A Reichenbachian Account of the Interaction of the Present Perfect with Temporal Adverbials

One puzzling aspect of the present perfect is that temporal adverbials are sometimes acceptable in a present perfect sentence and sometimes not, as illustrated by the examples below: (1) a. Martha has lived in Boston for ve years. b. For ve years Martha has lived in Boston. (2) a. Chris has left at midnight. b. #At midnight Chris has left. (3) a. John has been in the bathtub until noon. b. #Until noon John has been in the bathtub. The sentences in (1) are acceptable whether the adverbial is in initial or nal position. In contrast, there are acceptable readings of (2) and (3) when the adverbial is in nal position as in the (a) sentences, but not when it is in initial position as in the (b) sentences. The acceptable readings of (2a) and (3a) can be paraphrased as below: (2 0) a. Chris has left at midnight before. (3 0) a. John has been in the bathtub until noon before. I will argue that there is a straightforward explanation for the interaction of the present perfect with adverbials of the form P NP] based on Reichenbach's 1947] Many thanks to Peter Lasersohn, Massimo Poesio and Greg Carlson for their comments. Engineering through project LRE-61-062, \Towards a declarative theory of discourse."