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There is a sentence like this

Our team has scored another goal.

Why didn't he use 'Our team scored another goal.'? Then, What is the difference between 'has scored' and 'scored' in meaning? Maybe I think that 'has score' means the 'recent past' in present perfect tense. Is that right? If we get confused in using 'recent past', Should we use 'just' in front of 'scored'? Please tell me.

2 Answers 2

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The usual interpretation of present perfect is "the recent past" unless there is some context which requires "the further past". Using "just" emphasises "the recent past". "South Korea has just hosted the winter olympic games" means "the recent past". "South Korea has hosted the winter olympic games" might mean "the recent past" or "the further past. "South Korea has hosted the winter and summer olympic games" cannot mean "the recent past", but instead means "sometime in history".

The context of "Our team has scored another goal" is a sporting match. I am not going to say "Our team has scored another goal sometime in history". Present perfect and the context of a sporting match means that "Our teams has scored another goal" must mean "in the recent past".

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  • Present perfect is not usually recent past: I have played tennis in the past but I don't play today. That gives a person no idea at all when I played tennis, only that is was in the past, and one can't say whether it was recent or a long time ago in the past.
    – Lambie
    Commented Mar 5, 2018 at 5:47
  • @Lambie Perfect of recent past is one of the four uses of the present perfect. The one in your example is the experiential ( Or existential ) perfect.
    – Beqa
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 23:58
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Our team has scored another goal. [you say in the present and the goal was in the past at the time you speak]. [this was past]

Our team scored another goal. [five minutes ago, an hour ago, yesterday: very specific]

Present perfect is not necessarily about recent past; it's about being very specific about the past versus just providing the information that it was in the past.

That said, you can say either. It depends to what extent YOU want to be specific.

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