Life The MangaHelpers Confessional Thread - Part 3

[Pat]

Present perfect tense? D:

Yes, sentences such as "I have studied French for five years" or "I have never been to London".

I have. I think I had it at one point. It changes the homescreen, right?

For example, I see no difference between "I had it at one point" and "I've had it at one point" in your post assuming there's a difference.

 

[Adorien]

Yes, sentences such as "I have studied French for five years" or "I have never been to London".



For example, I see no difference between "I had it at one point" and "I've had it at one point" in your post assuming there's a difference.

To me, second one sounds like ""I've had it! I'm leaving" or something. xD

I have the same problems actually and our teacher always says that we should think about when the action has started, has it finished and the perspective of speech . And that sometimes depending on the context, you can use two tenses and the sentence would mean the same thing.

But I still don't get it. xD And it doesn't come naturally to me.

 

[MiyamotoMusashi]

Yes, sentences such as "I have studied French for five years" or "I have never been to London".



For example, I see no difference between "I had it at one point" and "I've had it at one point" in your post assuming there's a difference.

You probably know this already but you just have to think about whether the particular action or condition has a connection to the present or not, for example: I have studied French for five years implies that you are still studying in the present and that the total amount of time of study is five years and counting. I studied French for five years means that you finished your study and that you have five years of study behind you, miniscule but important difference.

 

[Pat]

To me, second one sounds like ""I've had it! I'm leaving" or something. xD

That's right, I should have given a better example.

You probably know this already but you just have to think about whether the particular action or condition has a connection to the present or not, for example: I have studied French for five years implies that you are still studying in the present and that the total amount of time of study is five years and counting. I studied French for five years means that you finished your study and that you have five years of study behind you, miniscule but important difference.

Yup, I know about this rule but sometimes things don't add up. Present perfect is also used for actions that happened at an unspecified time (when we don't use time expressions such as last month, yesterday), that's when things get confusing. For example you can say "I have read LOTR" which usually means you finished reading some time ago but then what if I say "I read LOTR" which doesn't sound different. I guess there're times where these two can be used interchangeably.

 

[Adorien]

Miyagi, those sentences are different because

I have read LOTR - I have read the series and I am familiar with it (present perfect for experience)

I read LOTR - I just/recently read it (if read is in past tense of course xD)

This is as far as I know though.

 

[Pat]

Miyagi, those sentences are different because

I have read LOTR - I have read the series and I am familiar with it (present perfect for experience)

I read LOTR - I just/recently read it (if read is in past tense of course xD)

This is as far as I know though.

But the second one also suggests I am familiar with it, doesn't it? Also I guess the time is irrelevant in both cases, i.e. it may have happened recently or months ago. Or perhaps I shouldn't have said "I read it" without mentioning when, dunno.

 

[Adorien]

But the second one also suggests I am familiar with it, doesn't it? Also I guess the time is irrelevant in both cases, i.e. it may have happened recently or months ago. Or perhaps I shouldn't have said "I read it" without mentioning when, dunno.

Meant to say that in the first case you talk about a past experience, the second one is a more recent experience. I guess? xD

 

[M3J]

"I have been to Machu Pichu" implies that you did go to Machu Pichu at one point in your life, while "I went to Machu Pichu" implies you went there recently. I dunno if this is what you guys are talking about, but there's my 5 cents on it. "Have done" seems to imply you experienced or did something at one point in your life, while "did" implies it was recent, maybe two months recent.

 

[Pat]

I guess the meaning mostly depends on the context, some sentences don't mean much by themselves.

 

[Adorien]

True dat.

I confess my stress has gone away for now! It feels good.

 

[M3J]

I confess I'm mad/angry and have been so since Wednesday/Thursday. I'm serious.

 

[kkck]

Well, why so serious mad?

 

[M3J]

The goddamn places I applied to. Too unprofessional in that they didn't email though they said they would.

 

[Naomi]

The goddamn places I applied to. Too unprofessional in that they didn't email though they said they would.

Don't take it too personally, Milly. Seriously. Most of it has to do with timing. As a minimum wage employee, I often call to schedule interviews, check references, and give a general recommendation/shallow judge of character. (I hate doing all of the previously listed as I find myself vastly unqualified and/or underpaid for).

It has little to do with your actual qualifications and more to do with random timing and first-impressions. Don't overestimate the "man".

All the same, I hope you get the job you're shooting for. :/

---------- Post added at 11:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:47 PM ----------

Also, I missed the MH April Fool's shit and I'm mad because there's still 15 minutes until midnight and I didn't have tIME BEFORE NOW SADNESS. ob

 

[M3J]

But those two said they'd send me an email, one said she'd send me an email so I could review the position and what the company does during the weekend. The other one, despite calling and sending one or two emails, haven't done anything. Absolute bullshit. Absolute fucking bullshit.

 

[Adorien]

They do that here all the time. The really professional companies call you on the phone to tell you you haven't made it and wish you luck, the not so professional ones send you an email like that, but even that happens rarely. Most companies just don't give a damn as they have a massive ammount of CVs sent to them and they just don't care.

I hate it when they say you'll be called for another interview but they don't call you.

 

[M3J]

I hate it when they say they'll call later or email, but never do. That's unprofessional, I'd rather hear "we will not be pursuing any further ventures with you" or something.


I confess I'm sad at how underappreciated and underrated Philly is. Lots of history, and it's the birthplace of America. Should have more tourists, IMO, even though it may not be as grandiose as NYC or have as many stuff and museums to visit as DC.

Speaking of which, I confess I wanna go back to DC and visit the museums again.

 

[liductan]

I hate it when they say they'll call later or email, but never do. That's unprofessional, I'd rather hear "we will not be pursuing any further ventures with you" or something.


I confess I'm sad at how underappreciated and underrated Philly is. Lots of history, and it's the birthplace of America. Should have more tourists, IMO, even though it may not be as grandiose as NYC or have as many stuff and museums to visit as DC.

Speaking of which, I confess I wanna go back to DC and visit the museums again.

Philly is unappreciated..? I hear way too many people talking about Philly, no it's not as big as NY( LA is its competition) but it's certainly up there..at least in the top cities. Although, that's all coming from people's mouth, not my own experience. I have yet to go there..

 

[M3J]

Really? I don't see a lot of my friends from other areas talking about Philly or trying to go there. It's usually NYC that gets talked about.

 

[xi0]

Who cares? You're not even from there...