Usage of Present Perfect.

Question

Hi all,I am a ESL who is trying to grasp on the multiple ways that Present Perfect can be used, so I'm going to post some excerpts where Present Perfect is being used and then I'll write down from my point of view the reason.Thus, I'm asking your help - native english speakers and other fluent english persons - to correct me where you think is appropriate.(1) - Chelses are looking to force a passage beyond Benfica on Wednesday into the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they would face Barcelona, the holders and conquerors on Tuesday of Milan. Their Brazil midfielder Ramires has praised Roberto Di Matteo for restoring confidence and belief in the squad following André Villas-Boas' traumatic tenure at the club.[Reason : The action occurred recently or at an unspecified time before now. ](2) - Yahoo has announced a massive round of layoffs as the troubled internet company struggles to turn around its fortunes.[Reason :  The action occurred recently. ](3) - Yahoo is still one of the most popular websites but has struggled to keep up with the growth of rivals Google and Facebook. Facebook last year surpassed Yahoo as the largest online display advertising carrier in the US.[Reason : Something that started in the past and has continued up until now. ](4) - Open University has attracted more than 1m active subscribers to its courses available on Apple's iTunes U app for iPad in less than three months since its launch.[Reason : Something that started in the past and has continued up until now. ](5) - Ryan Cleary, 19, has been remanded in custody at Chelmsford prison after he used the internet to contact Hector Xavier Monsegur, the hacker known as "Sabu" who the FBI used as a secret informant for months last year.[Reason :  The action occurred recently]Best regards,ESL.

Terryxpress · Accepted Answer

(1) - Chelsea are looking to force a passage beyond Benfica on Wednesday into the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they would face Barcelona, the holders and conquerors on Tuesday of Milan. Their Brazil midfielder Ramires has praised Roberto Di Matteo for restoring confidence and belief in the squad following André Villas-Boas' traumatic tenure at the club.
[Reason : The action occurred recently or at an unspecified time before now.
How is your reason for using Present Perfect different to this:
Their Brazil midfielder Ramires praised Roberto Di Matteo recently for restoring confidence (Past Tense)
and
(2) - Just a few minutes ago, Yahoo has announced announced a massive round of layoffs, as the troubled internet company struggles to turn around its fortunes.
[Reason : The action occurred recently. ] Past Tense

Anonymous · Answer

May I ask if it is got or had gotten in the first? and the rest please?

I would have asked him to come in while I got/had gotten dressed.
I would ask him to come in while I got dressed.
I will ask him to come in while I get dressed.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Terryxpress,

I think you didn't understand my questions, I just wanna know if the reasons I suggested above are the reasons why the present perfect is being used if not please tell which they are ?

Terryxpress · Answer

What I had hoped to show you was that the reasons you gave for the choice of Present Perfect, can also be the same reasons for using the Past Tense!
So - for passages 1,2,& 5 - to answer your question simply: No.

I would also hope you recognize the occasions when "I just wanna know..." might be appropriate, and those that require
"I just want to know..."

CalifJim · Answer

(1) - Chelses are looking to force a passage beyond Benfica on Wednesday into the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they would face Barcelona, the holders and conquerors on Tuesday of Milan. Their Brazil midfielder Ramires has praised Roberto Di Matteo for restoring confidence and belief in the squad following André Villas-Boas' traumatic tenure at the club.
[Reason : The action occurred recently or at an unspecified time before now. ]
[Reason: The action occurred at an unspecified time before now. The action (of praising Di Matteo) is relevant to the current situation (in which Di Matteo has restored confidence in the squad).]

(2) - Yahoo has announced a massive round of layoffs as the troubled internet company struggles to turn around its fortunes.
[Reason : The action occurred recently. ]
[Reason: The action occurred at an unspecified time before now. The action (of announcing layoffs) is relevant to the current situation (in which Yahoo is experiencing struggles).]

(3) - Yahoo is still one of the most popular websites but has struggled to keep up with the growth of rivals Google and Facebook. Facebook last year surpassed Yahoo as the largest online display advertising carrier in the US.
[Reason : Something that started in the past and has continued up until now. ] (I agree.)

(4) - O pen University has attracted more than 1m active subscribers to its courses available on A pple's iTunes U app for iPad in less than three months since its launch.
[Reason : Something that started in the past and has continued up until now. ] (I agree.)

(5) - Ryan Cleary, 19, has been remanded in custody at Chelmsford prison after he used the internet to contact Hector Xavier Monsegur, the hacker known as "Sabu" who the FBI used as a secret informant for months last year.
[Reason : The action occurred recently]
[Reason: The action occurred at an unspecified time before now. The action (of being remanded) is relevant to the current situation (in which Cleary has been in contact with a secret informant and hacker).]

_____________

I consider "recently" to be "an unspecified time before now", so I see no need to label any use of the present perfect as "recent". That kind of labeling (either one) usually means that the statement in the present perfect has current relevance, and it's often useful to see just what that current relevance entails.

In cases above where I've shown my own "reason", it doesn't mean I disagree with yours. I just thought it would be better to give more details so that the idea of "current relevance" would be clearer. Note that judgments of current relevance are those of the writers. If a writer doesn't think the statement has current relevance, he is likely to use a different tense.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

@Terryxpress
Thank you for your reply and concerning to the want to vs wanna usage after a little research I have found* that I should use the want to version because as we are suposed to be learning a new language we should use the formal speech, thus I appreciate your observation.

* I think the use of Present perfect here is suitable because the action(of finding) is relevant to the current situation(the usage of want to vs wanna).
Did you agree with me ?

Best Regards,
ESL.

Anonymous · Answer

@CJ

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.
CJ, if you don't mind I going to use a excerpt from a sentence of yours where the Present Perfect is being used.

(6) - In cases above where I've shown my own "reason", it doesn't mean I disagree with yours.
[Reason: ? ]

Best Regards,
ESL.

Terryxpress · Answer

YES. Great!

Thank you for understanding why I called your attention to that 'wanna', which is fine for texting/bogging/talking to friends. It is important to be able to switch from colloquial speech, to 'correct' /'business situations' / 'academic essay writing situations'.

It's very late here, so......tomorrow we continue.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous[Reason: ? ]

We're having an on-going discussion, right? So that's "current". The showing of the reason was in the (unspecified) past when I wrote the comment. If I had been thinking of my showing as something historical, unrelated to our current discussion, I would have used the simple past.

For example, let's say that I'm going to tell the story of having this discussion with you to one of my friends tomorrow, as part of the story of "what I did yesterday". My friend had nothing to do with his discussion, so I would most likely tell him that "I showed my own reason" when I answered your question.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CJ, thanks again, I can fully understand your explanations after you wrote it, but I still can't infer it when I'm reading.
Which kind of exercices/readings/other stuff do you recommend so I can be more familiar with this verb tense and with its usage ?

(7) - Woohoo! You've read all the important messages in your inbox. [This warning appears when I haven't any new message in my Gmail's inbox]
[Reason : As I read previously (past) all my messages now I got no messages to read, so the action of reading is revevant to the current situation, right ? ]

Best Regards,
ESL.

Usage of Present Perfect.

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