This is a conversation from the exercise from the Advanced Grammar in Use by Cambridge University Press:
A: How was your weekend?
B: Not great, actually. I'd really been
looking forward to a relaxing couple of days. But early on Saturday
morning Mom phoned to say that Dad had been taken ill.
A: Oh no! What had happened?
B: She had just heard that he had been flown by
helicopter to hospital in Edinburgh from a village called Contin he
had been fishing with my Uncle Mark.
A: And is he okay? What's wrong
with him?
B: Well, Uncle Mark said that Dad had been complaining of a
bad headache most of yesterday, but he hadn't wanted to go back to the
hotel and spoil the day. But then in the evening, just as they had
stopped fishing for the day, he had collapsed…
A: Has he had [1] any health problems recently?
B: Well, he's been suffering [2] from stress for some
time, but we had thought a holiday in Scotland would be relaxing for
him. He has worked [3] too hard for months, and we'd been trying to
persuade him to have a break for ages before he agreed.
A: So did you
go up to Scotland when you heard?
B: No, Mum has gone up to be with
him, but the doctors have checked him over and have said that it's not
too serious. They have given some medicine to bring down his blood
pressure and have told him that he needs complete rest for a couple of
months. So Mum's driving him back in the car tomorrow.
A: Well, send
him my best wishes when you speak to him.
B: Thanks, I will do.
Here I can't figure out the use of present perfect (simple and continuous) in places [1], [2] and [3]. Regarding the context, the question given in place [1] seems to be about Dad's recent health problems but not including a period of time since he last fell ill as it would make no sense. In my view, this suggests that the past perfect might be a better fit here because the question is all about the past situation or activity before another past event. But the answer key of the book suggests that the present perfect probably is the only option here. Isn't it? Similarly the same applies to [2] and [3].
So my questions are:
- How can we justify the use of the present perfect here?
- Would the past perfect be an equally good fit here?
Best Answer
In all three cases, the present perfect is appropriate because we're discussing potential events or conditions that occurred at or have continued from some point in the past right up to the present. Since the father is still alive and still employed, it's presumed that the suffering and employment condition continue to the present day.
The past perfect isn't appropriate in these three examples because we're not describing an event or condition that entirely occurred earlier than some other event. (And when we do, we do indeed use the past perfect: "...we had thought a holiday in Scotland would be relaxing for him." Here, the prediction that the holiday would be restorative took place before the illness and then ceased, having been falsified. Or "...we'd been trying to persuade him to have a break for ages before he agreed." The attempts at persuasion ended once he agreed.) Barring alleviation from stress, the person is still suffering; barring separation from his job, he is still working.
It is true that the length of time ("recently") is not explicitly defined. "Some time" could be anything from weeks to years. However, this vagueness doesn't change the fact that the inquiry addresses a period that began in the past and continues to the present day; the same can be said about the suffering and the working. Thus, the present perfect is the right choice.