Switching from the present perfect into the present simple "I haven't gone away traveling much, but when I have a chance to go, I try to experience ..." I wrote this sentence in my notebook entry, and

Sonia

Switching from the present perfect into the present simple "I haven't gone away traveling much, but when I have a chance to go, I try to experience ..." I wrote this sentence in my notebook entry, and two native speakers gave different corrections about the tense. One lady said that switching from the prestent perfect into the persent simple sounds awkward, and the other seemed to be okay with what I wrote. I am confused. Which one should I follow?

May 23, 2015 7:43 AM

Answers · 5

Sonia, you will also get a different answer depending on where the person you are asking the question is from (US/UK). If I wrote your sentence, it would look like this: " I haven't BEEN travelling much, but when I have a chance to go, I try to experience..." (present perfect tense). If somebody from Korea has been to England twice, he or she has travelled there and back twice. If somebody has GONE to England, he or she has not yet returned.

May 23, 2015

There is not always a RIGHT version, because it depends what you wanted to say.The change in tenses changes the meaning. For example the sentence you wrote above means that you are moving your attention from the past to the present. In the past you did not travel but then you look at the future. If you give the corrections you were given I can explain them to you.

May 23, 2015

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