Simple Past vs Present Perfect Tense Basic English Grammar
I have a cold this week.
Hi everybody, welcome back to Ask Alisha,
the weekly series where you ask me questions
and I answer them.
Maybe!
First question this week comes from Mo.
Hi, Mo.
Mo says: I would like to know how to use “I
will” or “I would go with that” when I order
from a menu in restaurants.
Okay.
Um, well, I suppose it depends a little bit
on the situation, but for kind of a general
way to use these two,
when you make YOUR decision; the thing you
would like to order, the thing you plan to
order, you can say,
“I’ll go with…blah blah blah.”
Or “I will go with (something).”
Remember to use the contracted form.
If you’re making a recommendation to someone
else, however, like
you’ve chosen your item; you know what you
want to order,
but you’re recommending someone else something,
you’re recommending like, a drink pairing
or a side dish or something,
when you want to make a recommendation to
someone else,
you can say, “I would go with the blah blah
blah.”
Um, why?
Because when you’re saying “I would go with,”
it’s like saying,
“if I were you, I would choose this thing.”
So it’s like, if I were you, I would go with
that thing.
But we don’t say “if I were you.”
So when you’re making a recommendation, you
can say, “I would go with.”
When you’re talking about your own choice,
you can say “I’ll go with.”
Hope that helps.
Okay, let’s go to the next question.
Next question comes from Isik Alexander again.
Hi, Isik.
Isik says: Hi Alisha, can I also use “I’ve
not + p.p. for PPT?”
I think this is past participle; is your “p.p.”
and “present perfect tense” maybe is PPT?
Could be past perfect as well.
Let’s talk about it assuming it’s present
perfect tense.
Um, yes, you can.
The answer is you can, but in American English
it sounds too formal.
So I’ll give you some examples.
I’ve not been to France.
He’s not eaten his dinner.
They’ve not visited this week.
Actually, with all of these sentences, there’s
not a communication problem happening.
But, uh, they sound too formal for American
English.
Maybe if you ask a British English speaker,
they’ll have a different opinion on the way
that these, uh, expressions are used.
But from an American English speaker, it sounds
a little too formal.
It sounds too stiff, it sounds a bit unnatural.
So, you can use them, but I don’t necessarily
recommend it.
I hope that helps you a little bit.
Okay, let’s go to the next question.
All right, next question comes from Paulo.
Hi, Paulo.
Paulo says: Hi Alisha, what is the difference
between “planning to do something” and “planning
on doing something”?
For example, “are you planning on helping
John?”
Thanks.
Oh, okay.
Um, really, there’s no difference here.
It’s just the speaker’s preference.
Let’s look at a couple more examples.
Are you planning on going out tonight?
Are you planning to go out tonight?
We’re planning on having a surprise party.
We’re planning to have a surprise party.
So, you can really use these in the same way.
They’re interchangeable.
Don’t worry about it!
Thanks for the question.
Let’s go to the next question.
Next question comes from Hello Alisha.
Oh, mysterious.
Hello Alisha says, uh: Can you tell me the
difference between “make sure” and “ensure”
and “assure”?
Also, “certain” and “ascertain”?
Uh, okay.
Let’s start with “make sure” and “ensure”
and “assure.”
Make sure and ensure…they both mean “to
make certain of something.”
Um, “make sure” sounds more casual than “ensure.”
Also, “ensure” is used like in more formal
situations, yes.
So, because it’s used in those cases, like
with contracts, or maybe with formal business
letters,
it has the idea of a guarantee.
So there’s like some higher level of certainty,
almost.
Like, you’re guaranteeing something.
Uh, “make sure” isn’t so strong.
It’s more like “check” is kind of the feeling
with “make sure.”
“Assure,” then, the last one in this first
group,
sometimes it can also mean “to make sure of
something,” but it has like, the feeling of,
um, like
giving confidence to the listener.
Giving confidence to the reader.
Like, that something is possible or there’s
some positive information.
Some, like, um…You want that person to feel
at ease about the situation.
Like, you’re making them feel confident about
what’s going to happen in the future.
Or it’s like you want to remove any questions
or any doubts that someone has about the situation.
We call that “assuring” someone.
So, let’s look at some examples here.
I’ll be finished with the report tomorrow,
I assure you!
He assured us the car was safe.
They assured us our bags would be brought
to the hotel room.
So, in these cases, you can see that assure
is like you’re making someone else feel at
ease.
Feel relaxed, feel secure about whatever’s
going to happen.
So I hope that helps.
So, let’s move along to the second part of
your question; the difference between “certain”
and “ascertain.”
You can hear the pronunciation is quite different.
“Certain” is used as an adjective, which means,
like, it’s something that’s definite.
It’s fixed, it’s decided, it’s settled.
So, depending on the situation, um, it can
mean one of those kind of similar words.
Like, I’m certain he’s coming to the event
tomorrow.
Or, did you make certain that the bank account
was full of money?
Or, I want to make certain that everyone understands
the program?
To “ascertain,” however, to ascertain⸺that’s
a verb.
Ascertain is a verb which means, like, you
are making something certain.
Like, you are gaining information in order
to feel certain about something.
We ascertained that the problems were the
result of poor communication.
That’s data that can easily be ascertained
from a quick web search, for example.
It means like, it’s easy for us to find that
information, or to make certain of that information
on the Internet.
So, parts of speech are different.
Certain is an adjective.
Ascertain is a verb.
And “ascertain” means “to do something in
order to be sure of something.”
Like, to be fixed, to be settled on something.
So, I hope that helps you understand the difference
between those words a little bit better.
Thanks for the question!
All right, let’s go on to the next question.
Next question comes from Mazyar.
Mazyar.
Hi, Mazyar.
Mazyar says: what is the difference in meaning
between these two sentences?
“What did they do to you?” and “What have
they done to you?”
Uhhhhhhhh, okay.
It depends on the situation, in some cases.
Let’s look at the first example sentence.
Uh, “what did they do to you?”
Here, we’re using simple past tense.
Remember, we use simple past tense for actions
that started and finished in the past.
So, that means that when this person asks
the question, it’s like they’re asking about
something that’s done.
It’s over.
It’s not going to continue.
Also, the effects of whatever happened in
the past are, like, we can’t see.
They’re not visible, like, there’s no effect
that we can see now, here, in the present.
So, a situation you can imagine is like someone
went to a doctor and they had a lot of, like,
really crazy tests done.
Um, but there were no effects from the test,
or maybe they had a lot of treatments, but
there were no effects from the treatment,
and the speaker wants to ask, like, “what
did they do to you?”
Like, I’m so curious; what happened?
In the past.
It’s over.
There seems to be no effect in the present,
uh, but I want to know about what happened
in the past.
In the second example sentence, however, “what
have they done to you,”
there we’re using the present perfect tense.
What have they done to you?
Which means that there’s something that happened
in the past and maybe is continuing to the
present, or the effects of that action from
the past are continuing to the present.
So again, imagine if you go to like a crazy
doctor or like a crazy hospital, or something,
and there’s all these mistakes.
And your body gets injured.
Like, your face gets, I don’t know, messed
up.
There’s something terrible that happened to
your body.
People can see it.
People might ask: what have they done to you?
At that hospital?
Like, in other words, we see something happened
in the past, and we see the effects of that
continue to now.
So that’s why people might use the present
perfect tense here.
Because the effects of something that happened
in the past are still visible; are still continuing
to the present.
Keep in mind: in that situation, also, you
might hear speakers say,
“what did they do to you?”
It would NOT necessarily be incorrect.
They are asking about something that happened
in the past, like a specific action that happened
in the past.
So using simple past tense to ask that question
is not necessarily in correct.
“What did they do to you” is okay to ask.
However, if back in situation one, where there
are no effects from some kind of crazy medical
treatment, in that case, if you ask,
“what have they done to you,” it doesn’t make
sense.
It seems unnatural because there are no effects,
there seems to be no problem.
So just keep this in mind.
So, I hope that helps you.
Thanks for an interesting question.
Like that one.
Okay, let’s go on to the next question.
The next question comes from Débora Carvalho.
Hi, Débora.
Débora says: Hi Alisha, could you help me?
Which one is correct: “different than,” or
“different from”?
Thanks.
Aha, yeah, you hear both of these in American
English, actually.
We use both.
I think American English speakers use “different
from” more often.
Um, you might also hear “different to” as
well, though I understand that is used more
in British English.
Um, I think “different than” might also be
used more in British English.
In general, everyday speech, we use “different
from” most commonly in American English.
Thanks for the question!
Let’s go to the next question.
Next question comes from Milin Patel.
Hi, Milin.
Uh, Milin says: What does “nailed it” mean?
Aha, yeah, nailed it.
Yeah, see episode 26 of this series for some
information on “nailed it” and a comparison
to “damn it,” a similar word.
To review: “Nailed it” is a casual expression
that means you did something perfectly.
Thanks for the question!
All right, let’s go on to the next question.
Next question, um, next question comes from
Khushi.
Hi, Khushi.
Khushi says: Hi Alisha, in one of your videos
you said that you’ve learned Japanese.
I’m learning Japanese too.
Any tips to learn a new language fast?
Um, well, “fast” is sort of a matter of opinion.
Um, I don’t think learning a language is going
to happen in one day, or even a month, perhaps.
But, in general, to improve the speed at which
you learn, here are a few things that helped
me and that might help you.
Practice every day.
Try living in the country where they speak
the target language.
Watch media in the language you’re learning.
Actively, not passively.
Read things in the language you’re studying.
Write and speak in the language as much as
possible.
So, those are just a few ideas for things
that you can do.
Yeah, it’s an every day thing.
And “fast” means different things for different
people.
So, I think it’s up to you and to your studies
and to how much attention and time you devote
to reviewing materials and really working
hard to understand the things available to
you.
Also, challenge yourself, too.
Like, once you learn something, you have to
push on to the next level.
Like, you can’t always just do the thing that’s
easy for you.
You have to be willing to challenge yourself
and try new things.
So, once you learn, like, um, how to…I don’t
know, order food from a restaurant,
you need to think about the next thing that
you need to be able to do in that language.
So, keep trying to push yourself too.
That can help you avoid that intermediate
plateau.
Okay, so I hope that those tips helped you.
Um, just a few ideas quickly, off the top
of my head.
Anyway, those are all the questions that I
have for this week; thank you, as always,
for sending your questions.
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