Have and yesterday: I have finished the work yesterday.

[David30]

Hi,
Please read the following sentence.
I have finished the work yesterday.
Is it a correct sentence? because "have" is a present tense word and "yesterday" is a past tense word.
Thank you.

[Cerberus™]

No, it is not correct. The present perfect is not used when describing a situation that happened at a specific time in the past and that does not continue until and including now. You could say "I have finished the work since yesterday"; this you might say as a reply to "have you finished the work?"; but only if you want to present the situation as a current state of affairs that is the result of the work's being finished. This would be the case if the person asking the question wanted to know whether he could move back into his office that was being painted. Even then, however, I think you'd rather say "the work has been finished since yesterday".

[David30]

Hi Cerberus,
Thank q very much for your answer.Please see the following sentence.
I have finished the work that you gave me last Friday.(here I didn't mention when I completed the work.)
Is it a correct sentence.
Thank you.

[Alan]

Hi,

Now that sentence is fine because you haven't identified a time in the past with the verb 'have finished' as explained by our friend, Cerberus. But you have correctly used 'gave' because the time is identified 'last Friday'.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Colour Idioms

[David30]

Thank you sir for answering my question.I am reading your articles,wow you have written them superbly.We need a person like you forever.Sir,are you a student of Shakespeare?Many ESL students are really improving their knowledge.Again We all thank you for your wonderful work.
So,I think the formula is,
to mention the past action without time is: PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
to mention the past action with time is: SIMPLE PAST TENSE
am I correct?
Thank you sir