You've done it or you did it

Question

Andy Murray has just won Wimbledon and on one of the buildings in Edinburgh there was an illumination saying YOU DID IT, ANDY. If he has won Wimbledon once, he can do it again and if it isn't said when he did it, why couldn't it read: "YOU'VE DONE IT, ANDY!" ? Is it just an influnce of American English, where they use a past tense for recent situations insted of the present perfect tense?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

AnonymousYOU DID IT, ANDY

This is a very common expression to congratulate someone on a big victory. We did it! You did it! (etc.)

Adrian71 · Answer

Thank you Alphecca for you swift response!

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymouswhy couldn't it read: "YOU'VE DONE IT, ANDY!"

It could. Who said it couldn't?

The writer had the choice, and he made his choice. (It's not an Americanism, by the way.)

If we speculate on why the writer made that choice, we have to get into the use of the two tenses. The simple past is the tense of accomplishments and events that we wish to isolate and individuate. It is the tense of narration. We tell a story with this tense. The present perfect is the tense of a resume, the tense of recollected experiences, the tense that updates us about how things stand now.

This illumination is calling attention to an isolated accomplishment, remarking on the story of Andy's win, not saying that Andy's win is part of his resume or saying that, as it stands now, Andy is a Wimbledon winner. Making it a story makes it more exciting than making it just another experience that Andy has had.

It is most likely for these reasons that the writer chose the simple past tense.

CJ

Adrian71 · Answer

That was a most exhaustive answer. Thank you!

You've done it or you did it

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