Present perfect vs. Past simple

Question

(1) "I have found a five-acre lake which has both deep and shallow water."

(2) "I found a five-acre lake which has both deep and shallow water.

What are the differences?

or:

(3) "I have heard that you can reach many places in the world as passengers on cargo ships. "

(4) "I heard that you can reach many places in the world as passengers on cargo ships."

Differences in those example senteces?

Thank you very much.

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

If you want to indicate something you just discovered (from a point of time in the past up to the present), you should use Present Perfect. Keep in mind, PP tense can also be used in contexts where no time modifier is required. Examples:

I have seen that movie 5 times.

Paul has promised to his wife he never drinks again.

Or, I have discovered this beautiful lake that has both pristine shallow shores for an eveing stroll and deep water for diving on a hot summer afternoon..

Use simple past with past time modifiers. I lost my dog yesterday.

Marold · Answer

Thank you very much.

CalifJim · Answer

(1) "I have found a five-acre lake which has both deep and shallow water."

You're reporting a result. It sounds like you have been looking for lakes for some time with special interest in their sizes and depths. Now you're telling us the result of your search.

(2) "I found a five-acre lake which has both deep and shallow water.

You're telling us a story. Maybe you started by telling us how you went wandering while on vacation in some unfamiliar place. The next thing that happened was that you found this lake. Maybe the next thing you'll tell us is that you accidentally fell in the lake. Or maybe you went swimming in the lake.

(3) "I have heard that you can reach many places in the world as passengers on cargo ships. "

You're recalling some information that you heard or read about some time ago. You are recalling this information because the conversation has turned to ways of traveling to different places in the world. You're reporting the result of this knowledge gained previously because it's relevant to your conversation now.

(4) "I heard that you can reach many places in the world as passengers on cargo ships."

You're relating an incident that occurred. Someone told you some information that you hadn't known before.

_________

Often, especially as in (3) and (4), the difference is not significant.

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CJ

Present perfect vs. Past simple

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