Comments

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  Scarlett December 7, 2012 16:47

  Dear Teacher Tanya,

  I can't thank you enough for your kindness of helping me.

  All of them are clear now, my dear Tanya.

  I wish you all the best in the world.

  Scarlett.
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  Tanya December 1, 2012 14:08

  Dear Scarlett! I've got your questions. However, I am waiting for the workers who are supposed to fix my front door. So, I will start now and tell you as much as I am able until they arrive.

  Let's start with YET. This adverb is mostly used in the present perfect tense (in the negative sentences and negative questions):

  He hasn't come, yet.

  Haven't you been there, yet?

  
  However, it doesn't mean that we can use it in this tense only. Using math terms I would say that the English Tenses and adverbs can be considered as two different sets. They overlap but don't overlay completely. What I mean is that some adverb may be typical for some tense but it can be also used in some other tenses as well. Both tenses and adverbs decribe processes. That is why we can say that YET is typical for the Perfect Tenses: they both describe an action that hasn't (hadn't, won't have) taken place before some moment:

  By the time you come, I won't have finished this work, yet. (Future Perfect)

  By the time I called, he hadn't known the test results, yet. (Past Perfect)

  On the other hand, we often use YET in the Simple Tenses:

  He doesn't know about the accident, yet.

  She is not married, yet.

  
  Besides, YET can be used as a parenthesis, i.e., before a subject. In this case, its meaning is close to HOWEVER:

  It is hard for him to learn English. Yet (However), he is keeping on trying.

  
  Let me go on. Both SINCE and AS are the synonyms of BECAUSE. They are a little different but I am not sure of being able to explain this difference. But I will try to do my best.

  Well, AS and BECAUSE are almost the same. They both express a REASON:

  As I was busy, I refused from  coming to the party.

  I refused from coming to the party because I was busy.

  
  As to SINCE, it is related to time:

  Since he is still absent, we can't start our discussion.

  We can't start our discussion because he is still absent.

  
  Actually, SINCE is close to WHILE or WHEN. I don't think it is clear enough. I am sorry. If you give me some examples, I will try to explain them.
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  Scarlett November 27, 2012 11:21

  Dear teacher Tanya,

  I'm sorry for missing your reply. Thanks a bunch for your kind reply.

  Now I got one more the usage of would as an independent modal verb

  Dear teacher, I also wish to know about the usage of WOULD in The Subjunctive and Conditional Mood as you mentioned above. Could you please teach me how to use it because still I am strange with this one.

  As for "since" and "as", sometime I see people use them instead of "because", I got confused with that. And as for "yet", I'm very confusing. isn't it only use for past perfect?
  Thank you very much in advance!
  Best wishes,
  Scarlett.
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  Johnsonli November 26, 2012 15:30

  Thank you Tanya very much! I have already receive your email.
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  Tanya November 26, 2012 10:32

  Hi, TK Chan! You see, it is just a form of an anecdote. We use the Simple Present Tense telling anecdotes in many European languages. It is easy, always understandable and makes a story shorter and more impressive. However, you can use Past tenses if you like, no problem.  But in this case you should start like this: "One day a man met his friend.......". Then, you should use the sequence of tenses correctly, modals in the past form and so on. Besides, the past tenses don't always allow us to express the punch line of a funny story. There may be some other reasons. To make a long story short, it is just a form of an anecdote, nothing more.
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  Tanya November 26, 2012 10:15

  Hi< Johnsonli! Thanks for your warm words. It is really pleasant for me to feel useful and understood. I've just sent you a book of idioms. Have I got your address correctly: johnsonone@126.com?
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  TK Chan November 25, 2012 19:01

  Hello Tanya,

  Why do English speakers use present tense when they are telling me a past anecdote?

  Thanks,

  TK
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  Johnsonli November 25, 2012 17:18

  It's excellent idea for studying english. Good job Tanya ! I appreciate what you described about how to learn english. It's will be very useful and valuable for me and I will follow your good advice to learn my english. Thanks a lot !

  By the way, May I ask you to send me the book of Idioms, my address is johnsonone at 126 dot com

  many thanks!
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  Tanya November 25, 2012 15:51

  Dear new members! Welcome to my group! You are free to ask me any questions in the appropriate groups or just here. Those who would like me to send them some books should be aware that when you type your address here, I can/t see it after "@". So, I ask you very much to print it using "at" instead of "@". Otherwise, I will not be able to send you anything because I can't read your addresses
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  Tanya November 21, 2012 13:06

  Dear Alhagag! I am so glad to see you here again! My granddaughter will turn 1 in about a week. So, I am busy with all those arrangements. It is so nice to arrange parties! I am happy that she, my son in law and I celebrate our birthdays the same month! We are all "Decembrists"! Ha-ha! You can find the meaning of "Decembrists" in Wikipedia. Have a nice day! I am always ready to answer your questions.