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Ac2000 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Present perfect or simple past?

Hello,

given this sentence without any further context, which would be the better tense to use?

How many people have come to your birthday party?

How many people came to your birthday party?

Regards,

Anna
  

Top answer

Without any context it's a tossup. The first one suggests that the party is still going on. Perhaps this is a phone call.

— Avangi

  • Without any context it's a tossup.
  • The first one suggests that the party is still going on.
  • Perhaps this is a phone call.
  • The second one suggests that the party's over.
  • Perhaps it was even a week ago.
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4 Answers
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Without any context it's a tossup.

The first one suggests that the party is still going on. Perhaps this is a phone call.

The second one suggests that the party's over. Perhaps it was even a week ago.

(Or, if it's a phone call, the party may still be in progress.)
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The present perfect version needs a little rewording to make it more semantically correct.

How many people [ do you think] have come to your birthday party [tonight] ?

His birthday party starts at 5pm and you asked the host this question at 9 in the evening.

How many people came to your birthday pa
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Given this sentence without any further context, which would be the better tense to use?

In my opinion, without any context, not only this sentence, but all sentences, are better in the simple past.
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Dear all,

thanks a lot for all your great answers. I didn't expect the present perfect meant that the party is still going on in this case. I've learned something new again thanks to this great forum.

Best wishes

Anna
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