Homework Help: English

Posted by Matthew on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 3:28pm.

Writeacher, here is my today's post.

I varied my name from Henry to Matthew because there are too many Henry on Jiskha!!! In this way I can get to my post more easily.

Imagine you have been on holiday with your family. Write an email to a friend telling him/her all your news and what you have done recently.

1) I went to London last week. I have seen (saw) Madame Tousseaux Museum and it was fantastic! I have also eaten (ate?) a typical English food called ..
I hope that you have had a lot of fun.
2) This week I have been on holiday with my family. I couldn't write to you because I've had a busy month.
3) I've bought a surf board and I've learned how to surf with a trainer (surf instructor??). I've also tried some tropical fruits like....
4) On the island there were a lot of things to do but the best (thing?) was the visit of the island's jungle.

Is it correct to switch from the present perfect to the past? Which of the above tenses are wrong? Thank you.

English - Writeacher, Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 4:47pm
You should use simple past to indicate a past action that is over and done with. Use a present perfect to indicate a past action that is still continuing.

1) I went to London last week. I saw Madame Tousseaux Museum, and it was fantastic! I also ate a typical English food called ..

I hope that you have had a lot of fun. (This implies that "you" is still there and is still vacationing in London.)

2) OK

3) I bought a surf board and learned how to surf from an instructor. I've also tried some tropical fruit, such as ...
(Is he still trying different types of fruit??)

4) On the island, there were many things to do, but best of all was the visit to the island's jungle.
("a lot" = singular & needs a singular verb; "many" = plural & needs a plural verb)

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