How should I translate the Present Perfect used in English?

Question

Suppose I want to translate an English sentence like "I have walked in the park for a year." The first though I had was translating the sentence as follows.> Ho camminato nel parco per un anno.It seems correct, except for the fact that Present Perfect is used to talk about a past event that is still relevant for the present. That means the sentence I used as example would be understood as saying that I am still walking in the park. Similarly, "I have gone to that store since I was a teenager." would mean I am still going to that store. That is not the meaning of "ho camminato nel parco per un anno" which means I am not walking anymore in the park.I thought of using the Simple Past, but I am not sure how to use it with a time reference. Apart that, _camminavo nel parco_ still means I am not anymore walking.How should I translate the Present Perfect used in English?

Answer 1

In this case, I would relegate the concept communicated in the perfect aspect in English to a completely different phrasing: "È un'anno che cammino nel parco." That's a general rule for the present perfect: you'll just have to find a different way to say it, and the construction above is very useful for that purpose.