Present Perfect Question

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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > Present Perfect Question

Present Perfect Question

sonicliz

Present Perfect Question

The grammar book I �m teaching (Grammar Sense) says that this sentence is incorrect:

How long have the police tried to solve the case?

Another teacher where I work needs to explain why this is incorrect.

Any ideas?

5 Aug 2010

blunderbuster

Well, here is my idea:

Either they are still trying (--> how long have they been trying to solve the case) --> action is still going on --> present perfect continuous

or they have given up trying (--> how long did they try) --> action is finished --> past simple

Regards

5 Aug 2010

atsanti85

With regard to the present perfect tense, it seems correct to me.

We can check by saying the statement version of the question

The police have tried to solve the case...

I think the textbook may be trying to get at the need for FOR

The police have tried to solve the case for ... 5 years, 6 years, 10 minutes, etc.

So the proper construction of the question should be

For how long have the police tried to solve the case?

Edit: Just thinking about this some more

We can also say "the police have been trying to solve the case"

and so, as a question say "For how long have the police been trying to solve the case?"

And use the present perfect progressive

5 Aug 2010

lshorton99

I agree with Regina - the present perfect continuous is the correct form here. That �s not to say that present perfect simple wouldn �t be used by native speakers, but with the verb �try �, either they stopped trying, in which case it would be past simple, or the action is still in progress, so we use the continuous. Regina is absolutely correct.

Lindsey

5 Aug 2010

elderberrywine

FOR how long ...

5 Aug 2010

manuelanunes3

I agree with blunderbuster...

but if you use "for" in the beginning of the sentence it sounds good to me by using the present perfect tense.

5 Aug 2010

sonicliz

Yeah I �m thinking it �s the "for" that �s is needed.

You could ask "Have the police tried to solve the case?" which is using the present perfect to indicate an indefinite time in the past.

But if you want to use the present perfect to indicate past time continuing to the present, you would need something like "for" or "since."

I tried to explain this to my coworker, but she didn �t seem to buy it. uffff.... Thanks for helping me though, since I �ll be teaching that to my students next week..

5 Aug 2010

yanogator

I agree that it should be present perfect continuous or simple past. Even with "for", the present perfect doesn �t sound natural to me.

Bruce

5 Aug 2010

aa.azim

doesn �t sound natural?? what exactly is �NATURAL � if there isn �t any context?? Confused

6 Aug 2010