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Pavel Tarouts Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Why present perfect and why past simple

I've got two samples from my grammar exercises book. The situations in both seem similar to me but the grammar is different. What's the difference?

First (Present Perfect)

‘Mr Jones has been arrested by the police.’
‘My goodness. You don’t say. What has he done?’

Second (Past Simple)

“I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said. “He’s in St Joseph’s Hospital.” Her father turned from the TV. “What happened to him?”
  

Top answer

"“I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said. ” Her father turned from the TV. " I can't find any relation between “I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said.

— Anonymous

  • "“I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said.
  • ” Her father turned from the TV.
  • " I can't find any relation between “I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said.
  • ” and "Her father turned from the TV.
  • ""?
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3 Answers
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"“I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said. “He’s in St Joseph’s Hospital.” Her father turned from the TV. “What happened to him?"

I can't find any relation between “I’m going to see Mr Warren,” she said. “He’s in St Joseph’s Hospital.” and "Her father turned from the TV. “What happened to him?""? (But I'm a non-native, so it may be some sense in it not understood by me.)
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Hi

The first one suggests that there is a single event that happened quite quickly:

- What has he done?
- He punched Mr Smith

The second suggests that there is a longer story that needs explaining:

- What happened to him?
- He went to the shops and he had to stand in the queue for twenty minutes. He started to feel faint and then he collapsed. Luckily,
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