Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
1 Term for a verbal category linked to tense and aspect.
2 (also present perfect) In English, the perfect is formed with the auxiliary have and the past participle of the main verb and denotes an action as having begun in the past, but extending up to the present (either as a continuing process or in repetition): I have lived here all my life; She has given ten lectures this month; or some result of which is relevant to the present: She has just taken her exam (and is now waiting for the results). In American English, there is the tendency to use the simple past instead of the present perfect.
References
Dik, S. 1989. The theory of functional grammar, part I: The structure of the clause. Dordrecht.
Fenn, P. 1987. A semantic and pragmatic examination of the English perfect. Tübingen.
McCoard, R.W.
1978. The English perfect: tense-choice and pragmatic inferences. Amsterdam.
Michaelis, L.A. 1994. The ambiguity of the English present perfect. JL 30. 111–57.
Quirk, R. et al. 1985. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London.
aspect, tense
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