Simple past and present perfect in Latin America: inclusion or exclusion of now in the enunciation

Abstract

The presence of temporal modifiers denoting the inclusion or exclusion of now in the enunciation provides relevant information to distinguish between different utilizations of the simple past and present perfect in Latin America. The primary goal of this article is to complement the data obtained until now through the analysis of the contexts in which both paradigms alternate. Therefore, this work considers two types of modifiers: those that locate the verbal process in a temporal section comprising the present of the discourse, versus those that, on the contrary, leave the verbal action linked to the past. In the latter case, we also consider whether the reference to the past has the mark [+ closer] or [- closer].