what have you done yesterday?
- Thread starter Erik 182
- Start date
Erik 182 said:
I would say it's incorrect. You could say "what have you done today", but you can't include yesterday. Also I would say American Anglophones or more likely just Americans instead of "native Americans", due to its similarity to "Native Americans", those who descend from the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
The way Present Perfect is tought in Poland is that there's a rule which says you cannot use Present Perfect with adverbs of time referring to the past or yesterday, 2 days ago, last year etc. etc. If you say What have you done yesterday?, then it is an ouch for my grammar professor 
majlo said:The way Present Perfect is tought in Poland is that there's a rule which says you cannot use Present Perfect with adverbs of time referring to the past or yesterday, 2 days ago, last year etc. etc. If you say What have you done yesterday?, then it is an ouch for my grammar professor
But you can say, "Have you done this before?" Is that just an exception to the rule?
Yes, it is perfectly acceptable as such. If, however, you are using the phrase "Have you done this before?", then you are obviously speaking to someone in the present and talking about something that is then occuring. The person would be in a state of "having done this before". The progressive might be odd if you aren't a native English speaker, though.
JLanguage said:
Well, before is undoubtedly an adverb of time referring to the past so we could treat it as an exception. It shouldn't be consfusing though, as there are plenty of exceptions in English language
Anyway, judkinsc made it really clear now
I'd agree that it hits the wrong note. There are only 300 googles for "what have you done yesterday"; and quite a few of those are from grammar exercises, song lyrics, or websites where the English is generally a little odd.
All these are possible:
1. What did you do yesterday?
2. What have you done since yesterday?
3. What have you done in the last two days?
MrP
All these are possible:
1. What did you do yesterday?
2. What have you done since yesterday?
3. What have you done in the last two days?
MrP
The answer is simple: "have done" is incorrect because "yesterday" is a specific reference to time. "Before" is not.
bartonig said:
*"Today" is specific but refers to the present. The question of whether to use "have done" or "did do" is relevant only if there is a past element.
*"Since yesterday" is not specific. It is a broad time span, not a specific point in time.
I have eaten apples my whole life. (not specific)
I ate apples yesterday. (specific)
I ate apples when I found out that they were healthy. (specific)
Is it clearer now?
elroy said:
I would add that "since yesterday" is a time span that lasts up to the present moment, therefore refers to an action that started in the past and has just been completed (or has its result in the present), which is a textbook example of Present Perfect.
OK, I take your point. My difficulty is with, for example, majlo's professor's rule (see previous post). It's right but doesn't really get to the nub. In my experience it's more productive to ask students if they are trying to describe something that is finished or not and then whether the adverbial matches it.
I think the use of past perfect and past perfect continuous are used when there is an unbroken time strecht where the action may have took place.
Have you ever thought of that in your whole life.
Have you been fingering my stuff these past five days.
Have you ever thought of that in your whole life.
Have you been fingering my stuff these past five days.
cyanista said:
or is continuing in the presence
M56 said:
How's that? Could you please give me a few examples? If I understand you correctly, I can say e.g. I've been doing some workload yesterday.
Hi ( forgive for my awful english)
if i get it well.. this phase is correct, right?
"I have done my homework in this week"
coz i'm still in the week.., right?
as:
"i have drunk tea this morning"
(if i'm still in the morning it's correct but if i'm in the afternoow the sentence is not correct, right?)
so i wanna know if I don't use present perfect in these cases.. it's an error? and the native English people use this corectly allways when they speak? (coz I tend to use past simple instead of present perfect in that case..." i've drunk tea this morning"(even though i'm still in the morning..)
tnx
if i get it well.. this phase is correct, right?
"I have done my homework in this week"
coz i'm still in the week.., right?
as:
"i have drunk tea this morning"
(if i'm still in the morning it's correct but if i'm in the afternoow the sentence is not correct, right?)
so i wanna know if I don't use present perfect in these cases.. it's an error? and the native English people use this corectly allways when they speak? (coz I tend to use past simple instead of present perfect in that case..." i
tnx
drankF4sT said:
To the best of my knowledge you may use Perfect aspect to ephasize the time, in this case the morning. I think you could use Past Simple too.
Though, I'm also looking forward to hearing from natives' opinions
F4sT said:
There is a difference in use of the adverbials this week (or this month) and this morning. Whilst it is possible to be outside of this morning and still use the phrase it is not possible to be outside of this week and continue to use it. The two sentences I have drunk tea this morning and I drank tea this morning. With the perfect sentence the speaker is in the morning. But, in the simple sentence the speaker had tea in the morning and the morning is finished. This not possible with this week. As soon as you are out of this week you are in a new this week! Thus the two sentences I have drunk tea this week and I drank tea this week mean the same thing.
But he crossed out the auxiliary have. So it should be drank.M56 said:drunk (past participle)
What have you done yesterday? is incorrect.
We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.
Examples:
- "You have grown SINCE the last time I saw you."
englishpage dot com verbpage slash presentperfect dot h t m l
As you can see, you add "since" when you use phrases in the past.
If you say What have you done SINCE yesterday. You are stabishing a period of time with "SINCE". other: ...since 1980, since you finished highschool, since you were fired. Well. I hope I have helped out a bit. Bye.