Reply
Mon 13 Jun, 2016 10:13 am
Hello
One (I know this is just one of a million) of the uses of present perfect is to emphasise something that has just happened. However, I've come across a lot of sentences where this condition was fulfilled but the speaker didn't use the present perfect. I don´t remember whether the speaker spoke either British or American English - I am mentioning this as British people appear to use present perfect more often (it seems to me). From that standpoint my question is more general and doesn't focus on the difference between Am. and Br. English. Would it be possible to use present perfect in all my examples below as they all are about something what has just happened, or is it just that in British English it is more idiomatic to use past simple.
Here are the sentences:
1 Did I insult you?
Two people are talking to one another when one of them starts getting annoyed and stops the conversation. It´s all because the other person told him something inappropriate, too personal. The person who said that impersonal/inappropriate statement stops the conversation and asks him, "Did I insult you?"
2 Really, you spoke to Penny?
I am sorry I don't remember the context here.
3 How did that stay in?
There was a long rally in tennis - the commentator said this right after the long rally.
4 Where did that voice come from?
A fan tried singing Taylor Swift's song and wasn't bad at all. After he finished singing, Taylor was amazed and said, "Wow, where did that voice come from?"
Thank you
@domus,
Sure, you could use the present perfect.
The simple past would be:
I insulted you?
"Did I insult you," is the expanded/emphatic simple past.
For question 2, the expanded/emphatic simple past would be:
Really, you did speak to Penny?
@domus,
"How has that stayed in" means it's still in, which wouldn't apply to tennis. "How have they stayed in first place after losing 5 games in a row?"