Tham khảo tài liệu 'the grammar of the english verb phrase part 47', ngoại ngữ, ngữ pháp tiếng anh phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | 6. The present perfect vs the preterite in clauses without temporal adverbials Introduction Actualization focus The influence of definite noun phrases The present perfect vs the preterite in -questions The present perfect vs the preterite in w ew-questions Summary 317 319 320 322 326 330 316 6. The present perfect vs the preterite in clauses without temporal adverbials Abstract Before embarking on a discussion of the fourth absolute tense viz. the future tense chapter 7 we provide a brief chapter on the principles guiding the choice between the past tense or preterite and the present perfect both of which can be used to locate a bygone situation in time. Our concern here is with clauses that do not contain a time-specifying adverbial for the role played by such adverbials in the selection of the one or the other of the two tenses see chapter 12. In the present chapter we first have a look at the central notion of actualization focus i. e. the phenomenon that the speaker focuses on one or other aspect of a past situation and therefore has to use the past tense. We then address the use of the preterite vs the indefinite present perfect in clauses with a definite noun phrase and in wh-questions other than when-questions. Finally we consider the use of the present perfect yielding a number-quantifying constitution reading in when-questions. Introduction 317 Introduction The speaker is concerned with NOW when he uses the present perfect and with THEN when he uses the preterite. In other words the present perfect implies that the speaker s temporal focus is on the pre-present time zone whereas the past tense puts the temporal focus on the past time-sphere. Whether the speaker is concerned with NOW or THEN can be clear from the way the sentence is used in context or from particular constituents of the sentence. In this chapter we will not deal with the impact of particular types of temporal adverbials but will examine the relevance of .
