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Sometimes, I got really confused by the use of the Present Perfect tense. Given the fact, that we don't have this structure in Russian, all we can is to base our knowledge on grammar rules.

The rules are quite simple:

  1. Experience: I have been to London twice.

  2. Unfinished actions: I have lived in Moscow since I was born.

  3. Close connection to the present situation: I have just cooked dinner.

However, when it comes to simple questions, all that grammar rules are not so obvious. For example, if I am not sure and want to re-ask, could I say something like

Have you meant? or Did you mean?

Another case:

I've sent you the letter and I sent you the letter.

Does the first mean that I have just done it and the second that it was some time ago? How do you use it?

Kseniya Polevaya
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  • Related question, Present perfect for past action with present effect. –  Feb 04 '16 at 11:19
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    The verb to mean is mostly used as a transitive verb and Have you meant? and Did you mean? don't make any sense. What difference do you think is there between I've just cooked dinner. and I've just sent you the letter. –  Feb 04 '16 at 12:17
  • "I've just cooked dinner. and I've just sent you the letter." - Both are in the Present Perfect. No difference in terms of tenses. – user1425 Feb 04 '16 at 12:32
  • As a Russian person I can't see any difference between that two sentences, Would you be so nice to explain it to me, as well as why Did you mean(Have you meant) that...? doesn't make any sense? – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 12:32
  • Please edit your post as your first example (Have you meant? or Did you mean?) is misleading. –  Feb 04 '16 at 12:45
  • What should I edit? I'm first time on the site – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 13:12
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    A person's intentions behind doing a past action remain in the past, they don't really extend to the present. So, "Have you meant to post this question twice?" sounds really odd. The intentions behind past actions stay in the past... – CDM Feb 04 '16 at 13:42

3 Answers3

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Those are, unfortunately, not the correct rules, since, as you point out, they don't apply everywhere.

First, present perfect is not what's called a "tense" in grammar; real tenses modify verbs, like see/saw or look/looked -- they don't add auxiliary verbs. There are dozens of constructions (like Perfect, Passive, Progressive) that use auxiliary verbs stacked up, like

  • We used to have to go get tested every week.

They can't all be called tenses.

Second, the constructions and tenses that a verb can appear in depend a great deal on the meaning of the verb. Some verbs are Stative and some are Active; some states are stable and some are changeable; some actions have endpoints and others don't; and so on.

Consequently there are four principal uses of the Perfect construction in the present tense, from McCawley 1971§

  • (a) The Universal sense of the Perfect, used to indicate that a state of affairs prevailed throughout some interval stretching from the past into the present
    • I've known Max since 1960.

This usage is common with statives like live (in a place) and with ongoing activities.

  • (b) The Existential sense of the Perfect, used to indicate the existence of past events,
    • I have read Principia Mathematica five times.

This usage occurs with active events or frequently changing states to signal whether (and how often) events have occurred.

  • (c) The Stative/Resultative sense of the Perfect,
    used to indicate that the direct effect of a past event still continues
    • I can't come to your party tonight - I've caught the flu.

This usage is the one that licenses the equivalence of have got with have; if you have caught a cold, you still have it. This is often called "present relevance" in textbooks, but what it really means is that the event has not yet concluded, at least in its relation to the present.

  • (d) The Hot News sense of the Perfect, used to report hot news
    • Malcolm X has just been assassinated.

Finally, the Hot News sense is only applicable to punctual events in the recent past. Today, in 2022, we wouldn't say Malcolm X has been assassinated; we'd use the past tense. But we could say Nuclear fusion has been achieved because that was announced just today.

So, you have to know what the verb means and how it can fit into a Perfect construction; not everything can, and not all the same way. For instance, there's the famous Groucho Marx gag

  • Thank you, ma'am. I've had a wonderful time. But this wasn't it.

The joke is that "I've had a wonderful time" is a common gracious leave-taking phrase, where the usage is Universal, while This wasn't it reinterprets the phrase literally as Existential ("at some time in the past I had a wonderful time"), and then denies that this was it. Compliment turned to insult, a Groucho specialty.

§ McCawley, James D. 1971. Tense and time reference in English. In C. Fillmore and T. Langendoen (eds.), *Studies in Linguistic Semantics*. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, pp 96-113.
John Lawler
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Have you meant? or Did you mean?

Definitely you would say “did you mean … ?” or “do you mean … ?”

I've sent you the letter and I sent you the letter.

They are the same. The former is British English, the latter is American English. In Britain I would say “I’ve sent you the letter” and in the Americas I would say “I sent you the letter,” but what I’m really saying is “I[’ve] sent you the letter.” The “have” has been contracted even further until it is non-existent. There are a lot of shorthands and omitted words in American English.

One thing to remember is that English has no rules, only conventions, and the conventions vary from place to place. From what I understand, it helps to laugh about it a little bit while you’re learning.

Simon White
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There are quite a few factors at play here and it's not so easy to find the right way sometimes. The problem is even more difficult than native speakers may imagine as they don't understand how it feels when translating two different sentences, like "I have sent it to you" and "I sent it to you", you get the same sentence in Russian for each of the two.

As I understand it

1) I've sent you the letter. = 1) The letter is on its way to you now. 2) I am telling you a piece of news.

2) I sent you the letter. = 1) The letter might not be on its way to you any longer, because it happened when I was living in London and it was 2 years ago. 2) It may mean a specific situation in the past. "Do you remember us visiting the post office in the morning today. I want you to know that when we were there I sent you the letter.

There others nuances exist as well.

(My first language is the same as yours)

user1425
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  • Yes, I understand your explanation) And so, the point is in finding out how native-speakers are feeling about it. However, thank you very much! – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 11:35
  • How does this post answer the question? –  Feb 04 '16 at 12:13
  • Because, I know the rules and I use it rather well. However, today I had a conversation with a native-speaker and when I re-asked him, using Have you meant....? He responded that it was rather strange and I should have sad Did you mean... Such cases are not so obvious than those ones which are given in books. I used it, implying What have you JUST meant?.according to rule: use the Present Perfect with already, just, yet for recent events...So, it is not about rules, it is about being natural when I speak – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 12:20
  • Have you meant...? without JUST refers to a recent past. "Did you mean" implies the specific situation in the past. I think "Have you JUST meant" is acceptable. – user1425 Feb 04 '16 at 12:30
  • Exactly, that's how we--Russian--understand it. However, native-speakers suggest that Have you meant is incorrect – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 13:13
  • @ChongDogMillionaire Thank you! and if I was conversing with someone and he said something, that I didn't understand, so I want to re-ask: What have you meant? – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 13:31
  • @KseniyaPolevaya I would just say, what do you mean? – CDM Feb 04 '16 at 13:33
  • @ChongDogMillionaire Thank you! And how do you feel about such combination: I've been to London recently and it was quite fun there. Is the combination of tenses correct? – Kseniya Polevaya Feb 04 '16 at 13:34
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    Native speakers don't say "have you meant ... ?" (except maybe in extremely unusual circumstances). And about the rule "use the present perfect with already, just, yet for recent events" ... it's not stated correctly; you can also use the simple past without yet, just, already for recent events, and sometimes you have to. The rule is that when you use already, yet, just for recent events, you should use the present perfect. – Peter Shor Feb 04 '16 at 14:36
  • "What have you meant?" is not wrong on its own. It's wrong in the situation you described. check this out https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22what+have+you+meant%22#newwindow=1&tbm=bks&q=%22what+have+they+meant%22 – user1425 Feb 04 '16 at 15:40