Grammar Tip 29: Present Perfect take 2

Continuing my notes on present perfect tense...

2. Recent Events

The present perfect tense is often used for events which are in the past but which are recent or relevant to the present time:

I've been painting all morning - that's why I'm covered in paint now.
I've twisted my ankle - that's why I'm limping.
I've crashed the car - that's why I'm walking home.

Although all these events are complete in the past, the results affect the present. Notice the shift to the present tense in the second half of each example.

Compare:

I painted all morning, but I had another engagement in the afternoon.
I twisted my ankle. It took about two weeks to recover.
I crashed the car. But fortunately it was not a total loss.

In these examples the past tense is used to show that the events are finished in time and are not related to the present.

Here is the News....

If you read and listen to news reports you will hear the present perfect tense used a lot to introduce recent events. Usually the tense appears in the first paragraph. The headline is usually in the present tense or with verbs omitted.

Here are some examples from the news today. Notice the use of present perfect tense in each case.

UN Darfur force 'vital' for peace

The UN's top humanitarian official has said it is vital that UN peacekeepers are allowed into Sudan's Darfur region to help end the humanitarian crisis.

Single government for Iraqi Kurds

The parliament in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq has approved a single administration, uniting two rival parties after more than a decade.

UFO study finds no sign of aliens

A confidential Ministry of Defence report on Unidentified Flying Objects has concluded that there is no proof of alien life forms.

But notice the shift to past tense after the first paragraph in this story:

Spanish town has big blind date

A small town in northern Spain has held a huge blind date party to try and help its many single men find love.

The mayor of Villafrechos posted adverts inviting women from elsewhere to take part, out of concern his town's population was falling.

About 90 women showed up and were taken to lunch by more than 50 of the town's men, whose ages ranged from 24 to 68.

(Examples from BBC News website, May 7 2006).