Saturday, September 21, 2019

tenses - Present Simple instead of Present Perfect

I have come across interesting cases several times where the Present Simple is used instead of the Present Perfect. For example:



1) Lately I get the feeling that I am not so much being pulled down as I am being pushed. (from the movie - "Friends")




2) Man, have you noticed how much more time Paul spends at the gym lately? (taken from this discussion Present continuous to discuss action's frequency)



As a rule, "lately" invites the Present Perfect which means that it would be more correct in accordance with grammar rules to say:



Lately I've got the feeling...



.. have you noticed how much more time Paul has spent/been spending...



I, by no means, intend to say that this usage is not idiomatic, as these sentences were uttered by native speakers, I just would like to get some of your thoughts and explanations why it is possible to use the Present Simple here. I'd like also to know if the Present Perfect would be a good substitution. Examples illustrating this usage are very welcome.

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