BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Manhattan Verbal strategy Book Verb tense Doubt

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Legendary Member
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members

Manhattan Verbal strategy Book Verb tense Doubt

by goelmohit2002 » Sat Mar 07, 2009 11:22 pm
Hi All,

In the chapter#3 of Verb tense on page#36 of Manhattan Verbal guide, it gives the following example of simple present tense:

"Sandy played with her friends"

Can somebody please tell how this is present tense. Shouldn't it be "Sandy plays with her friends" ?

Also the exact same example is given for simple past tense "Sandy played with her friends"

Can "played" act as both simple present and simple past both ?

Please also tell "Sandy has played with her friends". Is this sentence correct for present perfect ? If no then why ?

Thanks
Mohit
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 84
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:04 am
Thanked: 3 times

by dgr8onerip » Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:21 am
this is a typo
it should be sandy plays with her friends

the present perfect would be
Sandy has played with her friends

simple past tense would be- sandy played with her friends
target score- anything above 700
preferably above 750
gmat prep 1- 710
powerprep 1- 730
barrons test 1- 760
kaplan test 1- 620 (lol)
kaplan test 2- 680
score 800 1-720
score 800 2- 730
score 800 3-750
score 800 4-720
score 800 5- 710
gmat prep 1 (retake)- 710
gmat prep 2- 730
gmat prep 2 (retake)- 720
actual gmat - 770 :)
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members

by goelmohit2002 » Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:29 am
Thanks dgr8onerip.

What does the sentence "Sandy has played with her friends " conveys ?

Does it mean to say

a) Sandy is still playing ?
b) or Sandy till now was playing and has just finished the same ?

If it is "a", then what sentence would GMAT like for "b" ?

Thanks
Mohit
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 84
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:04 am
Thanked: 3 times

by dgr8onerip » Sun Mar 08, 2009 1:54 am
the sentence 'sandy has played with her friends' means 'she was playing till a moment before and just finished playing'
hence B
target score- anything above 700
preferably above 750
gmat prep 1- 710
powerprep 1- 730
barrons test 1- 760
kaplan test 1- 620 (lol)
kaplan test 2- 680
score 800 1-720
score 800 2- 730
score 800 3-750
score 800 4-720
score 800 5- 710
gmat prep 1 (retake)- 710
gmat prep 2- 730
gmat prep 2 (retake)- 720
actual gmat - 770 :)
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members

by goelmohit2002 » Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:41 am
Thanks.

But there is a similar sentence given in Manhattan where it says "has" means action going in present too.

"Our country HAS enforced strict immigration laws for thirty years"

Yes logically it wants to convey that our country is still enforcing laws as explained in the Manhattan too.

But why this is not the case with "Sandy has played with her friends".

Is there a difference in the structure of the above two sentences that
a) one is conveying the action still continuing( immigration one)
b) another says action has just finished (Sandy one) ?

What I am missing here ?

Thanks
Mohit
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members

by goelmohit2002 » Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:14 am
Experts please help in clearing the confusion.

Thanks
Mohit
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members

by goelmohit2002 » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:01 am
Experts kindly share your thoughts.

Thanks
Mohit
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2228
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanked: 639 times
Followed by:694 members
GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:34 am
My copy doesn't say that - but if yours says "Sandy played" is present tense, that's definitely a typo!

Sandy played = past
Sandy has played = present perfect
Sandy plays = present

Present perfect can have two different meanings:
(1) something that is still going on today (eg, Sandy has had braces for two years - means she still has them right now)
(2) something that happened at an unspecified time in the past and is still true today (eg, Sandy has traveled around Europe - means it is true today that she has traveled all around Europe, but she is not in Europe right now)

In order to use the 2nd type, you cannot specify when the past action took place. If I said "In 2006, Sandy has traveled around Europe" that would be wrong - I'd have to switch to simple past "In 2006, Sandy traveled around Europe."

In your sentence "Sandy has played with her friends" - we don't have enough info to know which case we've got.

If it's "Sandy has played with her friends every day after school for a month" then she might not literally be playing with them right now, but it's still true that they have played together every day after school for the past month.

I'm struggling to construct an alternative "Sandy has played" sentence that indicates the action is still ongoing, because for something active like this, I think we'd probably say "Sandy has been playing with her friends since lunch." In other words, we'd switch to present perfect progressive (-ing verb) to indicate the ongoing action. If someone else can think of a good "Sandy has played" sentence that unambiguously indicates the first usage of present perfect I listed above ("still going"), let us know!
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1799
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members

by goelmohit2002 » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:58 am
Thanks Stacey.

Thanks
Mohit
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:13 am
Thanked: 3 times

by krishnakumarhod » Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:25 pm
Hi Stacey

I am getting confused

Sandy has been playing with her friends

Sandy is playing with her friends

can u pls tell me what is the diff

Can you if possible give a small brief on use of perdect tense and perfect progressive

Thanks in advance
Krishna
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2228
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanked: 639 times
Followed by:694 members
GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:39 am
"has been playing" is present perfect progressive. According to OG, this tense is used to describe "something that began in the past, continues into the present, and may continue into the future." It's an unusual tense and doesn't show up a lot on the test - a lot of times, either present progressive or even simple present is preferable (simpler is better, typically).

To me (not necessarily OG's definition), "has been playing" conveys that she started playing with her friends sometime in the past and she's continuing to play with them right now. The words are trying to convey that this is an ongoing action that started in the past.

"is playing" is present progressive. According to OG, this tense is used to describe "an ongoing action that is happening now."

To me (not necessarily OG's definition), "is playing" conveys that she is literally playing with her friends right now, but I don't know when they started playing. They could have started right now or a second ago, or they could've started an hour ago.

So the distinction between present perfect progressive and present progressive is that the perfect progressive is emphasizing this additional information about the past - they started playing sometime in the past - while the present progressive is only telling me what they're doing right now.
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1