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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Past time | 621

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The basic difference between the speaker’s perception of time as past or as

extending until now, and the choice of past tense or present perfect forms can be

expressed thus:

Past tense forms

time

N

O

events

W

I 

posted your letter.

We 

were working in the garden all day yesterday.

Present perfect forms

time

N

O

events

W

I

’ve posted your letter.

She

’s been feeling unwell for the last few days.

Past perfect forms

A speaker may also refer to a time-frame in the past and to events from an earlier

past that are linked in some way to that time-frame. In these cases, the past perfect

forms may be used. This relationship may be represented thus:

time

T

H

events

E

N

I 

had already told Margaret, so the news came as no surprise to her.

He said he 

had met me before, but could not remember where.