By British English, Simple past

Thank you Yankee for your detailed answer, but I'm still hopelessly confused about when to use the present perfect and when to use the simple past. You brought up an interesting point about the differences between American English and British English. I wonder if a Brit would find it more natural...

Hi, welcome to Englishforums. You can also use the search function to search the forum for interesting threads (there's a search button in the top right corner of every page). I would use "did", not "have". The simple past focus on something that happened and keeps that action...

Yoong Liat wrote:Please note that Michael Swan and other grammarians state what I posted earlier. When you mentioned "grammarians" and "prescribe" earlier in this thread, I thought you needed a prescriptive answer, so I said maybe the past perfect is the preferred "prescriptive" verb to choose....

In American English, got is the simple past tense form of the verb get and gotten is the past participle. I believe got is used for both in British English.You're right. In BrE, it is get got got

In American English, got is the simple past tense form of the verb get and gotten is the past participle. I believe got is used for both in British English.

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I agree with Amy's comments. True, the conceptual time-wall seems absent in some uses of the simple past. But I claim it's always there somewhere, lurking in the back of our minds. her better than me. I have no idea if these usages occur in British English, but I suspect that they...

EyeSeeYou wrote:Nice explanation, Mr.P. Related to this topic, it always bugs me to come across phrases such as the following where Present Perfect should be chosen instead of Simple Past- Is there any explanation about it?: I just opened the door. I just looked at it. I just bought it.My...

>I think your teacher was wrong, Magda.>"I have seen him last week" is incorrect. >No, this sentence is permissible, and sounds fine to my BrE ears, particularly where the emphasis is on the have and it implies some contradiction. >Example: >"You need to go and see the...

Dear teachers, Is it possible to say "to move house" in British English? And is it possible to use either the simple past or the present perfect in the first two sentences? Best wishes