mals24 wrote:Hey

Can anyone help me in understanding the following tenses:

1. Present Perfect Tense
2. Past Continuous Tense

If you have a good website explaining the verb tenses, feel free to post them as well. I'm going crazy with tenses in general.

Thanks for the effort

Present perfect...

Something that started in the past and still continues to the present.

e.g

we have been preparing for GMAT ( means we still are )


Past continoous
An activity that was ongoing in the past...that means its not ongoing at the moment

( He was riding bicycle in the morning)


I would recommend either MG SC or wren and martin

@ iamcste

Thanks for the reply.

I have a doubt.

For present perfect I think you've given the explanation for Present Perfect Continuous Tense, (atleast thats the explanation given in Wren and Martin for Present Perfect Continuous Tense).

I tried understanding the meaning of Present perfect tense from wren and martin but it did not make any sense whatsoever. If you have the wren and martin high school grammar and composition book the explanation is on page 69.

1. Present Perfect Tense

In this case, either the action or its effects started in the past and can be experienced as we speak.

Men have been evolving.

on the other hand, you can use this tense to describe and ongoing effect:

The child has drawn a square in the sand..

well child is done with drawing in it, but the square is still there and has not been washed out by ocean yet

Well it means that evolving started sometime in the past and they still do...






2. Past Continuous Tense

Background tense. We usually use this tense to describe an ongoing event in the past - as a background test so we can point a certain time within that time.

I saw a mermaid, when I was swimming

so think this "was swimming" as a travel to the past and you see the whole swimming thing and just stop at the second you saw that mermaid. That's it

Hope it is clear now ?

yesss finally after 2 months these two tenses made sense!!

Thanks a ton logitech and iamcste.