2.4.1 Perfective and state-up-to-present

Rule: The present perfect (or present perfect progressive) tense expresses a continuous state. activity, or repeated event that begins at a time in the past and extends up to the moment of speaking.

Examples of errors:

1. My parents live since July in Fulda.
2. Since two days I am missing my brother.
3. This law exists since 1976.
4. Since Monday my brother is lost.
5. I smoke since a half year.
6. It is possible since 1976 to have a legal abortion.
7. I play the violin since 1970.
8. Since 3 days my brother is missing.
9. For 3 days I'm waiting for my sister.
10. Since Friday my sister is missing.
11. He is missed since the 12th of December.
12. I smoke them for a long time.
13. Films about extra-terrestrial beings are of great public interest within the last few years.
14. But for exactly 3 years I like to have another pair.
15. I'm a student at the GhK for one year.
16. I'm here for eight weeks at the Gesamthochschule.
17. The young college graduate is theoretically better prepared-than a man who is working in the job,for 20 years.'
18. You can buy Marlboro for five or six years, but not before. It's a cigarette which you can buy for a short time.
19. She worked in a kindergarten till now.
20. Learners should be able to use the knowledge of English they acquired so far.
21. My experiences so far showed me that I'm able to travel through an English-speaking country without many problems.
22. During the last few years the presents became bigger and bigger.
23. In the last few years many young people retreated from the ordinary life-style.
24. Especially in the last ten years people became fatter.
25. Only in recent years the average population became aware that the side-effects of industry destroyed their natural environment.
26. Since 1972,I didn't have a chance to practice English except for reading books.
27. Since the exploration of space people's interest in learning about other civilisations rose.
28. Since the eighth grade I wanted to become a teacher.
29. I never spoke the language since 1968.
30. Old people don't understand the changes which took place since they were young.
31. I'm living with an American now and I think my English got a lot better since I've been living with him.

In the case of most of these sentences ((l)-(13) and (19)-(31)) Rule 2.4.1 could be restated more simply as: "Certain time adverbials (including since, so far, up to now, for the last few days, until now, in recent years) must be accompanied by perfective aspect." These adverbials must be interpreted to mean 'during a time period extending from some time in the past up to the present'. When none of these-adverbials occur, the meaning and context of the sentence as a whole must determine whether or not Rule 2.4.1 applies. Adverbials beginning with for, for example, can occur with any tense:

I'm only here for a week.

I was there for a week.

I'll be there for a week.

But the time reference intended in (12) and (14)-(18) is past time up to the present, so Rule 2.4.1 applies.

It is interesting to note that German speakers tend to use the simple present (cf. (l)-(18)) when the activity or state is still doing on at the moment of speaking, as in German:

*This law exists since 1976 (and still does).

Dieses Gesetz existiert seit 1976.

When the state or activity is no longer going on at the moment of speaking, or when the reference is to events completed in the past, the simple past (in this case corresponding to the German Zusammengesetzte Vergangenheit) seems to be preferred (cf. (19)-(21), (23), (25), (26), (29), (30)):

*She worked in a kindergarten till now (but doesn't anymore).

Bis jetzt hat sie in einer Kindergarten gearbeitet.

*Many changes took place since then.

Vieles hat sich geändert seitdem

In English, however, the situation at the moment of speaking is not really relevant to the choice of the present perfect. The key words in Rule 2.4.1 are up to (not at) the moment of speaking. Although it is true that in most contexts a sentence like He's been here since three o'clock would imply that he is still here, this could also be uttered a moment after he left. Similarly, one might slam a window shut angrily, and utter (after it is shut): "That window's been open long enough!" The exact state of affairs at,the moment of speaking is ambiguous not only with stative verbs, but also with non-stative verbs in the progressive and in negative sentences (cf. Morrissey 1973), e.g.:

I've been driving around for hours, and I'd like to stop.

I've been driving around for hours, and it feels great to walk around a bit.

I haven't smoked since 1970, and I'm not going to do so now!

I haven't smoked since 1970, but this cigarette tastes great!

The two alternative following sentences show that the state of affairs at the moment the first sentence is uttered is not clear, and that the predication expressed in the present perfect continues only up to that moment.

Confusion of since and for (though not a tense error) often accompanies these errors. The rule is simply that whereas in German one word (seit(dem)) for both concepts exists, in English since precedes points and for precedes periods of time.