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There are situations about repeated actions until the present without specific time.

Here are some examples:

  1. I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life.
  1. [Context] My friend planned to visit my country for a week. He has been staying in my country for three days now and I want to know which places he visited / has visited, so that I can recommend him other places to visit. Which question would be correct? I don't know which tense would be correct to use.

Where did you visit? / Where did you visit in the last few days? Where have you visited?/ Where have you visited since you came here?

  • I visited X, Y, Z. / I have visited X, Y,Z.
  1. Every time I planted/'ve planted roses in the garden, they died/'ve died. I may try planting some geraniums instead.

In the US, is it still possible to use the simple past in (1), (2), and (3) with the same meaning as the present perfect?

LE HANH
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    In colloquial BrEng we do use the simple past tense in this way but, I think, only because we have picked up an American habit. In more formal contexts we would use the simple past only with specific instances, for instance "I lost the key yesterday" or "I lost the key because I had a hole in my pocket". To say that we had lost the key in general terms we would normally say "I have lost the key". The same thing applies to other verbs as in "I visited Paris last year" as opposed to "I have visited Paris" – BoldBen May 01 '23 at 07:44
  • Thank you @BoldBen, if so, in informal conversations in daily life, We can use the simple past for all the examples from (1) to (5) in my first post without specific time (like: yesterday, last week....) – LE HANH May 01 '23 at 07:55
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    In the US, one would say my key, although there are situations with a shared key where it would make sense -- but not this situation. If the speaker and addressee shared a key and it's been lost, both of them need to find a place to stay. – John Lawler May 01 '23 at 14:04
  • In my first post, I have 2 questions, could you please help me answer it? – LE HANH May 01 '23 at 15:05
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    There are too many other mistakes in the example sentences to comment on tense usage, which is not an important factor in English. Most English speakers don't care or can't tell the difference anyway because it's always contracted. If you want to know the details about the English present perfect construction, here they are. – John Lawler May 01 '23 at 19:27
  • @JohnLawler English speakers don't care or can't tell the difference anyway because it's always contracted=> But in the situation (2), the words aren't contracted "Where did you.." vs "Where have you ...?" – LE HANH May 01 '23 at 22:39
  • They may not be contracted in printing, but that's artificial. All speech is contracted unless it's a recitation or reading aloud. There is a vast difference between real English and writing. Where did you visit? comes out /werʤəvɪzət/ and _where have you visited is /wervyəvɪzəɾəd/. And consonant clusters are frequently further deleted. – John Lawler May 01 '23 at 22:49
  • If so, in daily speeds, informal conversations, the simple past can be used for my examples (1) (2) and (3). But in writing, it is wrong to use the simple past in these examples. Am I right? – LE HANH May 01 '23 at 22:56
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    These are all fine. They mean the same thing but the sense is subtly different. The present perfect refers the past as of now: I have visited Paris twice [so far]. The past simple refers to before now: I visited Paris twice [before]. – Tinfoil Hat May 02 '23 at 13:56
  • Do US speakers often use the simple past in the examples (1)(2) and (3) in my first post? @TinfoilHat .Some US native speakers tell me that the simple past in (2) sounds off/wrong. But some US native speakers accept to use the simple past in (2). So, I am a little confused. – LE HANH May 02 '23 at 14:24
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    @LE HANH: In the U.S., we don't all speak the same. There are different regions, and different levels of education, and these influence our grammar. If you want to be sure that people will consider your English correct, use the present perfect in (2). – Peter Shor May 03 '23 at 16:14
  • @PeterShor , how about (1) and (3). Does the simple past sound wrong/off? – LE HANH May 03 '23 at 16:42
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    The simple past sounds fine in (1). For (3), I think you should use the present perfect if you're planning on planting roses again, but the simple past is fine if you're not. But not all Americans may agree with me (we don't all speak the same). – Peter Shor May 03 '23 at 17:15
  • @PeterShor you said that for (3) if I am planning on not planting rose again, I can use the simple past, if so does it have to be that I don't have plan to visiting Thailand in the future to use the simple past in (1)? – LE HANH May 04 '23 at 02:10
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    It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but if you're planning on doing something again, it makes the present perfect more likely. – Peter Shor May 04 '23 at 02:15
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    Sorry but the simple past is never the present perfect. The emphasis is not the same as regards the relationship of the speaker to the present time. All those sentences can take either one. [so I can recommend to him other places to visit]. And the US English idea here is a red herring. Sorry. Often, we move from the present prefect to the simple past: Have you been to Paris? Oh yes, I have. Really? When did you go there? I went there last year. – Lambie May 04 '23 at 23:03
  • @Lambie Tks for your answer. I have several opinions (1) "All those sentences can take either one".=> Does this mean that I can use either simple past or present perfect in all my examples in my first post? (2)" And the US English idea here is a red herring. Sorry. "=> Because there are situations, US speakers often refer the simple past (bought) as correct usage to focus on the past action, but other English-speaking speakers (such as BrE) only accept the present perfect (have bought) to focus on the present... – LE HANH May 05 '23 at 02:25
  • ... as in this example: "I bought / have bought a new car. Would you like to try driving?" This makes me think if I can use the same logic for repeated actions until the present. For example: I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life. The simple past focuses on the past actions, the present perfect focuses on the present. – LE HANH May 05 '23 at 02:25
  • In the buying a new car example. We are talking about the present result of a past action (now I have a new car) and want to invite a friend to drive, we can use the simple past. So, in the visiting Thailand example, we are also talking about the present result (now, the number of visiting Thailand is 2), and want to give advice to a friend. Similarly, Can we use the simple past here? – LE HANH May 05 '23 at 02:39
  • Yes, you can use either one. It depends on what you want to say. The present perfect just signals a past time. The simple past signals a thing that is over in terms of the present. Repeated action is not relevant really to either one. It's the emphasis: Have you been to Paris? Yes, Really? When did you go to Paris? Last year. //Did you go to Paris? Yes. When? I went last year. – Lambie May 05 '23 at 14:23
  • @Lambie, If so, in the US " Have you been to Paris?"= "Did you go to Paris?" The difference is the emphasis as you said. Does these 2 questions refer to the period of time from you were born until now? – LE HANH May 06 '23 at 03:10
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    @LEHANH Your comment under my answer shows you have understood this. – Lambie May 06 '23 at 13:50
  • Why are you now cross posting this to ELL? Cross posting is not allowed even if you change the sentences. It is essentially the same question. – Lambie May 09 '23 at 12:35

1 Answers1

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It all depends on what you want to say:

  1. In your context, "I have visited Paris" just means you are telling us this occurred in the past but when that happened does not matter in the conversation or what you are trying to convey. It merely signals past, at the time you are speaking in the present.

  2. The minute you want to be specific by either explicitly informing us of when you actually bought it or even if you don't specifically state it, you use the simple past. I visited Paris last year. Or just: Yes, I visited Paris.

Both are correct. However, both do not have the same relationship to the time of speaking.

If you say: I visited Paris and I loved it. visited (simple past) implies a specific moment in time even if you do not state it: yesterday, last week, two days ago. That is why sometimes people call it a finished action. It really should be called an action that occurs at a specific moment in time.

have visited just means in the past and when exactly is not relevant to the present time in which I am speaking. This meaning conveyed by ELLers is sometimes quite hard to grasp unless you speak Spanish, for instance.

The present perfect is not about repeated action per se. It's about not being specific about a moment in the past.

Please note: A simple past does not have the emphasis as the present perfect in British or American English.

Lambie
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  • Quote:"If you say: I visited Paris and I loved it. visited (simple past) implies a specific moment in time even if you do not state it: yesterday, last week, two days ago. " =>So, let me apply this explanation to my example: "I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life." I can use the simple past when I think of my 2 visiting at 2 specific times (although I don't mention it in my sentence).I can use the present perfect if I think of them as actions in the past and the time of happening is not in my thought when I speak. – LE HANH May 06 '23 at 03:57
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    @LEHANH You got it. :) – Lambie May 06 '23 at 13:48
  • "I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life." Even either tense is good to use, as I observed through movies, it seems that natives prefers using present perfect in this case. Am I right? – LE HANH May 06 '23 at 14:09
  • @LEHANH No, that is NOT right. It depends on what YOU want to say. You keep making me repeat myself. It's not fair. :) – Lambie May 06 '23 at 16:37
  • "I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life." => In this context, The simple past is acceptable in the US, but I think that in the UK, the simple past is considered wrong in this context. Is it right? – LE HANH May 06 '23 at 16:40
  • @LEHANH No, wrong. Completely wrong. – Lambie May 06 '23 at 19:55
  • How about other two contexts in my first post? Does the same logic apply and either tense can be used? – LE HANH May 06 '23 at 22:36
  • @LEHANH Again, please stop saying the same thing over and over. I have been more than generous and patient and am now fed up. – Lambie May 07 '23 at 13:52
  • sorry for the annoyance. I didn't mean to make you fed up. As I see, I and you was only discussing about my 1st context (visiting Thailand). In my first post, I have 3 examples with 3 different contexts. I only want to know if the way you explain for my 1st context can be applied for my 2nd and 3rd context in my first post or not. – LE HANH May 07 '23 at 13:56
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    @LEHANH My answer addresses the difference between the two. That difference will exist in any context where one or the other can be used. [You and I were only discussing] – Lambie May 07 '23 at 14:00
  • Thank you so much @Lambie – LE HANH May 07 '23 at 14:07