The grammar of the english verb phrase part 88 docx

602 12. Preterite
vs
present perfect in clauses with temporal adverbials
[There is, however, another factor which weighed perhaps more heavily with the
Government’s decision to introduce some form of control.] In the past the Govern-
ments of both India and Pakistan voluntarily agreed to maintain strict control over
emigration to Britain. (LOB)
[In the meantime, the peasant derives many benefits from the management of the
economy] Ϫ he is to a certain degree cushioned against the natural calamities which
made life so difficult in the past. (LOB)
However, even if there is a sense of contrast between past and present, Br. E.
normally uses the present perfect in combination with in the past:
Whilst the above arrangement together with correct condenser design has been
largely used in the past, the tendency today is undoubtedly towards the use of ad-
sorption of the impurities from one or more of the process streams. (LOB)
12.9 Inclusive pre-present-zone adverbials
Inclusive pre-present-zone adverbials can in principle combine with either the past tense
or the present perfect; the choice of tense depends on the speaker’s temporal focus.
12.9.1 ‘Inclusive’ adverbials (i. e. prepositional phrases with within or in Ϫ
see 1.46.1) can in principle indicate either a past interval or the pre-present
zone, and can therefore collocate with either the past tense or the present
perfect. The choice depends on the speaker’s ‘temporal focus’ (see 11.1):
I{have spoken / spoke} with Tim three times within the last few days. (This kind
of example is not essentially different from I {have spoken / spoke} with Tim to-
day Ϫ see 12.10.)
[“When did he disappear?”] Ϫ He {disappeared /*has disappeared} within the last
month. (In this context, the temporal focus is on some indefinite past time in the
period leading up to now.)
Security awareness has increased significantly within the last year. (www)
Two volcanologists by the names of Maurice and Katia Krafft died in a volcanic
explosion within the last five years. (www)

Within the last 3Ϫ4 decades masses of Bangladeshis have migrated to the United
States. (www)
Within the past twenty-four hours brief battles were fought in the Vedeno district of
Chechnya. (www)
II. Temporal adverbials and the choice between past tense and present perfect 603
12.9.2 Note that prepositional phrases with in the last may or may not be
used as inclusive adverbials. If they are (and indicate a period leading up to
t
0
), they are used with the present perfect:
[Seven different Chinese agencies have been identified running operations inside
Africa itself.] All have been founded in the last 18 months [and three sprang into
life this year]. (LOB) (in means ‘within’)
The number of German film directors who have made first rate works in the last 25
years can be counted on the fingers of one hand. (LOB)
[But there is a steady falling out of smaller manufacturers;] a thousand have gone
out of business in the last ten years. (LOB)
In the following examples, the adverbial with in the last indicates a period
leading up to t
0
but does not have an inclusive meaning (because the situation
referred to is not bounded Ϫ see 12.4.1 above). Because there is reference to a
period up to t
0
, the present perfect is used:
It is only in the last few years that the Czechs have begun to publish the work of
their classic polyphonists. (LOB)
In the last year or so road safety officials have acclaimed Chislehurst-Sidcup as an
area free of accidents during the Bank Holiday weekends. (LOB)
Apart from the contention that American prestige has suffered abroad in the last

few years, the President-elect has refrained from attacking the policies of his prede-
cessor. (LOB)
[I would like to mention that, after the period of expansion of the group,] your
Board has in the last year concentrated mainly on the consolidation of the group’s
activities. (LOB)
Self-evidently, the past tense is used if the relevant period does not lead up to
t
0
(but is over at t
0
):
In the last section it was pointed out that the reliability of rejection or acceptance is
a matter of choice. (LOB)
12.10 Multi-zone time-specifying adverbials
Multi-zone temporal adverbials can in principle combine with either the past tense or
the present perfect; the choice of tense depends on the speaker’s temporal focus.
As noted in 12.2.2, multi-zone time-specifying adverbials like today, this week,
this month, this year, this century, etc. are compatible with the present perfect
as well as the past tense. The choice of tense depends on the speaker’s choice
604 12. Preterite
vs
present perfect in clauses with temporal adverbials
of temporal focus. This means that the present perfect is the rule to represent
the situation time as leading up to t
0
(i. e. to express a continuative meaning
or an up-to-now reading) or to convey an indefinite reading (i. e. the situation
time is the time of a bygone situation, but there is no actualization focus: the
speaker is concerned with NOW rather than THEN; in most cases he focuses
on a present result of the bygone situation, or on some other kind of current

relevance.) The following illustrate these uses of the present perfect:
[On the upside, though, the butterflies are magnificent.] We’ve seen two this week
that are new to us Ϫ [a Golden Piper flitting around our garden like a little independ-
ent veld fire, and a Dry-leaf Commodore on the leaf litter in Thuma Forest Reserve.]
(www) (The use of are makes it clear that the speaker is concerned with
now rather
than with then.)
I’ve been working hard this month.
She’s met him twice this week.
His financial situation has not been too bad this year.
And in fact you’ve met him this week. [Did you talk about the subject of PR at
all?] (www)
MCI Communications Corp has begun service this week on the PacRim East fibre
optic cable. (BNC)
In the following examples the past tense is used to express ‘actualization focus’
(see 4.7.1), i. e. the speaker is concerned with THEN rather than NOW. This
means that the speaker is not concerned with the possible current relevance of
the bygone situation.
I met a former schoolfriend of mine this week. (The speaker focuses on the time of
the meeting, which he considers as past, even though it belongs to a period leading
up to now.)
I went to the museum today, [but it was closed]. (The speaker focuses on the past
time of his going to the museum. The fact that this past time forms part of an
adverbially indicated period including t
0
is irrelevant to the choice of tense.)
As a further illustration, compare the following:
I{have spoken / spoke} with Tim today. (Today specifies a homogeneous multi-
zone Adv-time which includes t
0

. The indefinite perfect expresses that the situation
of my speaking with Tim has actualized at some unspecified time in the course of
today; the past tense implies that the speaker has a particular time in mind which
he is treating as a past time even though it forms part of today.)
I{have spoken /*spoke} with Tim since yesterday. (Since yesterday refers to the
same period as today: it does not include any interval forming part of yesterday.
However, unlike today, it is not a multi-zone time-specifying adverbial but a pre-
present-zone time-specifying adverbial. This is why, unlike today, it cannot collocate
with the past tense.)
II. Temporal adverbials and the choice between past tense and present perfect 605
Incidentally, these two examples make it clear that what determines the possibility
or impossibility of using the past tense with adverbials like today and since yester-
day is the linguistic status of the adverbial Ϫ multi-zone vs pre-present Ϫ and not
its reference in the actual world (in which both adverbials refer to the same time).
The following pair of examples further illustrate the choice between the past
tense and the present perfect with multi-zone time-specifying adverbials:
Jim took the train to London this morning. (This sentence implies either that the
morning is over at t
0
or that this is not the case but the speaker is thinking of the
past time when Jim took the train.)
Jim’s taken the train to London this morning. (This sentence implies that the morn-
ing is not yet over at t
0
and that the speaker is not concerned with the past time when
Jim took the train but rather with the present result or relevance of that action.)
Consider also the following:
I had a copious breakfast today. (Even though today indicates an Adv-time including
t
0

, the past tense is used if the speaker focuses on the time of breakfast. This time
can be conceptualized as a past time because today is a homogeneous multi-zone
adverbial: any part of today, whether past, pre-present, present or future, can be
referred to as ‘today’.)
I had a frugal breakfast this morning. (Two readings: (a) this morning indicates a
past period; (b) the morning is not yet over but the speaker expresses actualization
focus on the past time of the breakfast.)
I’ve already had breakfast this morning. (It is still morning. The speaker expresses
current relevance. The message may be ‘I don’t need to have breakfast any more’,
‘I’m not feeling hungry’, etc.)
12.11 Since-adverbials
If the adverb since or a prepositional phrase with since indicates a period up to t
0
, the
clause in which it is used has to be in the present perfect: I haven’t seen him {since /
since that night}. If the since-adverbial is a since-clause indicating a period up to t
0
, the
head clause uses the present perfect, whereas the since-clause uses the present perfect if
the situation referred to leads up to t
0
and the past tense if the situation in question is
a bygone situation: I haven’t seen him since I {have been living here / came to live
here}. A possible exception is a cleft of the type It {is / has been} a long time since I
{went / have gone} to a restaurant. The use of the present perfect in the since-clause
is then only possible if the situation in question could in principle have actualized
several times in the pre-present period. Thus, the present perfect is ungrammatical in
It {is / has been} a long time since my wife {died /*has died}.
606 12. Preterite
vs

present perfect in clauses with temporal adverbials
There are some exceptional cases in which a head clause in the present tense can
collocate with a since-construction (especially in a conversational style).
12.11.1 The word since can be used as an adverb, as a preposition and as a
conjunction. In all three cases since refers to a period starting before and con-
tinuing up to some orientation time. If the orientation time in question is t
0
,
the adverbial is a pre-present-zone adverbial, so that the present perfect has to
be used.
[I met him at the races, but] I haven’t seen him since. (adverb: since ϭ ‘since then’)
I haven’t seen him since yesterday. (preposition)
I haven’t seen him since I met him at the races. (conjunction introducing an adverbial
time clause)
12.11.2 For a good understanding, it is useful to add a few remarks on the
use of since as an adverb and its use as a preposition.
(a) As an adverb, since is mainly used in
nonassertive clauses (i. e. clauses
which are negative and / or interrogative in interpretation, but not neces-
sarily in form). In
assertive clauses (which are positive and not interroga-
tive in meaning) we normally use either since then or (if the interpretation
is continuative) ever since:
[He left three days ago, and] we haven’t seen him since.
[She witnessed a terrible car accident three weeks ago.] I wonder if she’s driven
since.
He has travelled by train {since then /
?
since}.
He [went to his study after dinner and] has been working {since then / ever

since /
?
since}.
Still, examples can be found with since used as an adverb in an assertive present
perfect sentence receiving a continuative interpretation:
[It took me a year to get the divorce and] I have been happy since. (www)
I have been feeling better since, but still not 100 %. (www)
Moreover, the phrase long since can only be found in assertive contexts, be-
cause the measure phrase long provokes a t
0
-factual reading. (As noted in
14.6.13, measure phrases normally have this effect.)
[Fate has yet to determine in what category I shall win my Oscar, but] I have long
since decided where I shall buy my dress. (www)
This example is interpreted as meaning both ‘Since then I have decided where
to buy my dress’ and ‘I made that decision a long time ago’. It does not mean
II. Temporal adverbials and the choice between past tense and present perfect 607
(contrary to what the phrase long since might suggest) ‘I have decided where
to buy my dress ϩ I made that decision long after the initial time of the
since-period’.
(b) When since is used as a preposition, it can be followed by a noun phrase,
a temporal adverb, a before-phrase or a before-clause:
He has lived here since the war.
He hasn’t been at home since yesterday.
He has lived here since before the war.
He has lived here since {before / *when} the war started.
3
The combination of since with after is rather unusual, but not impossible:
The French ministry emphasized that France has not authorized the sale of weap-
ons, or even spare parts, to Iraq since after July 1990. (www)

After being freed, he immigrated to America and has lived in the US since after
the war. (www)
Although Western films have been lensed in Vietnam since after the war, some
have been turned away after an initial OK. (www)
(c) When since is followed by a noun phrase or adverb, the latter has to
indicate the starting-point of the Adv-time leading up to an orientation
time, not the Adv-time as a whole. A prepositional phrase in which the
NP refers to the whole of an Adv-time leading up to an orientation time
has to be introduced by for or (under certain conditions) by within or in.
He has lived here since the war. (implies that he started living here when the war
began, was going on or ended)
He has lived here {for / *since} 40 years.
He has been ill {for / *since} some time.
She hasn’t written to me since Christmas.
I haven’t seen him {for years / *since years / in years / *within years}. (In years is
only possible in negative sentences. Within can only be used with an NP specifying
a more definite time, e. g. within the last two months.)
I have seen him once {*for years / *since years / *in years / *within years}. (The
precise indication of the number of times that the situation has actualized is incom-
patible with an indefinite indication of an Adv-time-up-to-t
0
.)
3. The reason why the combination of since and a when-clause is excluded may be the
following. Since means ‘since the time that’. When means ‘at (ϭ simultaneous with) the
time at which’. The combination since when would mean ‘since the time at the time at
which’ (ϭ ‘since the time simultaneous with the time at which’), which is redundant.
There is no point in using since when if when does not add anything to the meaning of
since on its own.
608 12. Preterite
vs

present perfect in clauses with temporal adverbials
I have seen him once {*for / *since / in / within} the last four years. (The precise
indication of the number of times that the situation has actualized is compatible
with the definite indication of an Adv-time-up-to-t
0
.)
I haven’t seen him {for / *since / in / within} the past year.
I have seen him twice {*for / *since / in / within} the past year.
12.11.3 When since is used as a conjunction and the since-clause indicates a
period-up-to-t
0
, the use of the tenses is normally as follows. As a rule, we use
the present perfect in the head clause, where it may receive an indefinite read-
ing, an up-to-now reading or a continuative interpretation. In the since-clause,
the past tense is used when the since-clause situation marks the beginning of
the period leading up to now, and the present perfect is used when the since-
clause situation lasts throughout the entire period-up-to-t
0
. (In the latter case
the W-reading triggered by the present perfect in the since-clause is normally a
continuative interpretation rather than an up-to-now reading.)
He has been worried since he received that threatening letter. (continuative reading
of the head clause; the since-clause situation forms the beginning of the period-up-
to-now)
Since she was kidnapped, the girl has been having nightmares. (id.)
We’ve only been to the zoo once since we’ve no longer had a car. (constitution
reading of the head clause; continuative reading of the since-clause)
We haven’t had problems with damp since we installed central heating. (indefinite
reading of the head clause)
Since they have had a garden, they have grown all their vegetables themselves. (Both

clauses receive a continuative reading.)
I haven’t spoken English since we moved to Madrid. (indefinite reading of the
head clause)
I haven’t spoken English since we have been (living) in Madrid. (indefinite reading
of the head clause; continuative reading of the since-clause)
We’ve been feeling better since we’ve been taking more exercise. (Both clauses receive
a continuative reading.)
It is interesting to note that the present perfect can be used in since-clauses
involving verbs like start, begin, become, which would seem to have an incho-
ative meaning and thus to refer to a situation that marks the beginning of the
pre-present period only:
We’ve been feeling better since we {started / have started} taking more exercise.
We’ve found several similar cases since we {began / have begun} looking for them.
Since we have begun using 1STEP we have had fewer injuries. (www)
Since you have started your business, how many contracts have you completed and
over what length of time? (www)