <\/span>have dropped<\/span><\/span> (<\/span>by 20%<\/span>).      <\/span>(short form: <\/span>\u2019ve dropped<\/span>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
          The government<\/span><\/span> has raised<\/span><\/span> <\/span>the rates of business tax<\/span>. <\/span>  <\/span>(short form: <\/span>\u2019s raised<\/span>)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
       <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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The tense used (<\/span>have dropped<\/span><\/span>,  <\/span>has raised<\/span><\/span>) has a long name, the <\/span>present perfect simple <\/span>(PPS)<\/span>.  The tense is made up of by<\/span> two<\/span><\/span> elements:<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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1. <\/b><\/span>has \/ have<\/span><\/b> <\/span>( <\/span>\u2019s \/ \u2018ve<\/span>)  +<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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                    2. <\/span>changed \/ dropped \/ raised<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>
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Well, one question may pop up<\/span>? <\/span><\/span>Why<\/span> does your boss use <\/span>present perfect simple (PPS<\/span>)<\/span><\/span>?<\/span>  <\/span>To know why your boss uses PPS, you will be told a story, a<\/span> romantic<\/span> <\/span>one.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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An Unclear<\/span> Past, the Present: <\/span>A Love<\/span> Story<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

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It was 9:59<\/st1:time> in the morning, and Mr <\/span><\/span>UP<\/span><\/span> (Unclear Past<\/span>) was <\/span>sweating.  He was <\/span><\/span>late<\/span><\/span> for a meeting, <\/span>a very important meeting<\/span>, a <\/span><\/span>meeting that was going to change his life.<\/span>  He rushed into a building, <\/span>hoping that the lift doors were open for him.  Yes, he was right.<\/span>  <\/span>When he arrived at the ground floor, the lift was there, and when the <\/span>doors opened, he <\/span>saw a woman<\/span>.  What is her name?  Ms. <\/span><\/span>Now<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n


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It was<\/span> love<\/span><\/span> at first sight<\/span>.  And \u2018<\/span>then<\/span>\u2019 they had a son.  So soon?  <\/span>By the way, w<\/span><\/span>hat is his name?  <\/span>Present Perfect Simple<\/b><\/span>.   <\/span><\/div>\n
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So what is my<\/span> point<\/span>?  <\/span>Present Perfect Simple<\/span><\/span> (the son) is a tense that <\/span>links up<\/span> an unclear<\/span><\/span> past<\/span> <\/span>(Mr. UP) and the <\/span>present<\/span> <\/span>(Ms. Now). If you want a better picture of what I meant, read the <\/span><\/span>F<\/span><\/b>ee<\/span><\/b>l G<\/span><\/b>oo<\/span><\/b>d T<\/span><\/b>i<\/span><\/b>p<\/span><\/b><\/span>: <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Un<\/span>clear<\/span> P<\/span>ast<\/span><\/b><\/span> <\/span><\/span>(<\/span>Man<\/span>)<\/span><\/span> <\/span>+<\/span> <\/span>P<\/span>resent<\/span><\/b><\/span> <\/span>(<\/span>Woman<\/span>)<\/span><\/span> <\/span>=<\/span> <\/span>P<\/b><\/span>resent<\/span> P<\/b><\/span>erfect<\/span> S<\/b><\/span>imple<\/span><\/span> <\/span>(<\/span>Son<\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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What<\/span> does this have to do with English<\/span><\/i><\/b>?  <\/span><\/h2>\n

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You may go back to what your boss has told you (<\/span>the first sample sentence<\/span>): <\/i><\/span>ABC, <\/span><\/i>our main competitor<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i> has changed<\/span><\/i> its selling strategy<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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There is <\/span>an un<\/b><\/span>clear past<\/span><\/span> in the sentence.  What do I mean?  I mean the change ha<\/span>s<\/span> happened<\/span>, right? But <\/span>when<\/b><\/span><\/span>? What you know is it was something in the past, but <\/span>an unclear <\/span>one<\/span>.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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What about <\/span>the present<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>?  You can\u2019t see it, can you?  No you can\u2019t.  The present is <\/span>invisible<\/b><\/span><\/span> <\/span>(you <\/span>can\u2019t see it<\/span> with your eyes).  It is because when your boss says something like this, it means you <\/span>have to<\/b><\/span> do something<\/span><\/span> about it, about the change of strategy.  When<\/span>should you do it?  Most probably: <\/span><\/span>now<\/span><\/span> (the present<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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In other words<\/span><\/span>, you<\/span>r<\/span> boss told you about something in the past<\/b><\/span> by using the Present Perfect Simple<\/span><\/b>. And it is <\/span>you<\/span> who has to <\/span>do something about it<\/span><\/span>.  That is, an action in the unclear past <\/span><\/b><\/span>makes<\/span> you<\/span> do something<\/b><\/span><\/span> now<\/span><\/span><\/b> (or in the near future).  <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Put yourself in your boss\u2019s shoes<\/span><\/span>, your boss wants you to do something by using PPS.  Well, I guess you will <\/span>start to<\/span> hate PPS<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
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\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: This post is about how to talk about things in the past.  To your surprise, you will learn that there are (at least) two types of past in English.  Yes, you are right, two.  In a way, this post helps you understand the differences between the present perfect simple (PPS) and the simple past, but not in terms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/FreeGreatPicture.com-29110-interesting-business-image.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":766,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}