I dropped vs I have dropped

Question

Hello to everyone who is checking this thread out! I thank you in advance for doing this folks.

I am currently reading Oxford Practice Grammar (intermediate level) and there is an explanation I don't get between past simple and present perfect there.

Here it is:
Present perfect: I've dropped my calculator (it's on the floor now)

Past Simple: I dropped my calculator (but it seems to be OK)

The problem is I don't see the clear difference. Does it necessary mean the calculator is still on the floor at the moment of the speaking? Can't I pick up the calculator and say: "I've (just) dropped the calculator but it seems ok". Doesn't this state agree with the known rule "We also use the Present Perfect Tense to talk about a past action that has the result in the present."?

I mean "but it seems to be ok" is the result in the present. Ain't I right?

Can you explain me where I am wrong?

P.S There are no time indicators in both sentences, I have written it as the book provides!

Please feel free to correct my writing, all your notes would be be a great help!

KJinCali79 · Accepted Answer

To me the difference here is emphasis. Are you emphasizing the past action, or the present result.

"I bought a new car." -- simple past, emphasis on the past action of buying.
"I have bought a new car." -- present perfect, emphasis on on the fact that I have a new car now.

"I have dropped my calculator." -- emphasis on the fact that it is presently on the floor.
"I dropped my calculator." -- emphasis on the past action of dropping it.

If you use "just" it would be best to use the present perfect. Typically, words like "just, already, until now, not yet, so far" signal the use of present perfect; however, there are some differences between American English and British English in this regard.

Anonymous · Answer

Ok, but can I say: "I've dropped my calculator but it seems ok"? The situation takes place in a class for example, and I report about it after dropping

KJinCali79 · Answer

AnonymousOk, but can I say: "I've dropped my calculator but it seems ok"? The situation takes place in a class for example, and I report about it after dropping

I would say, "I dropped..." in this circumstance using the simple past form. As you indicate in your post you're merely reporting about it after the fact, not concerned with its present situation.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThe problem is I don't see the clear difference.

I don't either. These book examples are always short on explanation. And besides that, they expect the non-native to have the same intuitions as a native speaker about the explanatory clauses they add to the original text.

I believe the native speaker divides those events according to the time of their occurrence thus:

1. The calculator drops. (Now it's on the floor.)
2. I pick it up. (Optional but likely step.)
3. I examine it to find out if it's OK. (It may still be on the floor, but I have probably already picked it up.)
4. I determine that it's OK.

If only Event 1 has happened so far, I've dropped my calculator. No other event has intervened between the dropping of the calculator and my remarking on this fact.
If any other event intervenes (Event 2, or 2 and 3, or 2, 3, and 4) I treat Event 1 as "in the past":

I dropped my calculator, but I picked it up.
I dropped my calculator, but I picked it up and examined it for any damage.
I dropped my calculator, but I took a look at it and found that it still works.

Once the speaker conceptualizes an event as "the last event so far" and therefore uses the present perfect (I've dropped my calculator), the speaker is not likely to characterize subsequent events as prior events by using the past (and then I picked it up). This confuses the listener's sense of the time line. 'before' and 'after' can get lost in the grammar. So the following sound wrong:

I've answered the phone, and I had a nice conversation with my sister.
I've dived into the water, and I had a good swim.
Louise has made cookies, and we ate them.

Whenever two or more statements tell a story, no matter how short the story, native speakers tend to use the simple past to relate all the events of the story. The simple past is primarily a narrative tense.
_____________

Your example is very similar even though it involves a state (seems OK), not an event. I've dropped my calculator, but it seems OK. This sentence does not scream "wrong", but there is an implicit intervening action of examining the calculator to find out if it is OK, so I would really prefer not to use the present perfect there. I'd say I dropped my calculator, but it seems OK. This may be a borderline case, though, so I don't think it's the best example to put in a book.

CJ

I dropped vs I have dropped

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