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The present perfect serves in different aspects and conveys different nuances two of which are these:

1) An action with a result in the present.

I have bought a new sweater. = I have a sweater now.

2) A collection of life experiences

I have seen this movie. = I have the experience of watching this movie.

However, I think there can be a clash between the two. For example, if I say.

a) I have lost my keys.

Can it mean both 1 and 2?

I have lost my keys. = I don't have them now.

I have lost my keys. = I know what it feels like to lose keys. I have had it happen to me.

Do you think this confusion is technically possible. If yes, how can we tell one from the other?

For example,

- Did you know that Joe has lost his keys today?
- I have lost mine as well... it's not a big deal...

Does the person say that he doesn't have his key as well or that he has lost them as past of his life experience but now he has them?

user1425
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    English is often inherently ambiguous. Context is usually the key to unlock the box of mysteries. "Did you know that Joe has lost his keys?" ('today' would need fairly unusual context) would obviously in most contexts be the 'this is a now problem' sense. "I have lost mine as well" would not be an idiomatic response here. "I've lost mine once or twice" or "I lost mine a few months back" would be idiomatic. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 02 '20 at 15:22
  • Well, that well may be not an idiomatic response, but it doesn't eliminate the gist of the problem. "I have found ten dollars". can it mean that in my life there were occasions on which I found ten dollars? – user1425 Jun 02 '20 at 15:31
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    It's worth pointing out that I have bought a new sweater doesn't *necessarily* mean or imply that I have a sweater now. I might simply be refuting someone else's claim that I only ever buy second-hand clothes, on the grounds that several decades ago I did actually buy a *new* sweater (which has long since been discarded). – FumbleFingers Jun 02 '20 at 15:37
  • FumbleFingers. I absolutely agree. You have just mentioned my second category "A collection of life experiences" – user1425 Jun 02 '20 at 15:48
  • You always buy second-hand clothes! - Of course not! I have bought a new sweater. Well... I did it last year.
    • – user1425 Jun 02 '20 at 15:50
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    You're not starting with the right rules (par for the course in English grammar; there's a lot of BS out there). The real rules for using the Perfect refer to different types of verbs. The sense you're looking for (the Existential perfect) can refer to past events that are completed. I have lost my keys is existential, and can be stative/resultative, too (= 'I am now keyless'). These overlap significantly, depending on the predicate involved. – John Lawler Jun 02 '20 at 16:24
  • FumbleFingers By the way, what difference would there be if you said "I bought a new sweater" instead of "I have bought...." in the situation with refuting the claim? – user1425 Jun 02 '20 at 18:24
  • @user1425 It is vital to understand the idea "The importance of context in English cannot be overstated." Sentences without context are generally ambiguous, so there is no surprise that you have found ambiguity. In your case, the appropriate tense will be that dictated by the context. You also write two of which are these: This implies that there is at least one other example and may be more. Finally, it is almost always wrong to assume that, as in mathematics, there are rules and fixed categories in language into which everything must fit. – Greybeard Jun 16 '20 at 09:20
  • British English tends to use the present perfect where American English would deem it unnecessary: I bought a new sweater. = I have a sweater now. I lost my keys. = I don't have them now. – Tinfoil Hat Jul 24 '21 at 23:44