American English prefer Simple past tense over Present perfect. Right?

Question

I am watching an American English movie, Actually, I often watch American English movies, I have found that they often use simple past in situations in which I should use present perfect instead as my grammar books suggest.

Please take a look at situations below and give me your opinion about AmE.

*Situation 1:
A: You acted like a character in X novel. Did you read X novel?
B: No, I haven't.
A: Let me tell you about that novel, the main character is a nice girl.......

I think that It should be "Have you read X novel?" Instead.
Is that AmE can use simple past and present perfect interchangeably in this context?

*Situation 2: Still in that movie, B and C is still in love.

B says to C:I love you. You changed my life.

I think it should be "You have changed my life". Right? But AmE can use simple past instead. Right?

*Situation3:
A: B asked me for help. I think I should do something to help her.
C: Really. You are right. B need you help now. Let do something useful to help her.

In this situation BrE would use "have asked" instead of "asked" as AmE. Right?

*Situation 4:
A give B a nice flower
A: This flower is for you. I love you.
B: Wow, I never saw such a nice flower before. Thank you.

BrE will you "have never seen" instead. But it is fine to use simple past "never saw" in AmE. Right?

Thank you

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

LE HANH 2383I think that It should be "Have you read X novel?" Instead.

Me, too, but you will hear the other. This one is a little more likely to elicit the present perfect from an American than some other contexts. I am an American, by the way.

LE HANH 2383I think it should be "You have changed my life". Right?

No. The two different tenses mean different things, and even an American is aware of that. The past tense means that C changed B's life at some time in the past. The perfect means that B is a changed person in the here and now. It amounts to the same thing, I guess, but an American will observe the difference and use one tense or the other accordingly.

LE HANH 2383 In this situation BrE would use "have asked" instead of "asked" as AmE. Right?

You meant to type "has asked", of course. And no, the perfect is not necessary there on either side of the pond. The plain fact is that B asked A for help. You can use "has asked" if you want to emphasize the ongoing nature of the request, and an American would,

LE HANH 2383 BrE will you "have never seen" instead. But it is fine to use simple past "never saw" in AmE. Right?

This is a good example of an occasion where a Brit and a Yank would probably put it differently. I would not say it's fine in American English, but it is frequent in informal American English. Strict grammar still calls for the present perfect even in America.

CalifJim · Answer

You can find a lot of situations in which both the simple past and the present perfect are possible. This is true whether it's British or American English.

The meaning of the tenses does not change on the basis of whether they are spoken by a British or American speaker. The present perfect is used when there is "current relevance", i.e., when the action is relevant to something observable in the present moment; otherwise, the simple past is used. This requires a speaker judgment about whether the situation described has current relevance or not.

Comparing American tendencies to those of the British in choosing the tense when both of these are possible, F. R. Palmer (himself British) writes in The English Verb

There is no reason to suppose that the function of phase is different in American speech, only that the interpretation of relevance is stricter.

(Palmer uses the term 'phase' for the dichotomy between perfect and non-perfect tenses.)

I suppose it's just that Americans don't always perceive the "current relevance" associated with the present perfect in the same situations where the British do. Therefore, they select the tense differently in some cases. If a speaker of British English does not see "current relevance" either, he, too, will select the simple past. You don't have to be American to decide in favor of the simple past tense.

The observation that Americans choose their tenses differently is no more than a statistical summary of speaker judgments. It's not completely reliable in predicting which tense any given speaker will choose in a given situation.

1. The exchange "Did you read ...? — No, I haven't" is anomalous in both varieties of English. It's either "Did you read ...? — No, I didn't" or Have you read ...? — No, I haven't".

2. Both "You changed" and "You've changed" are fine in either variety of English. To my ear, the present perfect suggests a more recent and possibly less permanent change. (Learners sometimes fail to hear the difference between spoken "You" and "You've" in fast speech, so you have to be careful about that.)

3. I don't think the British are more likely to say "has asked" in this situation. Speakers of both varieties of English are more likely to say just "asked".
(Note: Not "B have asked". It's "B has asked".)

4. Where the negation is concerned in this scenario, I doubt that any speaker of either variety of English would say "never saw". In this sentence I think both speakers would say "have never seen".

Note that the phenomenon you are asking about in your post is really a very tiny topic in the world of English. These little statistical differences do not result in any kind of misunderstandings between speakers of different varieties of English.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

LE HANH 2383*Situation3: A: B asked me for help. I think I should do something to help her. C: Really. You are right. B need you help now. Let do something useful to help her. In this situation BrE would use "have asked" instead of "asked" as AmE. Right?

You must have misunderstood something. I'm British and that's not familiar.

American English prefer Simple past tense over Present perfect. Right?

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