English tenses. A question about Present Perfect

[aaleks]

Probably my question is a silly one but anyway... Recently I've read a discussion among English learners about whether the Present Perfect tense is more about the present or the past. So that is my question: how do you see/feel this tense? Is it actually a past tense even though they call it Present Perfect? Or you think about it as a present tense? Or may be something in between?

I know the definition of the present perfect, and I have my own understanding of the tense. I'm not interested in theories but in how you feel about the tense. Also, what is the difference for you between Present Perfect and Past Simple?

Sorry for bad wording

[tarvos]

Past simple is about finished actions in the past that don't necessarily influence the present.

A present perfect implies something about the future as well. In some cases, they're interchangeable in North American English, and North Americans generally would opt for past simple over present perfect (normally that's what I do).

Yes, it also refers to the past because something happened in the past that is still being done today.

Ex: "I have lived in London for ten years" implies you're still in London. "I lived in London for ten years" means you moved and you're not in London now. That's what I mean by still happening right now - you're still living in London.

Generally I do not use the present perfect as much as the past simple, especially because in cases with "just" or "already" I tend to prefer the past simple, whereas a full-blooded Englishman would never stand for such a thing!

[Neurotip]

Not a silly question at all, and I'm sure there's a lot of information and discussion about this online which I've read very little of. I absolutely agree with Tarvos' answer, but at the risk of causing confusion, I might add:

'I have lived in London and Paris.'

Here, the speaker may be living in London, Paris, or somewhere else, but both are seen as relevant to the speaker now ('...and I've learned from both experiences').

There is also a difference between North American and British usage. As a native BrEng speaker, I might well say 'Have you finished the book yet?', but it would feel odd to say 'Did you finish the book yet?', which if I understand correctly would be quite normal in NAm.

hope this helps

[tarvos]

Yeah, it sounds OK to my ears, but you would probably also hear the BrE variant in certain contexts.

"Did you just eat a spider whole?" is clearly AmE.

[Neurotip]

"Did you just eat a spider whole?" is clearly AmE.

Hmm, I agree, but at the same time I might easily say that myself - more readily than the one about the book.

What do you think about 'Did you finish eating yet?' That one is well-nigh ungrammatical for me.

[tarvos]

Seems okay to me. I might not say it, but I haven't lived in Canada since I was five years old.

[dampingwire]

"Did you just eat a spider whole?" is clearly AmE.

Yeah, 'cos us Brits would carve the spider up and make it last for days

If you'd written "chicken" or "pizza" in place of "spider" my English ears wouldn't have been offended in the slightest.

[Daniel N.]

I was taught like this:

I have eaten ice-cream today. = OK
I have eaten ice-cream yesterday. = NO, since yesterday is not ongoing anymore.

Present perfect is always related to the idea that something related to the action is still ongoing. Therefore, subjects of present perfect must be still alive!

But I'm not a native speaker, of course

[Neurotip]

I was taught like this:
I have eaten ice-cream today. = OK
I have eaten ice-cream yesterday. = NO, since yesterday is not ongoing anymore.

Good example. You can say: 'Yes, I have eaten ice-cream. I had some yesterday, in fact.', but not '*I've eaten ice-cream yesterday.'

[dampingwire]

I was taught like this:

I have eaten ice-cream today. = OK
I have eaten ice-cream yesterday. = NO, since yesterday is not ongoing anymore.

Present perfect is always related to the idea that something related to the action is still ongoing. Therefore, subjects of present perfect must be still alive!

But I'm not a native speaker, of course

That's all true but what would life be without exceptions:

I have eaten ice-cream in the past.