The grammar of the english verb phrase part 32 ppsx

210 5. The absolute use of the present perfect
5.31 The up-to-now reading versus the continuative reading 289
5.32 The up-to-now reading versus the indefinite interpretation 291
VIII. Factors blocking the location of a situation in a ‘period up to now’ 295
5.33 Introduction 295
5.34 Reference to entities that no longer exist 295
5.35 Verb of creation ϩ definite ‘effected’ object NP 298
IX. ‘Current relevance’ and ‘present result’ 301
5.36 The present perfect and current relevance 301
5.37 The present perfect and the idea of present result 301
X. Summary 308
Abstract 211
Abstract
In this chapter we discuss the present perfect
tense as it is used to locate a ‘T-bygone’ situation
in time. As we saw in the previous chapter, this
is also the function of the absolute past tense,
but we argue that a speaker using the present
perfect tense is concerned with NOW rather
than with THEN Ϫ see chapter 7 for a separate
treatment of the choice between these two
tenses.
Part I (ϭ sections 5.1Ϫ5.2) deals with the se-
mantics of the present perfect. We argue that the
core meaning conveyed by the present perfect is
‘The situation time is located in (i. e. is con-
tained by) the pre-present time zone’. This
meaning is compatible with two ‘T-readings’,
namely the readings on which the situation time
is, respectively, included in or coincident with a
time span that is thought of as starting before

and leading up to ‘now’. (Compare, for exam-
ple, I have already met that man and I have been
working in the garden).
In part II (ϭ sections 5.3Ϫ5.6), we discuss
three interpretations with respect to the time of
the ‘full’ (rather than the ‘predicated’) situation,
referring to them as ‘W(orld)-interpretations’ Ϫ
the ‘indefinite’, the ‘continuative’ and the ‘up-
to-now’ interpretations. On the indefinite read-
ing, the time of the full situation lies at some
distance from t
0
. On the continuative reading
the full situation lasts throughout the pre-pres-
ent and is still continuing at t
0
. On the up-to-
now reading the full situation fills the entire pre-
present but does not include t
0
. These three W-
readings are distinguished according to the way
adverbials and aspectual, contextual and prag-
matic factors interact with the (ambiguous) se-
mantics of the present perfect to yield a particu-
lar temporal relationship between the time of
the predicated situation, the time of the full situ-
ation and the time of the pre-present time zone.
In section 5.6 we then provide an interim sum-
mary of the core meaning of the present perfect,

its two related T-readings concerning the tempo-
ral location of the predicated situation, and the
three W-interpretations concerning the temporal
location of the full situation.
Parts III (ϭ sections 5.7Ϫ5.9), IV (ϭ sections
5.10Ϫ5.16) and V (ϭ sections 5.17Ϫ5.22) zoom
in, respectively, on the continuative W-inter-
pretation, the indefinite W-interpretation (in-
cluding the so-called ‘experiential perfect’ use,
the ‘hot news’ reading, the ‘resultative reading’
and the ‘recency’ reading), and the up-to-now
interpretation. Within the last we distinguish
between an ‘unmarked up-to-now W-reading’,
which can have an ‘explanatory-resultative’
function, and a ‘constitution W-interpretation’,
which has a ‘specificational’ function and is con-
cerned with the situational constitution of the
pre-present. We include a discussion of two-
clause structures, like the ‘It’s been X amount of
time since Y’ type of construction.
In part VI (ϭ sections 5.23Ϫ5.29) we discuss
the interplay between grammatical aspect (pro-
gressive vs nonprogressive verb forms) and the
various W-readings.
Part VII (ϭ sections 5.30Ϫ5.32) is concerned
with multiple W-readings that exist for some
clauses using the present perfect.
In part VIII (ϭ sections 5.33Ϫ5.35) we have a
look at two cases in which the use of the present
perfect is excluded on semantic grounds: when

there is reference to entities that no longer exist
(e. g. My late uncle {was /*has been} a commer-
cial traveller), and when a verb of creation is
combined with a definite ‘effected’ object NP
(e. g. John {wrote /*has written} this poem).
In part IX (ϭ sections 5.36Ϫ5.37), finally, we
discuss our view on the notions of ‘current rele-
vance’ and ‘present result’, which are often asso-
ciated with the present perfect in the linguistic
literature Ϫ justly in the case of the former no-
tion, and less so in the case of the latter.
A summary of chapter 5 is provided in part X
(section 5.38).
212 5. The absolute use of the present perfect
I. The semantics of the present perfect
The present perfect locates the situation time in the pre-present, i. e. in that portion of
the present time-sphere that precedes t
0
(without including it). The pre-present thus
‘contains’ the situation time in terms of inclusion or coincidence. The pre-present may
be indicated adverbially or may remain implicit. The fact that the speaker chooses the
present perfect (rather than the past tense) to locate a W-bygone situation in time
means that he is concerned with NOW (rather than with THEN).
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 We will argue that the function of the present perfect is to locate a
situation in the pre-present zone (i. e. in that portion of the present time-sphere
that precedes t
0
Ϫ see 2.35). The semantics of the present perfect is therefore:
‘The situation time is located in the pre-present zone of the present time-

sphere’. In other words, the pre-present
contains the situation time in terms
of inclusion or coincidence.
1
It is important to keep in mind that the pre-
present zone is conceived of as leading up to t
0
without including t
0
(see 2.35).
The theoretical necessity of this analysis will be corroborated by the discus-
sion below.
5.1.2 As noted in 2.39, the pre-present zone is an interval which is conceptual-
ized, not a zone whose length is determined in any objective way. If the clause
contains a time-specifying adverbial, as in I haven’t seen him since last week,
the pre-present zone is taken to be the Adv-time (i. e. the interval indicated by
the time-specifying adverbial). If there is no time-specifying adverbial, the pre-
present is interpreted as the shortest possible time span leading up to t
0
that is
in keeping with the semantics and pragmatics of the clause and its context (see
also 5.1.6 below). Thus, I have already had lunch will be interpreted as mean-
ing that the pre-present is that part of today which began when I started having
lunch and which leads up to t
0
, and not, say, a period starting a week ago
(because lunch is eaten every day).
5.1.3 To locate a ‘T-bygone’ (see 4.2) situation in time, the speaker can in
principle choose between the past tense and the present perfect. Generally
1. Note that in this respect the pre-present is no different from the other nonpresent abso-

lute time-zones: when an orientation time is located in the past or post-present, the past
or post-present time-zone also contains the situation time in terms of either inclusion or
coincidence. For example, compare He left yesterday (ϭ inclusion) with He was living
in the country until now (ϭ coincidence), and He will leave tomorrow (ϭ inclusion)
with From now onwards you will have free access to the internet (ϭ coincidence).
I. The semantics of the present perfect 213
speaking, this choice is determined by whether the speaker is concerned with
(some aspect of) the bygone situation itself or with the structure of the world
at t
0
: a speaker who uses the present perfect is thinking of NOW, not of
THEN Ϫ see chapter 6. Whereas the past tense requires that the speaker should
place the ‘temporal focus’ (see 11.1) on the past, the present perfect is a sign
that the speaker is primarily concerned with the present. In fact, the observa-
tion that the present perfect reveals a concern with NOW is the main reason
for our claim that a distinction needs to be made between a pre-present and a
past time-zone, and that the present perfect locates a situation time in the
present time-sphere (more specifically, in the pre-present zone) rather than in
the past time-sphere.
The speaker’s concern with NOW, which is a consistent feature of the pres-
ent perfect, carries with it a requirement that the situation referred to, or a
result produced by it, should be deemed relevant at t
0
and should therefore
form part of the speaker’s t
0
-world Ϫ see 5.37.
5.1.4 As we will see, locating a situation time in the pre-present zone is com-
patible with more than one interpretation of the relation between the time of
the full situation and t

0
. When a situation time is located in the pre-present
zone, the time of the full situation may be W-bygone, as in He’s been to Spain,
or it may lead up to t
0
without including it, as in Where have you been?,orit
may be interpreted as including t
0
,asinI’ve been living here for three months
now. There are various factors (such as the type of time-specifying adverbial
used, if any) that help to determine these interpretations.
5.1.5 Locating a situation time in the pre-present means locating it in a time
span that is conceived of as beginning before t
0
and leading up to t
0
but not
including it. As we will see, the time of the full situation may sometimes be
interpreted as including t
0
, but the situation time (ϭ the time of the predicated
situation Ϫ see 2.12Ϫ13) never includes t
0
.
The use of the present perfect therefore requires that the speaker should
have a pre-present period (period up to t
0
)
2
in mind. In many cases the idea of

a pre-present period is evoked by an adverbial of the type since 1970, up to
now, so far, etc.
I have visited Rome twice {since 1996 / since I was born}.
So far nothing has happened.
He’s been abroad for the last three weeks.
In such examples the adverbial denotes an Adv-time leading up to t
0
. (An Adv-
time is an adverbially specified time span which ‘contains’ the situation time
in terms of either inclusion or coincidence Ϫ see 2.23.1.)
2. Throughout this chapter, ‘period up to t
0
’ or ‘period up to now’ should be interpreted
as ‘pre-present period’, i. e. as a period which leads up to t
0
but does not include it.
214 5. The absolute use of the present perfect
5.1.6 When there is no time-specifying adverbial or context specifying the
length of the pre-present, the pre-present remains ‘
implicit’. In that case it is
normally interpreted as the shortest time span leading up to now that is rel-
evant to the discourse and is in keeping with the semantics and pragmatics of
the sentence and its context.
Have you seen my car keys? (This only makes sense if interpreted as maximally
indicating a period ‘since I last used the car’ Ϫ so usually, ‘in the last few hours’ or
‘since I got in yesterday’.)
Have you had breakfast yet? (The implicit period leading up to now is ‘today’; an
answer like Yes, I did three weeks ago would therefore be quite inappropriate, as it
would imply that breakfast is eaten only once in a period of at least three weeks.)
John has already visited Tokyo. (The time span leading up to now may be contextu-

ally identified as, for example, the particular journey through Japan which John is
making at this moment; otherwise it will be interpreted as John’s lifetime.)
I’ve been waiting for him. (The length of the period leading up to t
0
will be clear
from the context. If it is said by a mother waiting for her son at the gates of the
school, it will be a relatively short time. If it is said by someone waiting for a sailor
to come home, it is likely to be the time since the sailor left.)
Have you seen John? (e. g. {since you arrived at the party / in the last twenty
minutes})
Have you been to the Van Gogh exhibition? (since it has been open to the public)
5.2 The semantics and the T-interpretations of the
present perfect
The semantics of the present perfect is: ‘The pre-present contains the situation time in
terms of inclusion or coincidence. This semantics allows two ‘T-interpretations’. Firstly,
on the ‘before now’ T-interpretation, the situation time is included in the pre-present
and covers a portion of the pre-present that is not adjacent to t
0
. For example: I have
already met that man. Secondly, on the ‘co-extensive’ T-interpretation, the situation
time is co-extensive with the pre-present and therefore leads up to t
0
. For example, in
I have been working in the garden.
5.2.1 In the tense model used here, the
core meaning (ϭ semantics) of the
present perfect is its tense structure: ‘The situation time is located in the pre-
present zone of the present time-sphere’. In 5.1.1 we saw that this is equivalent
to ‘The pre-present contains the situation time’. Since ‘containment’ means
either inclusion or coincidence, this means that from a tense-structural (ϭ se-

mantic) point of view there are two possibilities: either the situation time fills
I. The semantics of the present perfect 215
the entire (subjectively conceived) period up to now or it is included in it. Since
the pre-present is defined as the time-zone which forms part of the present
time-sphere and precedes t
0
in the sense that it leads up to t
0
but does not
include t
0
, these two possibilities can be formulated as follows: either the situa-
tion time is conceived of as leading up to t
0
, i. e. as stopping just before t
0
but
without any temporal space between the right bound of the situation time and
t
0
, or the situation time is conceived of as lying at a certain distance from t
0
.
(Note that all this is a matter of conceptualization rather than of what is the
exact temporal location of the situation relative to t
0
in the real world. When
a person comes back from somewhere I can ask him What have you been
doing? or Where have you been? In the real world there has to be some interval
(however short) between the situation referred to and my asking the question,

but that interval is linguistically irrelevant: it does not prevent the situation
time as being conceived of as leading up to t
0
.)
Within the two T-interpretations allowed by the semantics of the present perfect, we
can distinguish three ‘temporal W-interpretations’: the ‘indefinite reading’ (i. e. the full
situation comes to an end before t
0
), the ‘continuative reading’ (i. e. the time of the full
situation includes t
0
) and the ‘up-to-now reading’ (i. e. the terminal point of the full
situation is adjacent to t
0
).
5.2.2 In sum, the semantics of the present perfect is ‘The pre-present contains
the situation time’. Since ‘containment’ means either inclusion or coincidence,
this means that the present perfect is semantically (ϭ tense-structurally) ambig-
uous between two meanings (which we will refer to as
T-interpretations):
(a) The ‘
before now’ T-interpretation: the situation time is included in the
pre-present and covers a portion of the pre-present that is not adjacent to
t
0
. This meaning is realized, for example, in I have already spoken to
that man.
(b) The ‘
co-extensive’ T-interpretation: the situation time is co-extensive
with the pre-present and therefore leads up to t

0
. This meaning is realized,
for example, in I have been working in the garden.
In both (a) and (b), the beginning of the pre-present zone can be indicated by
adverbials like since then, within the last three weeks, etc. If there is no such
adverbial, the pre-present zone is conceptualized as the shortest period up to
t
0
that is in keeping with the semantics and pragmatics of the clause and its
context (see 5.1.6).
It should be clear from the above paragraphs that, unlike the situation time
(i. e. the time of the ‘predicated situation’ Ϫ see 2.12Ϫ13), the time of the full
216 5. The absolute use of the present perfect
situation does not play a part in the semantics of the present perfect, nor in
the ensuing two T-interpretations. It does play a part, however, in the definition
of the three
temporal W-interpretations that can be assigned to present
perfect clauses. These will be discussed in section 4, where we will distinguish
between the ‘indefinite reading’ (i. e. the full situation comes to an end before
t
0
), the ‘continuative reading’ (i. e. the time of the full situation includes t
0
) and
the ‘up-to-now reading’ (i. e. the terminal point of the full situation is adjacent
to t
0
). The last two W-readings are illustrated by the following examples, in
which I have been working in the garden each time receives a co-extensive T-
interpretation but receives two different W-interpretations:

[“What have you been doing for the last hour?”] Ϫ “I have been working in the garden.”
I have been working in the garden [for two hours now, and I still haven’t finished.]
In the first example, I have been working in the garden may be uttered by
someone who has just come inside (and has therefore stopped working in the
garden), whereas in the second example it is uttered by somebody who is still
working in the garden. This means that within the co-extensive (ϭ ‘situation
time up to now’) meaning two different temporal interpretations of the location
of the full situation relative to t
0
are possible. (We will speak of the ‘up-to-
now reading’ and the ‘continuative reading’, respectively.) These readings are
W-interpretations: they belong to the same semantic type of present perfect and
are triggered by factors having to do with the linguistic or extralinguistic
context. Moreover, they refer to the location of the time of the full situation
relative to t
0
.
5.2.3 In sum, as far as temporal interpretation is concerned, we have to distin-
guish between the following three levels:
(a) The
core meaning of the present perfect is its semantics, i. e. the tense
structure which it expresses. This core meaning is: ‘The situation time is
contained in the pre-present’. The pre-present is that zone of the present
time-sphere that is conceptualized as starting before t
0
and leading up to
it, without including it.
(b) There are two ‘
T-interpretations’ which are in keeping with the seman-
tics of the present perfect. They have to do with the location of the situa-

tion time (ϭ the time of the ‘predicated situation’ Ϫ see 2.13) relative to
t
0
. These T-interpretations are: ‘The situation time lies wholly before t
0
’
(ϭ ‘situation time before now’) and ‘The situation time is co-extensive
with the pre-present’ (ϭ ‘situation time up to now’). The existence of these
T-interpretations follows naturally from the fact that the statement The
situation time is contained in the pre-present can mean either ‘The situa-
tion time is included in the pre-present’ or ‘The situation time coincides
with the pre-present’.