"It has gotten much hotter."

Question

"It has gotten much hotter."I have learned that there are four usages of present perfect tense like 1) Experience Have you met him before?2) Completion I have already finished the project.3) ResultI have lost my wallet. ( I do not have it now)4) ContinuationI have studied English for 10 years.Which rule do we have to apply to the first example, "It has gotten much hotter."?I think that it is also one of the examples of Continuation.What do you native English speakers think? Thank you so much as usual in advance!

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I'm a native English speaker in the US, and I've never seen the pp tense presented like this, that is, in four categories of usage. And I disagree with the way the categories are established. For example, I don't see how "Have you met him before?", depicts "experience." The word "experience" is generally not used like this in English. The example for "completion" merely repeats what is said in the sentence. "Result" is generally not used like this, that is, losing your wallet is not a result, in and of itself - something specific would have to have caused it: "I'm terribly forgetful. I've lost my wallet. I must have left it in the last bar I was in. (The loss was the result of the person's forgetfulness, which has nothing to do with the pp tense.)" "Continuation" is generally not used like this.

Now, you've having difficulty classifying the first sentence, because the categories themselves are not valid.

The pp tense should be thought of as simply a tense that depicts "completed action in the present," and it can take many forms, as the four "categories" show:

1. You've just met a person. Right after meeting him your friend asks you, in present time: "Have you met him before (this meeting)?"

2. Someone says to you, in present time: "I want that project finished today." You reply, in present time: "I've already finished the project."

3. You and a friend go into a bar and order drinks. When it come time to pay, you reach into your back pocket and say, in present time: "I've lost my wallet."

4. A person tells you, in present time: "Your English is perfect, like a native speaker's." You reply, in present time: "I've studied English for 10 years."

The first sentence:

It's sweltering. You're sweating profusely. You say to your friend, in present time: "(The weather,) It's gotten much hotter."

And so forth.

GPY · Answer

Of those four, I would say that "Result" is the best match.

GPY · Answer

AnonymousAnd I disagree with the way the categories are established. For example, I don't see how "Have you met him before?", depicts "experience." The word "experience" is generally not used like this in English.

I think that "experience" is a pretty reasonable one-word description of this kind of usage.

CalifJim · Answer

Hans51"It has gotten much hotter."? I think that it is ... Continuation.

I don't think so. That would be more like "It has been getting much hotter". More likely, "result". In any case I doubt you can put every sentence with a present perfect verb into one of these categories.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Hans51What do you native English speakers think?

I would argue for "experience" because you are experiencing the increased temperature.

If these categories are useful for you to decide between present, past and present perfect, then that is fine.
But if they confuse you, (as they would confuse some of us), then just ignore them and study typical examples in texts. Narratives (stories) are particularly good!

GPY · Answer

AlpheccaStarsI would argue for "experience" because you are experiencing the increased temperature.

I don't think it means "experience" like that; it means "experience" as in something one has done or experienced at least once (e.g. "Have you ever been to Paris?").

CalifJim · Answer

GPYI don't think it means "experience" like that; it means "experience" as in something one has done or experienced at least once (e.g. "Have you ever been to Paris?").

Agree. Only a person can experience things. The "experience" category normally means everything in the pattern of "Have you (ever) ...?" At least that's how all the websites seem to illustrate it if they include the "experiential present perfect" at all.

CJ

"It has gotten much hotter."

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