Thread: Check it out.

Originally Posted by Chuvak

... 2. I cant comprehend the difference between "Past Simple" and "Present Perfect". ...

Я думаю, что это проблема для многих русских, изучающих английский язык.
Любопытно, что некоторые англоязычные, изучающие русский, иногда путаются в выборе вида глагола (совершенный-несовершенный).

Thank you, but I wanna know - can I use the present perfect tense with adverbs such as "always", that is, can I say "I have always gone to school with him so that I know him very well"?

Originally Posted by TATY

Я живу в России уже пять лет
Живу is present tense.

I have lived in Russia for five years
For some reason English uses the past tense, it's just the way we do things.
Note you can also say

I have been living in Russia for five years
Both are correct and mean the same thing.

IMHO I think they do not mean the same.

I have lived in Russia for five years = I lived in Russia for 5 years, but now I do not live there. Or I lived in Russia for 5 years, then left for a while and then returned to Russia.

I have been living in Russia for five years = I lived in Russia for 5 years and I am still living in Russia.

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Thank you, but I wanna know - can I use the present perfect tense with adverbs such as "always", that is, can I say "I have always gone to school with him so that I know him very well"?

This is better
"I know him very well because I always went to school with him."
or
"I know him very well because we always went to school together."

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Thank you, but I wanna know - can I use the present perfect tense with adverbs such as "always", that is, can I say "I have always gone to school with him so that I know him very well"?

To me this sounds OK! I mean that it sounds like something that I would say.

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Originally Posted by TATY

Я живу в России уже пять лет
Живу is present tense.

I have lived in Russia for five years
For some reason English uses the past tense, it's just the way we do things.
Note you can also say

I have been living in Russia for five years
Both are correct and mean the same thing.

IMHO I think they do not mean the same.

I have lived in Russia for five years = I lived in Russia for 5 years, but now I do not live there. Or I lived in Russia for 5 years, then left for a while and then returned to Russia.

I have been living in Russia for five years = I lived in Russia for 5 years and I am still living in Russia.

I agree. But the context will reveal all.

E.g. "I have lived in Russia for five years" can mean what you said.
But it can also mean "and I still live there."

The "has been" makes it explicit that you still live there.

Like the other day someone asked me how long I've lived in London. And I said "I've lived here all my life". For some reason saying "I have been living here all my life" sounds weird to me.

And then there is the difference between:

I have lived in Russia
I lived in Russia

It's often hard to explain when to use certain tenses, because as native speakers we just know. But learning a language that has similar tenses, (I am thinking of Spanish which is almost the same as English when it comes to them), really helps to understand them in English.

I pity Russians who have to get their head around the English tense system.

Originally Posted by DDT

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Thank you, but I wanna know - can I use the present perfect tense with adverbs such as "always", that is, can I say "I have always gone to school with him so that I know him very well"?

To me this sounds OK! I mean that it sounds like something that I would say.

Well, I pity the ear that has to hear you say it!

"I have always gone to school with him so that I know him very well"
???

"I have always gone to school with him" implies that you have gone (walking/driving) to school with him everday in your whole school-going career.
"so that I know him very well", now this is awkward. "so that" implies that there was a reason for you to go to school with him every day, and that was "to know him very well". Seems weird. Another example: "I walked with him every day, so that he wouldn't skip class"

You want to say, I suspect, that you and he always were in the same school. Therfore you know him very well.

"He and I were always in the same school/class, therefore I know him very well."

"I always went to the same school as him, that's why I know him well"

"The dude and I were, like, hanging out and stuff, at, like, the same school. That's why I, like, know him so well!"

[quote="kalinka_vinnie"]
"I have always gone to school with him" implies that you have gone (walking/driving) to school with him everday in your whole school-going career.
[quote]

But I imply to say that he has really gone to school with him everyday in his whole school career (except vacations and weekends, indeed).

Really, I wanna clear up whether I can use the Present Perfect Tence with adverbs of indefinite time such as "always" or no (because I was told that this use is impossible anyway, but I've seen in some texts several times that this is not the case)

Originally Posted by Chuvak

But I imply to say that he has really gone to school with him everyday in his whole school career (except vacations and weekends, indeed).

Really, I wanna clear up whether I can use the Present Perfect Tence with adverbs of indefinite time such as "always" or no (because I was told that this use is impossible anyway, but I've seen in some texts several times that this is not the case)

You can say
"I have always gone to school with him, that's why I know him so well."

This means you went to school with him all your life.
This sounds perfectly natural to me.