Within the last, Within the past, In the last

[sw001]

In the last year, no one came to see this place. - Past.
In the last one year, no one has come here. - Present Perfect.

Are the below usages Present Perfect? is it because "Within" is present??

Within the past year
Within the past one year
Within the last year
Within the last one year

IS there a difference which exists between past and last?

In the past year - Past?? e.g. This would mean that if we are in 2010 and we are talking about 2009 here, right?

In the past one year - Present Perfect ?? From now - till 1 year in the past.

[RonPurewal]

What's the source? I.e., where are you getting these?

Context matters a lot here, but this doesn't seem like the kind of thing that GMAC would test (except as a distraction from easier things). Have you actually seen a problem in which this was a required decision point?

[sw001]

What's the source? I.e., where are you getting these?

Context matters a lot here, but this doesn't seem like the kind of thing that GMAC would test (except as a distraction from easier things). Have you actually seen a problem in which this was a required decision point?

Hello Ron,

There are official problems with "within the past few years" usage and depending on that - tense is in the underlined portion.

Plus, Within the past & In the last - are in the MGMAT SC guide -mentioned as indicators for Present Perfect.

Within the past few years - is straightforward present perfect, because we are referring to a time from now - past few years from now.

But, not sure if "Within the past year" - would refer to just the "past year", thus would be "Past tense".

Likewise, are these usages valid -

Within the last
In the past

[tim]

What Ron is trying to say is if you haven't seen actual GMAT problems that contain actual splits on these examples, it is not worth worrying about. You may be agonizing over something the GMAT doesn't actually test.