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Thank you

Posted by Miri Barak on May 21, 2004

In Reply to: Past or present posted by Smokey Stover on May 20, 2004

: : : : I cannot decide whether this sentence is in the past or present tense?
: : : : I'll appreciate your help.

: : : : "we've had plenty of people take a look at this dog at this point".

: : : : Thank you

: : : It's in the past. "...at this point" is unnecessary and confusing.

: : Thank you so much.

: Technically, the verb is in the present perfect, which unites the past with the present, so to speak. "At this point" is probably superfluous, as ESC notes, because "as of now" or "up to the present" doesn't add anything to our knowledge. I think it's a kind of "comfort" phrase, something added to make the assertion of the rest of the sentence seem less abrupt, something to give the sentence a more comfortable rhythm just be being longer. I think conversation and normal speech in English is full of such superfluous insertions designed to give an utterance a comfortable weight and rhythm. SS

Thank you for your thorough answers.
Yes, I miss the continuous tenses in my language.

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