What's the difference between
"I have just started working on something..."
And
"I just started working on something..."
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1The first is typical British usage, the second American. – Kate Bunting Jun 03 '18 at 07:38
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https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/4200/difference-between-ive-added-and-i-added – Nick Jun 03 '18 at 09:00
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1What's the difference between "I just ate" and "I have just eaten"? Same difference. – Hot Licks Jun 03 '18 at 12:25
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Possible duplicate of How do the tenses and aspects in English correspond temporally to one another? – Scott - Слава Україні Aug 06 '18 at 01:16
1 Answers
1
There is a slight technical difference between the two sentences, but they can more or less be used interchangeably. Also, as @KateBunting pointed out, the present perfect form more commonly accompanies 'just' in British English, while the past simple form is more commonly paired with 'just' in American English.
The technical difference is this: In the 2nd sentence (which is in the past simple tense), the focus is on the action of starting. In the 1st sentence, however, the present perfect tense puts the focus not solely on the action, but on the result as well; it suggests that after starting "working on something" in the recent past, you are continuing to "[work] on something" in the present. With the sentence worded in the 1st way, the speaker/writer may be trying to explain why they haven't accomplished much yet, or perhaps they are trying to communicate that they don't want to be interrupted right now.
While this level of complexity is not inherent in the 2nd sentence form, the listener/reader almost certainly infers it, and the speaker/writer likely implies it, which is why the two sentences can be used interchangeably.
