Present perfect can express a life experience, for example:
I've seen a volcanic eruption.
Can it express an experience starting from a specific time? For example:
Since 2015, I've seen a volcanic eruption.
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Makes more sense if followed by a list: Since then, I've seen A, B, and C. – Yosef Baskin Dec 17 '21 at 14:28
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You need another time expression, or a continuous verb: "Since 2015 I've seen a volcano eruption every few months" or "Since 2015 I've been seeing volcanic eruptions." – Robusto Dec 17 '21 at 14:35
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This is so weird. It makes sense, and it should work, but for some reason it doesn't sound idiomatic. I can't even think of a non-awkward way to rephrase. "At some point between 2015 and now, I've seen a volcanic eruption." – cruthers Dec 17 '21 at 14:41
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After careful consideration, I think the weirdness lies in what happened before 2015. There's two possibilities. One is I saw a volcanic eruption before 2015. The other is I did not see one before 2015. If the first situation applies, why do I say "Since 2015, I've seen ..." If the second situation applies, why do I mention 2015? Does 2015 have special significance? – Gavin Dec 17 '21 at 15:43
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This is the Existential use of the Perfect, which occurs with punctual predicates and indicates the existence of one or more events in the past. – John Lawler Dec 17 '21 at 16:56
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1"I don't think there has been a volcanic eruption on Elbonia since 2066 ... has anyone here actually seen a volcanic eruption since 2066?" – Edwin Ashworth Dec 17 '21 at 17:35