Notes:

i. American English often uses the past simple with (n)ever, yet, already instead of the present
perfect, e.g. Did you eat yet?
ii. There is an idiomatic use of the past tense with always, ever and never to refer to a state or
habit leading up to the present: I always said (= have said) that he would end up in jail.
- Another category of time expressions is that denoting an incomplete, unfinished period of time,
i.e. a period of time which includes the moment of speaking (present): today, this morning: today,
this afternoon /week/ month/ year, during the 21st century etc. The present perfect is used to denote
an action performed in an incomplete period of time:
Ive smoked five cigarettes today. (Perhaps Ill smoke more before today finishes)
Have you had a holiday this year?
I havent seen Tom this morning. Have you?
Tom hasnt studied very much this term.
Note that the present perfect can be used with this morning only up to about one oclock,
because after that this morning becomes a completed period and actions occurring in it must be
put in the past simple.
(3) Continuative use (state-up-to-the-present use)
The verb in the present perfect denotes a state which began in the past and is still going on in the
present. The verb expressing this use is compulsorily accompanied by an adverbial of duration. The
usual adverbials of duration are those introduced by since (to denote the beginning of the period of
time that continues up to the present moment); by for (to denote duration, the length of time that
continues up to the present moment); other adverbials of duration are also expressed by long, how
long. The present perfect simple has this meaning for those verbs that are not normally used in any
of the continuous forms (state verbs):
Weve had that TV set for fifteen years (fifteen years ago till now)
Hes been here since 5 oclock.
That house has been empty for ages.
Hes been here for two hours.
I have known him for several years.
Have you been here long?
or: How long have you been here?
Since can be a preposition, adverb, conjunction:
She has been ill since Monday. (preposition)
When since is used as a conjunction, it introduces a clause of time with the verb in the past tense,
i.e. the present perfect is used in the main clause while the past tense is used in the subordinate
clause introduced by since:
I have liked cowboy movies ever since I was a child.
We have known each other since we were children.
Ive lived in this town since I was born.
But the present perfect is also used in the subordinate clause if the action expressed is still going
on, i.e. if the two actions are parallel (with verbs such as be, live, stay):
Ive known her since Ive lived in this town.
I have never come across my friends since Ive stayed in this hotel.
(4) The present perfect with other temporal values: Future
The present perfect is used with future time reference in adverbial clauses of time which
depend on a main clause expressing or implying future time (the verb in the main clause is in the
future tense, present tense or imperative).
The present perfect (in the adverbial clause of time indicates that the action is completed
before another future action (expressed by the verb in the main clause).
In some contexts, if the meaning of anteriority is implied by the context either the present tense
or the present perfect can be used: Ill leave as soon as the meeting ends.
 Ill leave as soon as the meeting has ended.
However, in other contexts the choice between the present tense and the present perfect is not
free. The present perfect must be used in those contexts in which the speaker wants to indicate
that the action in the adverbial clause of time is completed before (i.e. anterior to) the other action
in the main clause:
Come over and see me when the guests leave (the present tense would suggest simultaneous
actions)
Come over and see me when the guests have left (anteriority)
Youll feel better what you have had a rest.
Can I borrow your dictionary for a moment? No, Im using it. Youll have to wait until
Ive
finished