Present Perfect or Simple Past?

Question

Hey! I have a question to the native english guys. Provided, that you have just done something, before somebody asks you if you have done this already. What would you answer?

1. I have just done that

2. I just did that

Sorry, but I am a little bit confused...
Is there any major difference? Or can you say both?

Thanks in advance!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Hello, Ano Nym—and welcome to English Forums.

You can start by reading this thread:

Ano Nym · Answer

Thanks. I had read this post before and it's really informative. But I am still not sure what you would say in a dialogue...
I mean: If you say 'I have just done that' you want to show that you have achieved something. But if you have done something at last, isn't it supposed to be written in simple past? Because everyone knows that you have done that like a minute ago.

BTW how about 'repeated events'? Would you either say:
Tim has asked her many times but she won't go out with him.
OR
Tim asked her many times but she won't go out with him.

Mister Micawber · Answer

a. I have just done that.
b. I just did that.
c. Tim has asked her many times but she won't go out with him.
d. Tim asked her many times but she won't go out with him.

All of those sentences are possible and reasonable, and there is no strong reason to choose either verb form in such cases. Present perfect merely relates the action slightly more to the present. In a, it is related to the other person's current inquiry; in c, it is related to the possibility Tim asking again now or in the future. Neither reason is important enough to determine the verb choice, however. The careful explanations of verb form uses are often lost on native speakers, who are liable to say either one here.

Present Perfect or Simple Past?

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