The verb "mean" can refer to two different poles, the sender of a message and the interpreter, and I think the present perfect is fairly natural for the interpreter, especially when it shades into a sense of value. (Less message, more existence. We interpret waht we experience as well.) "Your support has meant a great deal to me." As John says, this is a past truth continuing into present time. Verbs are wonderful. Very tricky, but very rich. Craig Hi, Dalia. > > These are tricky questions with English verbs, aren't they? > > It seems to me that "mean" has at least two distinct uses: 1) to describe > a > state of meaning of a word or event; and 2) to describe something that a > person intended. Many people would talk about two different verbs here, > mean1 and > mean2. > > 1. The word 'bad' means 'good'. (mean1) > > 2. I did not mean to insult him. (mean2) > > So if we put mean2 with the group of action verbs, John's very clear > explanations hold. It's mean1 that gives us pause because we see it as > stative. > > When states can be described as having beginning or ending points, we can > easily understand them in perfect tenses (mean1). And this might be true > of > 'seems' as well. > > 3. Jason has always seemed like such a nice kid. > > 4. Until recently, Jason has always seemed like such a nice kid. > > 5. Jason had always seemed so nice, but this recent crime has given me a > different picture of him. > > (I'm sure you can come up with better examples.) > Verbs are fascinating! > > Linda > > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/