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I have worked here for five years.
I had worked here for five years.
I worked here for five years.

Which one is gramatically correct. Does the first sentence mean that he worked here and is still working? And the 2nd and 3rd indicate something happened in past. And when to use these. Is there any difference between these two?

p.s.w.g
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muhammad
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1 Answers1

3

Each one is fine in a certain context.

If, for example, you want to answer the question,

"Where have you worked in the last five years?" you might respond, "I have worked [here at ABC Company] for five years."

If you want to answer the question

"At what point did you switch jobs in 2001?" you might respond, "Well, I had worked at ABC Company for five years when I decided to move to Yemen, where I then worked for DEF Company from 2001 until 2009."

Notice you followed up "had worked" with a job that took place AFTER that job was completed.

If you want to answer the question

"Where did you work since 2008?" you might respond, "I worked [here at ABC Company] for five years."

The verbs used, from examples one to three, respectively, are: present perfect tense, past perfect tense, and simple past tense. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8ObuO5neR0 for a nice video on the differences between the present perfect and the past perfect tenses.

rhetorician
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