Re: Present perfect with past time In those sentences, you have not used a 'finished time expression' since 1985 : the intervening time period between 1985 and now. for 10 years : for the specified period of time of 10 years. 'He went to prison in 1985 for 10 years'. for the past 10 years : for the specified period from now, to 10 years ago. I've just met her : Yes. This is present perfect tense, and indicates a very recent past event and stresses the significance that there has therefore only been a short intervening period to time between then and now. The whole sentence might be: "I've only just met her so I can't tell whether it will develop into a relationship or not." That is, the intervening period from when we met to now is too short for two people to really get to know each other well.
Last edited by David L.; 28-Mar-2008 at 20:01.
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