English Grammar - Simple Past Tense vs. Present Perfect Tense

Simple Past Tense vs. Present Perfect Tense

Although this topic has a few more points, this post will only cover one of the basic points of past vs. present perfect tenses.  Today we focus on the timing of when to use these tenses.

Simple Past Tense
I wrote 5 emails yesterday

We use the simple past tense to show that something happened in the past and it is finished.  These actions MUST be finished.

Some key words that indicate that an action is finished are:

• last week
• 1 week ago
• yesterday
• a few days ago
• at
• on
• in
• when 

Present Perfect Tense
I have written 3 emails today

We use the present perfect tense to show that something is not finished yet.  These actions all feel that they are incomplete!

Some key words that indicate an action is unfinished are:

• so far
• already
• yet
• this week
• just
• ever
• never
• been
• gone

Mysterious Traffic and the Magic "XXX"

I admit it's been a while since posting anything on this educational blog.  But I checked in recently and realized I have been getting dozens of hits a day from the USA and Egypt on the posting "Did you use to xxx?".  

Now, this post was about a grammar point, but it seems that dozens of Americans and Egyptians are finding my blog by google searching the following:

"xxx"
"yes xxx"
"xxx yes"
"how to xxx"

And so on.  This has made me realize that I need to make my English educational posts more "sexy" to appeal to my growing Ameri-Egyptian followers.

101 Ways to Use "Get"

"Get" is a very flexible word.  If you put it with another word, it will drastically change the their meaning.  Here are a few common "get" expressions.  The ones on this list all have double meanings (except for the last two, which I just like).

- get to

- get to 

- get back

- get back to (someone)

- get into 

- get into

- get it

- get it

- get together with

- get in touch with

Can you guess what they mean?  Here is a brief answer and example.  

- get to = arrive (I'll get to work at 9:00)

- get to = start (I'll get to my homework later)

- get back = return (I'll get back later than usual)

- get back to (someone) =  respond (I'll get back to you tomorrow)

- get into = enter (Get into the car)

- get into = become interested in (She got pottery after visiting the museum)

- get it = understand (I get it!)

- get it = buy/retrieve (Could you get it on the way home?)

- get together with = meet (Let's get together next Wednesday)

- get in touch with = contact (You should get in touch with her before she goes on vacation)

And there's more.  A LOT more.  "Get" is one of the most expressive words around, and it's really natural to use.  Learning and practicing these expressions will help out in just about any situation.  

Don't be Rude when you Tell People when to Meet you

Here is a quick English quiz - can you see the problem in the following conversation?

     - Do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow?

     - OK, that sounds good.  When do you want to meet?

     - We will meet at 7 o'clock.

Did that seem strange at all?  The grammar is perfectly fine, there are no mistakes here.  But it's not natural and it would confuse me if I heard it.  Here is a more natural version of the exchange:

     - Do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow?

     - OK, that sounds good.  When do you want to meet?

     - Let's meet at 7 o'clock.

The problem with the first version is that by saying "We will meet at 7 o'clock." you are taking away all the choice from the other person.  This is an unplanned invitation, so you need to get confirmation by saying "how about 7?" or "let's meet at 7." or something like that.  

It's OK to say "We will meet at 7 o'clock." if it is a pre-planned event, like a party or something.  This one is correct:

     - Do you want to come with us to the party tomorrow?

     - OK, that sounds good.  When do you want to meet?

     - We will meet at 7 o'clock.

In this case it's fine because the party is scheduled for 7, there's no need to get confirmation from the other person.  So good luck and be nice enough to give people a chance to say yes or no when you ask them out!

"Teachers Tread Water in Eikaiwa Limbo" - Is Teaching English Worth it?

This Japan Times News Article is, unfortunately, absolutely true.

As someone who has been involved in several "Eikaiwa" schools, I can say that they are good if you're a recent graduate or someone looking for an interesting change of pace. They are easy places to get "stuck" in, however.  Each of the major companies in Japan is scaling back the contracts and wages of their staff-level employees, while freezing the management level salaries.

For teachers, this is a demoralizing limbo that encourages high staff turnover.  Some companies want high turnover to give students fresh faces - these are the weaker schools, in my opinion.  The better schools will invest a lot more time and energy into training their staff, and they will do anything (except give a raise) to keep qualified and popular teachers.

For students, this situation is not so terrible.  Prices are decreasing due to competition and the huge variety of lesson types out there.  Quality will vary from school A to school B, but there are options for just about any student wanting to get some practice speaking English.  

Rory's Story Cubes Review - Fun Way to Practice Speaking English

I was blown away by these.  Rory's Story Cubes are such a simple and fun idea that I was a little shocked that I hadn't seen anything like that before.  I've seen several schools that use games like Taboo Game, Boggle, and Scrabble Deluxe Edition, but never this before.  Check this out:

These are dice that you can role - each side has a picture of something that's easy to recognize and probably not so unfamiliar to your students.  Take 2 or 3 dice for a beginner, roll them and have your student make sentences to connect the pictures together.

Adults may feel a little embarrassed playing games to study in a business-type situation, but if it is a casual or group class it can be a lot of fun.  They do make "expansion packs" for the dice in case the regular set doesn't have enough, but the basic set is enough to practice with for most classes.

Obviously Story Cubes would be a big hit in any kids type class - it's also good if you are trying to raise your own children to be bi-lingual.  Once younger kids realize that the pictures don't need to be literal, and that they can represent something, you'll be surprised at their creativity.  

How to Take a Phone Message in English

There are a lot of books about telephone English.  A lot of class time is spent on the topic as well.  The standard telephone English lesson says that you should take a message like this:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith is not available right now.  May I take a message?”

Or something like that.  But the danger of offering to take a message is that the caller might give you a difficult message!  Like this:

“Yes, thank you very much, could you please tell Mr. Smith that something came up and I’ll be unable to attend the meeting on next Tuesday.  Is there any way we could maybe push it back to the 18’th or some other time after that?  I’ll be available if it’s BEFORE 2 o’clock.  Unfortunately I’ll be busy after 2, so it’s better if we plan for earlier.  Thank you.”

Could you catch all of that over the telephone at native speed?  As you can see, sometimes taking a message is the wrong thing to do.  Instead, just offer to have Mr. Smith call them back, like this:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith is not available right now.  May I have him call you back?”

This way, all you have to do is get their name and number, and you’re done!