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Anglista2008 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

How come the present perfect?

Howdy,

Can someone please tell me how come in the following sentence the present perfect tense is used?

It finds a new home in Prague in the late 1920s, when the political climate in the Soviet Union has become to repressive, and travels to France after the Second World War [...]

Thanks
  

Top answer

", because the Present Perfect in the relative clause is just a consequence of the Present Simple in the first clause ("finds"). Telling about past events in a "present" timeframe is a valid narration technique. Anton

— Ant_222

  • ", because the Present Perfect in the relative clause is just a consequence of the Present Simple in the first clause ("finds").
  • Telling about past events in a "present" timeframe is a valid narration technique.
  • Anton
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8 Answers
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The first thing you should have asked is "How come the Present Simple?", because the Present Perfect in the relative clause is just a consequence of the Present Simple in the first clause ("finds"). Telling about past events in a "present" timeframe is a valid narration technique.

Anton
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anglista2008Howdy,

Can someone please tell me how come in the following sentence the present perfect tense is used?

It finds a new home in Prague in the late 1920s, when the political climate in the Soviet Union has become to repressive, and travels to France after the Second World War [...]

Thanks

Here are my
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but isn't there a specific time given... ? that would suggest the past simple tense
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anglista2008but isn't there a specific time given... ? that would suggest the past simple tense
Not always. Textbooks say so because it is impossible to recall all the possible exceptions. Here're two articles that you may find interesting. I did.
0. http://www.bella
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Hi Anglista

I'd say Anton has provided you with some good information. Your sentence appears to be an example of what we call the "historical present". The present perfect was used in order to indicate that "become repressive" happened before "travel to Prague".

Click on the following link for some additional information about the historical present:
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MrPernicketyFirst and foremost this sentence comprises two flargant errors (I made them bold and underlined them):

(He/she) finds a new home in Prague in the late 1920s, when the political climate in the Soviet Union has become too repressive, and travels to France after the Second World War

Then, the use of the
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Thanks folks! That was (or has been?) helpful! By the way - it refers to "the continental European tradition of literary studies"

PS. The new layout rocks!
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anglista2008Thanks folks! That was (or has been?) helpful!
Both tenses will work, depending on your mood.
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