I read a sentence "CFIUS has stymied several deals in the past year" in New York times. But I was taught that the present perfect should not be use if there is a word indicated the past time, and "in the past year" is not the past time?
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I wouldn't say “Cifus has stymied several deals in 2009,” but “the past year” means the year up to now, so one may argue that it includes the present.– Anton SherwoodCommented Apr 6, 2019 at 21:03
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2 Answers
The time expression "in the last year" continues up to and includes the present time, so there is no inconsistency between this time expression and the present perfect.
It would have been wrong to say "has styied... last year", but you can say "has stymied ... this year"
The author could also have used the past tense, because the time expression "in the last year also includes past time.
I it’s true that the past shouldn’t be used while we’re using the present perfect. The sentence you have provided used the expression “in the past year”, meaning that “over the course of the last year”. In the last year or over the past year are time expressions that imply a longer