Community Web Version Now Available
Vincenzo
Present perfect or past simple?
When something has just happened, which tense should I use?
I mean if there's NO time marker, just saying something like "I have missed/missed the bus" right a moment after it happened.
I don't want to hear of differences between countries, just standard English.
Oct 11, 2018 7:53 AM
3
0
Answers · 3
Either is acceptable. In a context like this, there isn't any difference in meaning.
The past simple puts the focus on what you just "did", while the present perfect emphasises the result in the present ( that you're standing at a bus stop feeling frustrated). What's the difference? In this case, nothing at all.
Nor do I think there's a regional difference in this case. "Just" is a grey/gray area timewise, and both AmE and BrE speakers use both tenses with it.
October 11, 2018
Ideally Present Perfect should be used. If you can put "up to now" in the sentence then it's Present Perfect.
October 11, 2018
I have just missed the bus ?
October 11, 2018
