According to the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL) by Geoffrey. K. Pullum and Rodney Huddlestone, there are four different uses of the present perfect tense: the continuative, the experimental (or existential) perfect, the resultative perfect, and the perfect of recent past. (2002 :143-145)
Not so long ago, I came across a grammar book, in which the present perfect tense was explained differently. It states that – "when we can not make a present tense sentence with a similar meaning, we do not normally use the present perfect (even if we are giving " news ").
My question is – why cannot we use the present perfect tense, to be more precise, the perfect of recent past when we are giving "news"? For example:
- Granny hit me!
Instead, why can't we say:
- Granny has hit me!
Especially if the impact of the hit is visible on the body? Can we remember this as a rule of thumb? Does it sound okay to you?