grammar

[eddkzk]

Which tense should I use? I guess the present perfect is better;on the other hand, the time adverb refers to the past, I am not sure. Can you help me please?
After two years, I finally have had a car.
Or,
After two years, I finally had a car.

[albertino]

Originally Posted by eddkzk

Which tense should I use? I guess the present perfect is better;on the other hand, the time adverb refers to the past, I am not sure. Can you help me please?
After two years, I finally have had a car.
Or,
After two years, I finally had a car.

Present perfect. "I finally have had a car" is the consequence of having been waiting for two years.
(Not a teacher)

[Anglika]

If referring to the car that I have just managed to buy, I would say "After two years I finally have a car", but if referring to the past, "After two years I finally had a car".

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by eddkzk

Which tense should I use? I guess the present perfect is better;on the other hand, the time adverb refers to the past, I am not sure. Can you help me please?

After two years, I finally have had a car.
Or,
After two years, I finally had a car.

'have', in this case, is the wrong verb in order to show possession, Eddkzk. It works fine for the present simple,

"I have a car",

but using the verb 'have' in present perfect holds a meaning that you no longer have a car.

1. After two years, I finally have got a car.

Or,

2. After two years, I finally got a car.



Number 2,

"After two years, I finally had a car"

sounds like a narrative where you're telling the story of your life and you're re-living that time when you had a car.

Regarding 'after two years', it's fine. It holds a meaning of "up to now", so it matches the present perfect just fine.

[Anglika]

Oh dear, another of these across the pond differences!

In BrE there is no problem in saying "I have a car" in this way. It is not necessary to include the inimitable "got".

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Oh dear, another of these across the pond differences!

In BrE there is no problem in saying "I have a car" in this way. It is not necessary to include the inimitable "got".

There's no cross pond difference, Anglika. You'd better have another read. I wrote,

It works fine for the present simple,

"I have a car",

[2006]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Oh dear, another of these across the pond differences!

In BrE there is no problem in saying "I have a car" in this way. It is not necessary to include the inimitable "got".

Maybe there is no big across the pond difference in this case. I think many N A English speakers would answer exactly as you did.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by 2006

Maybe there is no big across the pond difference in this case. I think many N A English speakers would answer exactly as you did.

To reiterate, there is NO cross pond difference with respect to using 'have' in the present simple to denote possession/ownership;

After two years, I finally have a car.

But just because the present simple verb form 'have', can be used in the present simple tense to denote possession/ownership doesn't mean that 'have' can also be used in the simple past or the present perfect to denote possession/ownership.

I hope that Eddkzk and Albertino and other ESLs reading this thread understand this difference.

Now, when we introduce the collocation, <I've got/gotten>, it gets a little more complicated. There are cross pond differences and what I'm going to say here applies only to NaE, NOT to BrE.

Some suggest that <I've got> is a present perfect but I maintain that it is simply an alternative form, but more emphatic form that means the same as <I have>.

<I've gotten> is a present perfect but it has a meaning of "S have/has acquired".

To Eddkzk's original question:

Which tense should I use? I guess the present perfect is better;on the other hand, the time adverb refers to the past, I am not sure. Can you help me please?
After two years, I finally have had a car.
Or,
After two years, I finally had a car.

We now know that 'have' is not possible here in the simple past or the present perfect without a change in meaning; changes that would render/make Eddkzk's original meanings very different, ie. both would be finished/"past tense" meanings denoting that he had a car but doesn't now have a car.

By using the verb 'get', we stay with a meaning denoting that he still has a car, which, I'm quite sure, is Eddkzk's meaning.

NaE uses three different verb collocations for three different purposes:

{I've removed the finally's from all three examples so we can focus on the verb form}

1. After two years, I have gotten a car.

2. After two years, I got a car.

3. After two years, I've got a car.

Number 1, with <gotten>, is a true present perfect that carries the meaning of "acquired".

Number 2, using <got>, is the past simple that also carries the meaning of "acquired".

Number 3, using the present perfect FORM plus <got> has a stative meaning denoting ownership/possession.

As I mentioned/As I've mentioned, BrE uses this in a different manner than NaE. I'll leave that description to the Brits.