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Fri 27 Jul, 2018 06:03 am
Please consider the following excerpt:
After Bates’s resignation, Baroness Smith of Basildon interrupted the beginning of another speech to say: “An apology from Lord Bates is perfectly sufficient. It was a minor discourtesy of which any of us can be guilty of on occasion.” Talking to the Guardian, Baroness Lister said she has asked Bates to reconsider his decision.
My question is the following:
Don't you find the use of the present perfect (she has asked Bates) after the simple past (Baroness Lister said) inappropriate from a grammatical viewpoint? Shouldn't it be "Baroness Lister said she had asked Bates"?
Thank you
@paok1970,
No, it doesn't sound inappropriate.
If she said she "had asked", I would take that to mean she asked him in the past and he refused. Since she said she "has asked", I interpret that to mean her request is still pending.
@engineer,
Quote:Since she said she "has asked", I interpret that to mean her request is still pending.
A refusal or not by Bates isn't necessarily a crucial component of the decision to use the present perfect, "has asked". This is the present perfect of a past action having present significance.
A: I went to Spain last March.
B: [excited] I've been to Spain.
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