present perfect - "I suddenly realized" or "I've suddenly ...

I've suddenly realized something. In both cases I mean that my realization happened at this moment. And even though "at this moment" is a time ... EnglishLanguageLearnersStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforspeakersofotherlanguageslearningEnglish.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore "Isuddenlyrealized"or"I'vesuddenlyrealized"? AskQuestion Asked 5years,5monthsago Modified 4years,8monthsago Viewed 8ktimes 1 Okay,soIknowthetextbookruleswhentousepresentperfectandpastsimplebutforsomereasonIcan'tdecidebetweenthesetwo: Isuddenlyrealizedsomething. I'vesuddenlyrealizedsomething. InbothcasesImeanthatmyrealizationhappenedatthismoment.Andeventhough"atthismoment"isatimeexpressionsopresentperfectshouldnotbecorrectwithit,Idon'tusethatinthesentence,andIfeelpresentperfectisusablebutIdon'tknowifthat'sactuallycorrect.IalsohaveavaguememoryaboutreadingsomewherethatpresentperfectcanbeusedtoemphasizethingsincertainsituationsbutImayrememberwrong,Icouldn'tfindexamplesofsuchusagewhileIwasgooglingforanswers. Also,ifthiswasnot"atthismoment"butinthepastatanunspecifiedtime,wouldtheadverbsuddenlyindicateaspecifictime? present-perfect Share Improvethisquestion Follow askedFeb4,2017at8:36 KorvinKorvin 82466silverbadges1515bronzebadges 1 Theproblemisthatyouarerelyingontherulethattellsthespecificityaffectsthetense,NO.Thatisanoldrulethatisnolongerreliablethesedays.Iftheeventhappenedentirelyinthepast,andthere'snocorrelationinthecurrrentsituation,thenpresentperfectisforbidden. – user178049 Feb4,2017at11:40 Addacomment  |  2Answers 2 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 1 Toaddressyoursecondquestionfirst,suddenlydoesn'tindicateaspecifictime.Inthiscontextaddingthemodifiersuddenlymakesitsoundlikeyouhadanepiphanyinthesenseofdefinition2here.Whateveryourealizedcameintoyourmindinasplitsecondandinstantlychangedsomethingforyou,suchasyourperceptionoforopinionsaboutsomething.Bythetimeyougetaroundtorelatingthisrealizationtothepeopleyouarewith,it'salreadyinthepast,evenifonlyafewsecondsinthepast. Possibleuses: YesterdayIlefthomeandgotonthesubwaytogototheairport.Afterridingthesubwayfor15minutes,IsuddenlyrealizedthatIhadforgottenmypassport.Igotoffatthenextstopandhadtoflagataxibackhometofetchmypassportandtakemetotheairport,orIwouldhavemissedmyflight. Hereitdoesn'tmakesensetousethepresentperfectbecausetheeventiswellinthepast,soIusethesimplepasttense.(Apologiesthatmyexampleprosedoesnotcomparetogreatliterature.Pleasedon'tworryifyouthinktheyhaveunrelatedgrammarmistakes.) Sandysaidtoherfriends,"ItlookslikewehaveeverythingweneedforEmily'ssurpriseparty."ThenJaneinterrupted,"I'vesuddenlyrealized,weforgottobuytheballoons!" InthisexampleJaneisrelatingsomethingsherealizedwhileSandywasspeaking.Thepresentperfectisusedbecausesheisrelating"apasteventthathaspresentconsequences,"toquoteWikipedia. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedFeb4,2017at10:45 answeredFeb4,2017at10:34 AnonymousPenguinAnonymousPenguin 8133bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  0 Isuddenlyrealizedsomething. referenceinpasttoobvioustimeincontext(withtimeadverbs,additionaltemporalqualifierslike...ago...,inthenarration:->finishedactioninpastwithoutconnectionnow) I'vesuddenlyrealizedsomething. referenceunknowntimeinpastwithemphasisingtoanexpiriencethatyouhave. Inmyopinion! Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedNov26,2017at21:13 answeredNov26,2017at20:08 FarkhadIsmatovFarkhadIsmatov 2155bronzebadges Addacomment  |  Youmustlogintoanswerthisquestion. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedpresent-perfect. 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