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Is it grammatical to combine the present perfect tense with time? For example,

I've seen that movie two days ago.

I've completed the 12-step program last summer.

The deadline was two days ago, and I've finished the project ahead of time.

MWB
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  • Possibly related: https://english.stackexchange.com/q/162236/14666 – Kris Apr 08 '14 at 05:09
  • This is a potentially involved issue. When used for time purposes: in general, the present-perfect focuses on the present. So, for the present-perfect, if a time adjunct is used, its use (usually) will not explicitly or implicitly exclude the "now" component of the present-perfect. For instance: "A plane has crashed at the airport today", "I haven't been to a party on a Sunday". . . . – F.E. Apr 09 '14 at 00:58
  • Under restrictive conditions, a past-time adjunct can be used: "He has got up at five o'clock", "We've already discussed it yesterday". Though, most often, past-time adjuncts aren't found in present-perfect. (See CGEL, 142-6) . . . – F.E. Apr 09 '14 at 00:59
  • Now, with all that said. It does seem to me that, sometimes, some sentences which might be evaluated as "incorrect" could, when provided an appropriate context and spoken in a certain way, be found to be acceptable. imo. – F.E. Apr 09 '14 at 01:04
  • you can't use 'ago' with present perfect – Azamat Apr 08 '14 at 03:29
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    Possible duplicate of How to correctly use the present perfect tense – Mari-Lou A Mar 25 '16 at 08:48
  • @Mari-LouA This popped up in the review queue, flagged as duplicate. I think there's a new element in this question. The first two examples sound wrong to me, possibly because perfect tenses (e.g. have seen) shouldn't be coupled with relative time (e.g. two days ago) in this way. I don't think the suggested duplicate addresses this. – Lawrence Mar 25 '16 at 14:51
  • @Lawrence I believe the older question addresses the question of how to use the pp with a time reference, if the time expression is connected with the present pp is used. The newer question is really referring to this usage IMO. The highest upvoted answer also provides very good examples. It's too late for this OP but for a future visitor the older question is more useful. – Mari-Lou A Mar 25 '16 at 16:41

2 Answers2

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It is conditional and not done always.

According to this online resource,

We use the Present Perfect tense with time references that refer to the time up to now. For example: today, this week, this month, ever, never, already, recently, yet etc.

Examples
I haven't seen her today.
Have you ever smoked a cigarette?
I have never been abroad before.

Michaelis (pdf ~372kB)

The crowd has now moved to plaza

But not

*I have woken up at dawn this morning.
*When have you woken up?

Yet, both the above can be used and can be grammatical in certain contexts depending on the semantics.

We also use the present perfect with a time expression in the future as in:

Call me when you have done the work (when it is completed)

vs

Call me when you do the work (when you start to do)

Generally we do not use any time expressions, according to yet another:

We do not use the present perfect tense with time expressions. So, it is wrong to say, “A plane has crashed at the Heathrow airport today.” Say, “A plane has crashed at the Heathrow airport.”

Now that's an over-simplification.

See also:
Mary W. Ng, Basic Grammar Step-by-Step p.124

Kris
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  • One of your sources considers "A plane has crashed today" as being wrong. Do you agree with them? – F.E. Apr 08 '14 at 05:00
  • @F.E. I already said there are many levels of simplification of the concept. See Michaelis for a more detailed treatment of Tense & Time. – Kris Apr 08 '14 at 05:03
  • But to your ear, does "A plane has crashed today" sound wrong? – F.E. Apr 08 '14 at 05:05
  • @F.E. My ear (opinion) aside, the question is about grammaticality and I am no authority. We are required to show the 'why' of our answers as well :) – Kris Apr 08 '14 at 05:08
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    One of your other sources has "I haven't seen her today", which seems reasonable. The other one that gave the plane example seems dubious, imo. – F.E. Apr 08 '14 at 05:10
  • Nothing so. Try and find some time to read Michaelis at leisure. "In English, ... the present perfect currently has more restrictive use conditions than the past tense. These conditions, described by Fenn 1987 and Michaelis 1998, among others, include the prohibition against specification of event time" (i.e., * I have woken up at dawn this morning.) – Kris Apr 08 '14 at 05:15
  • I probably don't have the time to pore over the Michaelis paper at this time, but I kinda feel that the versions with "today" are fine. – F.E. Apr 08 '14 at 05:23
  • @F.E. So do I :) – Kris Apr 08 '14 at 05:25
  • Here's another reference aimed at ESL students of course. http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/presperf.htm#2 – Mari-Lou A Apr 09 '14 at 06:25
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    I think using the present perfect with "today" in "The plane has..." is absolutely correct, especially if that "today" hasn't ended yet. – Mohamed Ali Dec 28 '16 at 16:06
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Perfect present tense is used to indicate whether or not an action has already been completed, but not to specify when exactly it was completed. If you want to say when an action was completed, use past tense.

alexjason
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