While the present perfect is difficult for English Language Learners (ELLs) to master, this study seeks to provide evidence of its integral pragmatic function in the social task of initiating and developing relationships. Through analysis of the Santa Barbara Corpus of Spoken American English, the frequency of the present perfect, the pragmatic functions of the present perfect, and its ease of replacement with the simple past are examined. Results show that while the present perfect does occur somewhat more often when developing a friendship, there were no significant patterns in how the present perfect is used. It was also found that though it is rarely necessary to use the present perfect rather than the simple past, a speaker's choice to do so has important pragmatic implications.