I'm bothered by this grammar question.
Direction: Choose the underlined(I used ( ) instead of underlines) part that is incorrect.
Nancy (has finished) (her homework) early this morning and (is now sleeping) (soundly).

The textbook says you should correct (has finished) into (finished) because "early this morning" suggests the point in the past. I knew "this morning" can be used with present perfect. So, should I think that "early this morning" should be used in the past sentences, not in the present perfect sentences, though "this morning" is used with both the past tense and the present perfect?

Question

I'm bothered by this grammar question.
Direction: Choose the underlined(I used ( ) instead of underlines) part that is incorrect.
Nancy (has finished) (her homework) early this morning and (is now sleeping) (soundly).

The textbook says you should correct (has finished) into (finished) because "early this morning" suggests the point in the past. I knew "this morning" can be used with present perfect. So, should I think that "early this morning" should be used in the past sentences, not in the present perfect sentences, though "this morning" is used with both the past tense and the present perfect?

paulf9765 · Answer

This is fine: "Nancy has finished her homework."
This is not right: "Nancy has finished her homework this morning."
It should be: "Nancy finished her homework this morning."

See this page: https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/advanced-level-present-perfect-tense

"We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The Present Perfect cannot be used with time expressions that indicate a specific time."

Jean_G · Answer

We can only use time phrases with present perfect if it is an "unfinished" time frame. For example, "I have drunk my coffee this morning, and now I'm ready to go to work." I used present perfect here because clearly, the morning is not finished yet. But if we consider this sentence, "I drank coffee this morning, and now I can't sleep." It means the morning is over, and it's already nighttime, so we use simple past.
In your given sentence, I think the textbook suggests that the morning is over, hence the phrase "sleeping soundly." Maybe, Nancy finished her homework early this morning, and now it's already nighttime, and she's sleeping soundly (without having to worry about her homework). If what you have in mind is that after Nancy finished her homework early in the morning, she slept right after (still in the morning), then you can use present perfect.

Jean_G · Answer

@paulf9765 I can't agree. We can use time phrases with present perfect as long as it is an unfinished time frame. "I haven't brushed my teeth this morning yet." meaning, the morning is not over yet. "I've read three books so far this week." the week is not over yet.

paulf9765 · Answer

@Jean_G yes, you are correct.  that page is wrong (or incomplete)