Mixing the present perfect and the past simple
I've been told it's wrong to mix these two tenses, but I often just find that they sound perfectly fine. I have no idea if my intuition is wrong or not.
For example:
A: Have you interviewed the suspects?
B: Yes.
A: And what did they say? (Saying "what have they said" honestly sounds rather stilted and awkward to me.)
A: My computer isn't working
B: Really?
A: Yes. I've tried to reinstall the operating system multiple times, but it didn't/hasn't worked. (In this case, both sound fine to me, but I can't decide which one to use and I don't understand the difference).
I would be delighted if somebody could clear this up for me. Thank you kindly.
Top answer
Necrophagist I've been told it's wrong to mix these two tenses I wonder who said that, and why. It happens all the time. They took my repayment check and have put a freeze on my application.
- Necrophagist I've been told it's wrong to mix these two tenses I wonder who said that, and why.
- It happens all the time.
- They took my repayment check and have put a freeze on my application.
- I drank it with the milk, just as I have done on several occasions before.
- Stock went up when its price was cut, and it has gone down since its price has been raised.
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NecrophagistI've been told it's wrong to mix these two tenses
I wonder who said that, and why. It happens all the time.
They took my repayment check and have put a freeze on my application.
I drank it with the milk, just as I have done on several occasions before.
Stock went up when its pri
0NecrophagistA: Have you interviewed the suspects?
B: Yes.
A: And what did they say?
A starts with a request for an update. The present perfect can be thought of as "an update tense".
A ends with a request for information about specific statements that were made. The simple past is well suited to that kind of question.
0
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