Present Perfect vs simple past

Question

Hi,I have noticed that in two very similar situations there is a very different utilization of the tenses.Example : an English waiter would ask you "Have you ordered, sir?"  and not "Did you order, sir ?" The present perfect should be used only for actions that started in the past and continue in the present, so technically I would expect to hear "Did you order, sir ?" Just to make things more complicated the same english waiter would use the simple past to ask "What did you order sir ?"I wonder why in the first question we use the present perfect while on the second question the simple past ?Any clue?ThanksAlex

Laborious · Accepted Answer

AnonymousThe present perfect should be used only for actions that started in the past and continue in the present, so technically I would expect to hear "Did you order, sir ?"

The 'present perfect' is used not only for things that started in the past and continue into the present (and probably after the present as well), but it's also used for things that have finished recently / just before the time of speaking, but are still relevant now.

So, if a waiter asks you "Have you ordered, sir /ma'am?', that means the waiter's focus is on the time just before or recentely before the time he asks you "Have you ordered...?" The waiter might be indirectly asking you "If you have (already) ordered, I don't need to / I'm not going to ask you what you would like to take / have".

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousThe present perfect should be used only for actions that started in the past and continue in the present,

That is not always true.

The present perfect is used of situation that started in a time period that extends up to the moment of speaking. The situation itself may have ended before the moment of speaking or end at or after the moment of speaking.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThe present perfect should be used only for actions that started in the past and continue in the present

The word in red is what makes your statement incorrect. It may be the time period itself that started in the past and continued up to the present, and the question is whether a certain act occurred within that time period. You can use the present perfect to ask if an act occurred or did not occur within a time period that extends to the present moment.

In the case at hand, the usage can be better explained as "Did the act of your ordering occur between the time you entered the restaurant with the intent to order and before my asking you this at this moment?" That is, "Have you ordered (yet)?"

..........enter restaurant...........................now
....................................[..........................]
................................................^..............
Can the (expected) act of ordering be found here? (between the brackets)

These kinds of questions are usually asked when the speaker expects the action to happen but doesn't know if it has already happened or it is going to happen in the future.

Similarly,

Have you washed the dishes (yet)?
Has he signed the papers (yet)?
Have they arrived (yet)?

Anonymoussimple past to ask "What did you order sir ?"

This is asking about a detail of an action that occurred in the past. The order already occurred. Maybe the waiter forgot what was ordered. He knows, however, that an order was made at some specific time in the past.

CJ

Present Perfect vs simple past

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions