Is it of much use?

[Francoise Rosset]

Let me offer a further comment to Anne-Marie Devlin's very useful 
schema and John Dunn's follow-up.

It concerns that pesky: "I have read"
Try it with "I have lived": I've lived in the US for 30 years.

In many languages this turns into a straight present.
BUT if you use the exact same words in a compound form it becomes a 
past.
The problem then would appear that "I have lived" translates as a 
present, but the exact equivalent form or word-calque is a past.

Let me illustrate:

In French, "Ça fait 30 ans que je vis aux Etats-Unis" or "Je vis aux 
Etats-Unis depuis 30 ans" is the correct way to say our sentence. 
You're still in the US and the present tense is both relevant and 
apparent.
Unfortunately, in French you can also use "J'ai vécu aux Etats-Unis 
pendant 30 ans," BUT that one suggests you're NOT there anymore.

In German, "Ich lebe seit 30 Jahren in den US" = "I have lived"
"Ich habe 30 Jahre in den US gelebt" may mean you're still there but 
it is usually a past, "I lived, I used to live, I have lived in the 
US, once upon a time"

I think that in Spanish one may use both "Yo vivo"/ "Yo estoy" and "Yo 
he vivido." I could be wrong, esp. on spelling as I never wrote 
Spanish.

In Russian, the contrast is even more clear:
"Я живу ..." if you are still living there
"Я жила ..." if you're referring strictly to the past.

That first Russian is very difficult for my American students to get 
right.

Not sure this resolves anything re the original question.
I just wanted to point out that in many languages "I have Xed" does 
indeed come out as a present tense, usually a simple present.

-FR

Francoise Rosset, Associate Professor
Chair, Russian and Russian Studies
Wheaton College
Norton, Massachusetts 02766
Office: (508) 285-3696
FAX:   (508) 286-3640

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