The English language can get a little tricky when trying to describe events in different circumstances.
One of the best examples of this structure involves the word “like.”
If I “like” something, it means that feeling or reaction happens right now. It is an event that describes the present moment.
When I’ve “liked” something, it means that a feeling or reaction occurred in the past. It is like a fond memory that gets recalled under the right set of circumstances.
If I “will like” something, that means I expect to enjoy what I’m describing in the future.
Those sentence structural basics make it possible to add time elements to a conversation or while writing to ensure the communication has accuracy.
Difference Between “I Liked It” and “I Have Liked It”
The difference between “I liked it” and “I have liked it” involves the tense used to express the statement. The first option is in the past tense, while the second option is a past participle. The latter is a verb, usually ending in “ed,” which gets used with perfect and passive tenses.
In the English language, the concept of tenses helps describe time-based elements. You can refer to actions that appeared in the past, discuss something occurring right now, or pick out something that plans to happen in the future.
The past tense expresses an action of a state or activity that previously existed.
When comparing the statements of “I liked it” and “I have liked it,” both options use the past tense. You can tell this is so because of the differences of like vs. liked when describing the pronoun “it.”
If “I like it,” that means I currently like whatever “it” is describing. When “I liked it,” that means I enjoyed it in the past, but I don’t necessarily feel the same way about the pronoun today.
When we think about the past, the easiest way from an English language perspective to describe circumstances is to tell about what happened “yesterday.”
We call the tenses past, present, and future, but it would be accurate to describe them as yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
What did you eat for breakfast yesterday?
“I ate chicken and waffles because I liked it on the menu.”
You could also say it with the past participle.
“I ate chicken and waffles because I have liked it in the past.”
The verb “liking” gets modified with “have” to let us know what to expect as a reader or listener to the circumstances described.
What Is the Past Participle in English?
The definition of a past participle is that it modifies the verb with the “ed” ending or adds a “d” when the description has an “e” at the end already.
An example of this structure is seen with the word “talk.” If I talk to someone, you know that the conversation is happening right now.
When I add the past participle, the word “talked” indicates that the event happened in the past.
For the word “like,” the past participle only adds the “d” because the verb already ends with the letter “e.”
When we use the perfect forms of these tenses, the words “had” or “have” get included with the past tense to communicate an appropriate expression.
“I have liked it when traveling the United States because there is so much open country to explore.”
You can also remove the perfect tense to offer a similar expression.
“I liked it when traveling the United States because there is so much open country to explore.”
What is the difference between these two statements besides the tense format? One is also using more of an active voice than the other.
When speaking or writing, active voice elements are often more powerful to use than passive ones because the reader or listener engages with the content more readily.
Why Choose Active vs. Passive Voice?
The use of active or passive voice in the English language is a unique distinction that causes lots of trouble for everyone. It’s even problematic for those who learned to speak it natively. Most teachers say that passive voice is “weak” and active is “strong” to reinforce the differences.
Active vs. passive voice is more subtle than that in most writing and conversations.
Using active or passive voice depends on the ideas you want to express. It is also dictated by the journalistic or disciplinary conventions followed. If you are reporting on past events, it would be preferable to have a passive voice instead of an active one.
When you talk about completing a specific task or project, it might be more appropriate to use the active voice.
Here’s an example at the basic level of the differences between active and passive voice.
Option #1: “The cat chased the mouse.”
Option #2: “The mouse was chased by the cat.”
In simple sentences like the example above, using an active voice is usually the better option. It’s shorter, more direct, and delivers a stronger statement.
When speaking about a past event, it is often better to use the passive voice.
Option #1: “Someone stole my car last night.”
Option #2: “My car was stolen last night.”
The passive voice is the better choice here because you’re emphasizing the action instead of the person. Your goal is to state that something happened to you.
That’s why both options of “liked” are worth using when the same result is desirable. The goal is to tell others about your feelings and why they are relevant in that situation.
Most people find it easy to default to the passive voice when writing academically or journalistically. Sometimes it is the best option! If you’re undecided on which way is better, consider rewriting the sentence to restate the phrase with the other option.
Once you compare both, ask yourself if one changes the meaning of the sentence over the other. Choose the one that makes your writing clear and concise.
