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Old 23-Oct-2003, 17:49
jwschang
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Default Re: Revisiting Present Perfect

Quote:
Originally Posted by Casiopea
Quote:
5. My conclusion (IMHO) is that there are contexts where there is no, or hardly any, difference between the two tenses, and others where the difference is intentional (conscious or otherwise).
Oh, I agree. It, also, describes the Simple Past (SP) and the Present Perfect (PP) as merging in certain contexts in Singapore English as well. Nice.
Cas :D
I think we have digressed somewhat from the original "story" that I heard from my checking up.

Which is, going back to the "rule": Within the same clause, the Simple Past is used with expressions of a specific time in the past, whereas the Present Perfect is used only with expressions of non-specific time in the past.

Is there any sort of concensus among us on this "rule"?
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