A great impediment to understanding the present perfect is the mistaken notion that 'perfected' means 'completed', which is clearly not applicable to the present perfect, which is distinguished by it's bringing the past into the present, as in "Craig has lived in Nashville for 10 years" and still does. The action of the verb is definitely NOT completed -- he still lives there. 'Completed' is "Craig lived in Nashville for 10 years" and now lives in Amarillo.
The second word 'perfect' is a tag to show that the word 'present' is different than when it stands alone. To not confuse students, the present perfect could be called 'the present arnk', to signal the fact that 'present perfect' is different from 'present'. Arnk might serve because it has no other meaning. We might make the point by calling it 'present kumquat' but since a kumquat is recognizable as something else, it would confuse, whereas 'arnk' does not.
The present perfect could have a completely different name but there is probably too much history to ever make such a difficult switch. Better to leave it alone and understand that it doesn't mean what it may seem to mean.
Those who want to help students understand would do well to not mention the fallacy that 'perfected means completed'. If a student brings it up, explain what you see above. The 'perfect' in 'present perfect' is merely a tag, a label, to show that the 'present' in 'present perfect' is not the same as the present' that stands alone. 'Present perfect' does not mean 'present completed' -- not by a long shot.
"Perfected Means Completed" is a slogan coveted by many, so it won't be easy to let it go for the sake of making it easier to learn what the 'present perfect' is and how it is used, which 1/2 of incoming college freshmen do not know and 2/3 of incoming community college students do not know.
Note to linguists: for the sake of grammar, it doesn't matter where 'present perfect' came from or how it started, or who started it. As a wise Persian philosopher once opined, "If it works, you're right. If it doesn't work, you're wrong". Present-completed doesn't work.
Come in, Flo.
.ebb.21feb11.