present simple vs. present perfect - bit of a fuss

[James Garrison]

在德国太阳能已被广泛应用。

In Germany solar energy is been widely used.

Thats my take on the above sentence, but I am not a native speaker nor hardly an expert. However, I was under the impression that it could only be read as "has been widely used" if the 已 were replaced by 过. Does "已" denote the present perfect?

[Quest]

已经 adverb. already

被...应用 verb. passive. utilized

[skylee]

You cannot replace 已 with 經 in the sentence you quoted. You can however replaced 已 with 已經. They mean the same.

已 and 已經 mean that something has already happened.

[James Garrison]

Okay, 已经 means the present perfect. I guess since Chinese isn't as strict as English I could also interpret 已经 as the past simple? 过, however, is always the present perfect, right? How do 已经 and 过 differ in use?

Argh. I wish grammar had a face so I could slap it, hahaha.

[skylee]

Take a look ->

已/已經

Already: 已經 [yi3jing1]↓;

已去，已來 already gone, come;

會已散meeting already closed;

已久 already a long time;

已亡 already dead;

已冠 over twenty years of age (“already capped”).

過

Used to express a completed action (pr. ’[guo1]): 讀過 have read about it;

聽說過 have heard of it;

看見過 have seen it;

吃過了 have had one's meal;

打過招呼 have said hello to s.o.;

遞過暗號 have given s.o. a secret signal.

Look at it this way: 已/已經 is an adverb, it is used like "already" in English, and is put before the verb. 過 is like a suffix to turn a verb to describe a past action, and is put after the verb.

[Altair]

Argh. I wish grammar had a face so I could slap it, hahaha.

Absolutely!

Okay, 已经 means the present perfect. I guess since Chinese isn't as strict as English I could also interpret 已经 as the past simple? 过, however, is always the present perfect, right? How do 已经 and 过 differ in use?

I think that terms like "present perfect" and "past simple" apply very well to English, to many other European languages, and to a few other languages; however, I think these categories are extremely awkward in reference to Chinese and will cause confusion. There are many different Chinese structures than can correspond to what we in English call "present perfect" or "past simple," because Chinese makes different distinctions than we do in English. Neither language is more strict than the other, they are just strict about different things.

As for 已经 basically meaning "already," I believe this is correct; however, there are occasional uses where it merely seems to suggest completeness or change and where we would not use "already" in English. Here is an example of the latter usage:

清圣祖虽是少年天子、但天资聪慧、机智过人、平素努力学习历代统治经略、已经逐渐成熟。

Kangxi (The Qing Emperor Shengzu), although he was a young emperor, was naturally intelligent and exceptionally resourceful. He usually worked hard in studying the governing strategies of the past dynasties and gradually matured.