[Grammar] has gone/ went

[Kumar Nadimuthu]

Please tell me which one is correct.

1.My father has gone to Singapore today.
2.My father went to Singapore today

 

[MikeNewYork]

#2 is correct.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Why is #1 incorrect? Shouldn't the construction 'someone has done something today' be correct?

Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

My understanding is that the man already went to Singapore, even if it was earlier in the same day. "Today" can be a bit tricky. We wouldn't say "has gone to Singapore yesterday". For me, it is the same thing.

 

[Matthew Wai]

We wouldn't say "has gone to Singapore yesterday".

But we are talking about 'today' rather than 'yesterday'.
Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, but it is still in the past. As I said it is tricky and it is arguable.

 

[engee30]

NOT A TEACHER

I agree with MikeNewYork to some extent.
Without the adverbial today, the sentence reads:
My father has gone to Singapore. This could have happened today, yesterday, or some time ago. One thing is certain here - he's not at home at this moment of time.

With the adverbial retained in the sentence, it kind of behaves like yesterday, as MikeNewYork suggested. But simply separate the today from the rest of the sentence by use of a full stop, or period, and it reads well again:
My father has gone to Singapore. [a little pause would appear here] Today.

So it seems to me that the initial sentence is as fine.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'An adverbial time-marker such as "today, this month," or "for an hour" can take either the simple past or present perfect:
I worked/have worked hard today.'── quoted from http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses/present_perfect.htm
Do you deem it wrong?

 

[MikeNewYork]

No, I think that is correct. The context suggests that this was spoken shortly after the workday ended. But I also would accept the simple past. My interpretation of the first sentence was that the trip was much earlier in the day. The choices between these two are subject to interpretation.

For your new sentence, let's assume that the workday ended at 5 PM. Shortly after 5 PM, the speaker says "I am leaving. I have worked hard today." Later, at 9 PM, he meets some friends at a bar for drinks. At that point I would expect him to tell his friends "I worked hard today".

 

[Matthew Wai]

My interpretation of the first sentence was that the trip was much earlier in the day.

'Today, the official welcoming ceremony of President Serzh Sargsyan who has arrived in Georgia on an official visit took place at the presidential palace.'── quoted from https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/...-had-arrived?p=1075661&viewfull=1#post1075661
It seems that the arrival was much earlier in the day, but the present perfect is correct. Why?
Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The simple past would also be correct. As I said, it is variable. You can post these all day, but the answer will be the same.

 

[engee30]

NOT A TEACHER

A little bit punctuation would be required here:

Today, the official welcoming ceremony of President Serzh Sargsyan, who has arrived in Georgia on an official visit, took place at the presidential palace.

To my way of thinking, both the ceremony and the arrival happened on the same day. But as you can see, the ceremony has a point in time that 'anchors' it on the timeline - '...at the presidential palace...' - which works like an adverbial referring to past time (like yesterday, for instance). With the present perfect used with the arrival, you make it recent and relevant to the whole situation.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Kumar:

As you know, context is king in English (and also in most other languages?).

In my opinion, some (many?) native speakers would find the present perfect acceptable in this dialogue that I have made up:

Mona (calls James at 10:30 a.m.): May I speak with your dad? It's really important.

James: Sorry, but he's not here.

Mona: Where is he?

James: Oh, he's gone to Singapore today. He'll be back tomorrow.


NOTES:


1. In my opinion, "He's gone to Singapore today" is simply a more elegant way to say "He's in Singapore today." (He took the 8:15 a.m. flight and arrived at 9:30 a.m.)
2. In my opinion, contracting "he has" makes it even more acceptable, especially in everyday conversation.

 

[MikeNewYork]

And: "James: Oh, he went to Singapore today. He'll be back tomorrow" will be correct for many native speakers.