Believer  +  498717 Wed, 09 Apr 08 11:10 PM Hi, Let us say that a person who has lived (present perfect OK??) a very long ago -- I mean thousands years back -- has done a good deed and someone who is living in the present age is making a reference to that. Can he use a present perfect when making the reference? Present day man: He will be rewarded for what he has done. What he has done is something we should be very grateful for.      Believer Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006 Contributing Member 1,969 Present Perfect

	Philip  +  498721 Wed, 09 Apr 08 11:40 PM It depends on what the exact context is: Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. (simple past) His revelation to us has been a guiding light ever since. (present perfect) Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,604 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Simple Past, Present Perfect

	CalifJim  +  498764 Thu, 10 Apr 08 03:51 AM Believer “very long ago -- I mean thousands years back ” The present perfect is not at all likely in that situation.  The action of that person in antiquity would be expressed in the simple past.  Any implications for the present might be expressed in the present perfect, however. The Greeks invented democracy, and the Western world has been trying to implement it ever since. Euclid proved that the number of primes is infinite.  His methodology, called 'proof by contradiction', has been used by mathematicians throughout history. Nietzsche wrote hundreds of aphorisms.  Many of them have been quoted by others. CJ       CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,128 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Simple Past, Present Perfect