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26
Have you not spoken?
Have they not spoken?
Haven’t you spoken?
Haven’t they spoken?
§ 24. In all its uses the present perfect directly or indirectly refers actions to the moment of speaking. This
connection with the moment of speaking predetermines its use; the present perfect is found in conversations
and communications dealing with the state of things in the present and is never found in narratives referring to
the past.
The present perfect is used:
1. When the speaker means that he is interested in the mere fact that the action took place, but not in
the time when it took place, nor in the circumstances. The time of the action is either not indicated at all, or
is indicated only vaguely, by means of adverbs of indefinite time (yet, already, just, lately, recently, of late,
ever, never, always, etc.).
I don’t know what he’s going to do, I haven’t seen him.
Has Mother returned?
I haven’t read the letter yet.
Why are you so hard on him? What has he done?
Let’s go, it has already stopped raining.
I’ve never seen him in this play.
2. When the speaker means that, though the action is over, the period of time within which it was
performed is not yet over at the moment of speaking (with the words today, this week, this year, etc.).
I’ve seen her today.
She’s returned from England this week.
I’ve had a splitting headache this morning.
If the period of time is over or the action refers to some particular moment of time within that period the past
indefinite, not the present perfect is used.
I had a bad headache this morning (said in the afternoon, in the evening, etc.).
She was at my party this month (at the time when the party was given).
In such cases (items 1 and 2) the exclusive present perfect is rendered in Russian by the past tense.
3. The present perfect is also used to denote actions still in progress, (the inclusive present perfect)
which began before the moment of speaking and go on up to that moment or into it. In this case either the
starting point of the action is specified (by means of the adverb since, a prepositional phrase with since, or an
adverbial clause with the conjunction since), or the period during which it continued (by various adverbs or
phrases with for). It is thus used in the following cases:
a)
with statal verbs which do not normally take continuous forms:
We met by chance last year, and I haven’t seen her since.
I’ve been here since 8.
I love you. I’ve loved you ever since we met.
I’ve known you all my life.
I haven’t seen you for ages.
b) with some actional (durative) verbs in which case the present perfect continuous is also possible. The
difference between the two forms lies in the following: in the case of the present perfect the logical stress
is laid rather on the fact than on the process, whereas in the case of the present perfect continuous it is
the process that is important.