Once again present perfect

alrod · #1 (**permalink**) 29-Jan-2007, 17:31

I find in some place following sentence:
...
- Mike, as a seargent of the police I came to the office
at 9. Always.
- OK boss. But once I have come at 9 and there was no one over here.
...

Is it right to use perfect form here? The "once" is suspicious.

thanks

Harry Smith · #2 (**permalink**) 29-Jan-2007, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by alrod

I find in some place following sentence:
...
- Mike, as a seargent of the police I came to the office
at 9. Always.
- OK boss. But once I have come at 9 and there was no one over here.
...

Is it right to use perfect form here? The "once" is suspicious.

thanks

No, it's more correct to say : Once I came at 9 and there was no one over here.

riverkid · #3 (**permalink**) 30-Jan-2007, 00:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by alrod

I find in some place following sentence:
...
- Mike, as a seargent of the police I came to the office
at 9. Always.
- OK boss. But once I have come at 9 and there was no one over here.
...
Is it right to use perfect form here? The "once" is suspicious.
thanks

There is a strong tendency among ENLS to avoid using adverbial markers which seem to place a past action at a particular point in time, which then, would tend to cause us to use a past tense.

But, in speech, this strong tendency is sometimes overcome by semantic considerations. Also there is a reason for a speaker to use this adverb, 'once' with the present perfect, the present perfect of experience;

Have you ever come here at 9 AM? How many times have you come here at 9 AM?

Quote:

CGEL (at page 144)

This use of the present perfect [experential] allows for the inclusion, under restrictive conditions, of a past time adjunct.

I think it would have sounded more "natural" if it had been phrased,

- OK boss. But I have come here once at 9 and there was no one over here.

Remember, the strong tendency that native spekaers have to follow certain "rules" can be overridden for other important language considerations.