[Grammar] Present perfect question - which one is correct, what is the difference in meaning?

[tmiskiew]

Hi there,
are the following sentences correct and if yes, what is the difference in meaning?

1. I've visited so many beautiful places since I came to Utah.

2. I've visited so many beautiful places since I have come to Utah.


Thanks
Thomas

 

[bhaisahab]

#1 is correct. #2 is not natural with the second use of the present perfect.

 

[tmiskiew]

#1 is correct. #2 is not natural with the second use of the present perfect.

Thanks, can you please elaborate o #2? What's the mental image you have? Is there any grammar rule #2 breaks?

This is so amazing, I've showed this question three differenct native speakers and got three different answers.

My teacher said, that 'since I came to Utah' would mean you are thinking about the specific moment when you arrived. She doesn't know (she's native speaker and english teacher) if I have come is correct.

Another teacher said, they are both correct. The only (very minor) difference is that "since I came to Utah" sounds further in the past than "since I've come to Utah".

But you could use either, and no native speaker would blink.

I'm puzzled!

Thanks
Thomas

 

[5jj]

Those who say that it's correct may be thinking of such sentences as "I've visited so many beautiful places since I've lived in Utah". Here, the present perfect is correct, because the living continues up to the present moment. Indeed, '... since I lived in Utah' would be saying that you no longer lived in Utah - the living is in the past. It's the reverse with COME. The coming was in the past; it does not extend up to the present moment.

In informal speech, however, we often don't consciously think ahead in our utterances. The speaker of sentence #2 could well have had 'came' and 'have lived' as potential endings to the sentence, and conflated the two. This is not uncommon, and few people who heard it would think of it as a mistake. We usually listen to the message, not to the individual words. In reading and writing, however, we have time to think. Sentence #2 is not natural in the written form.

 

[Rover_KE]

This is so amazing. I've shown this question to three different native speakers and got three different answers.

Thomas

Welcome to the forums, Thomas.

Please note that a better (and shorter) title would have been ...since I came/have come to Utah.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'