present perfect/past simple

Question

I was wondering why a sentence I trumbled upon on the other day was grammaticaly incorrect,

it said: Since my friend HAS GIVEN me one of the book, i've read all of them.

It then said this sentence is grammaticaly incorrect, the sentence schould be: Since my friend GAVE me one of his books, I've read all of them.

Could someone please tell me why the second sentence is wrong?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Anonymous-
1 Since my friend HAS GIVEN me one of his books, I've read all of them.
2 Since my friend GAVE me one of his books, I've read all of them.

Both of these are completely understandable, and the view that the first is grammatically incorrect is a matter of some subtlety.
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"since" is an indicator of a point in time (in the past), the time when something happened, but the present perfect tense is always indefinite as to time. You can never say exactly when something has happened; you can just report that it has happened. That's even a rule about the use of the present perfect tense. No specific time references allowed.

The result is a contradiction. You have "since" at the beginning of the clause, saying that something with a definite time is about to be expressed. That word "since" is then followed by a present perfect tense clause which expresses no definite time.

That's why 'gave' is better than 'has given' in your example. It's not so contradictory.
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That said, many speakers are not so acutely aware of the contradiction, and you will hear since-clauses both ways.

CJ

present perfect/past simple

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