I'm confused by present perfect??

Question

Hi.I bought a car last year and still own it.Which is correct/better to express the condition above?1) I bought a car.2) I have bought a car.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

SHIM Hi.I bought a car last year and still own it.Which is correct/better to express the condition above?1) I bought a car.2) I have bought a car.

If you bought a car last year and you still own it, don't forget that you can always say, "I bought a car last year, and I still own it".

2) seems less appropriate for something that happened a year ago. It gives me the impression that the purchase was much more recent than that. At the same time, it is stronger at implying that you still have the car.

CJ

Doanxuanquy · Answer

"I bought a car last year" is better <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/>

SHIM · Answer

CalifJim It gives me the impression that the purchase was much more recent than that.

Thank you very much. It's getting clear for me.

It is a little bit difficult for me to understand. How recent can present perfect mention in your feeling? How about if "last week", not "last year"?

Now, I understand that 1) is more natural but 2) is also possible when I want to imply the fact that "I still own it" (considering your notice on time above).

SHIM · Answer

Thank you!

CalifJim · Answer

SHIMIt is a little bit difficult for me to understand. How recent can present perfect mention in your feeling? How about if "last week", not "last year"?

Yes, it's often difficult for learners to understand this. The connection between the present perfect tense and recency is very dependent upon the content of the sentence. We do not usually wait a year or more after buying a car before we tell others that we bought a car, so in this case "recent" might be up to a month, but probably not longer. The first time you see a friend who doesn't know you bought a car, you might tell them. It's possible that you see most of your friends more often than that, so you might tell them within a few days or a week. But there may be friends that you see only after about a month, so you might tell them then, "I have bought a car". But anything longer than that, and the fact that you bought a car is not really news anymore, so you probably don't even mention it anymore unless you're reminiscing about times gone by, and then you'd say "I bought a car (that year)".

The time scale of receiving letters is usually shorter, so the content of that kind of sentence ("I've received a letter") would suggest that the present perfect would apply to shorter lengths of time. We would probably only say "I've received a letter" during the day we received it. After that, it's more likely to say "I received a letter (two days ago)" or something like that.

The time scale of glacial movement is considerably longer, so the content of that kind of sentence ("The glacier has carved out a valley") suggests that "recent" can be many thousands of years. Today we can observe a valley that was created by the action of a glacier 100,000 years ago, and use the present perfect as in the example sentence.

The choice of tense is often dependent on the time scale of the information in the sentence.

CJ

SHIM · Answer

CalifJimThe choice of tense is often dependent on the time scale of the information in the sentence.

Thank you for your kind explanation.
So helpful for me!
But I may need more and more practices to master the present perfect.

I'm confused by present perfect??

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions