AmE_ The use of the simple past and the present perfect in the US for repeated actions until the present without specific time

[LE AVOCADO]

Hi teachers,
I have asked about this matter on different English forums, but I haven't got a certain answer. So, I hope that I would like to get helped from teachers here.

There are situations about repeated actions until the present without specific time. When it comes to this kind of situation, I don't know which tense I can use.

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.

2. [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.

3. Every time I planted/'ve planted roses in the garden, they died/'ve died. I may try planting some geraniums instead.


Some US native peoples tell me that I can use the simple past in all of my examples, but some don't agree to use the simple past. This makes me confused.

In this post, an American member helped me a lot. He tells me that I can use either tense. The difference is so subtle, so I don't need to worry about which tense to use:
tense/ repeated actions

But, in this forum, natives don't agree to use the simple past in (2)
tense / repeated actions 2

As I can see, the opinions about the tense differs from different US speakers.

I would like to ask :

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

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi, teachers.
I have asked about this matter on different English forums no comma here but I haven't got a certain definitive answer. So, I hope that I would like to get helped help from teachers the members here.

There are I have a problem with situations about repeated actions until up to the present without a specific time. When it comes to this kind of situation, I don't know which tense I can to use.

Here are some examples:

1. I visited/have visited Paris two times twice. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life.

Your post is far too long. I have greyed out everything except question 1. One thing at a time, please!

In sentence 1, you need the present perfect. That is for situations that have been completed (your two trips to Paris are over) and you're expressing what has happened up to the point of speaking. It allows for the possibility that you will go to Paris again.

If you had added a timeframe, such as a year, you would use the past simple: I visited Paris twice in 2019. Both the visits and the year are over. There is no possibility of you visiting again in 2019.

 

[LE AVOCADO]

Hi emsr2d2,
Thank you for your reply.

I know that British people definitely use the present perfect. But I would like to ask if American speakers use the simple past in this context:

1. I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life.

In this link, natives tell me that I can use the simple past, but I would like to know how often US speakers use the simple past. Does the simple past sound off/wrong in this sentence?

AmE_ Repeated actions until the present_ simple past or present perfect

*Situation 1: The action of fixing has happened 10 times until the present. I can use either tense : a. I tried to fix it 10 times. But it is still not working. Could you help me fix it? => I am

ell.stackexchange.com

Here is the answer of a native on that link:

 

[jutfrank]

Don't worry about what some Americans think. Just use present perfect.

 

[LE AVOCADO]

Don't worry about what some Americans think. Just use present perfect.

Thank you for your reply.
Because I am learning American English, so I would like to know how tenses are used in the US.

 

[White Hat]

1. I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life.

I'm convinced that all native speakers of American English would use the Present Perfect tense here. There are certain contexts in which this tense must be used regardless of whether it's BE or AE. In this particular case, the speaker shares with us the number of their visits to that city as at the moment of speaking. It's like saying 'I have two visits to Paris under my belt at present'.

 

[LE AVOCADO]

In this link, I posted the same question, natives say that simple past is still fine to use. This makes me confused:

AmE_ Repeated actions until the present_ simple past or present perfect

*Situation 1: The action of fixing has happened 10 times until the present. I can use either tense : a. I tried to fix it 10 times. But it is still not working. Could you help me fix it? => I am

ell.stackexchange.com

 

[emsr2d2]

I have to disagree with FumbleFingers (Apr 17 at 3.24) that "I visited Thailand twice" works as a standalone sentence as a statement of fact. It would be connected to something else. For example:

Helen: While you lived in Vietnam, did you visit Thailand?
Sarah: Yes. I visited Thailand twice.

That works because there is an unspoken "while I lived in Vietnam" at the end of the response.

 

[LE AVOCADO]

I have to disagree with FumbleFingers (Apr 17 at 3.24) that "I visited Thailand twice" works as a standalone sentence as a statement of fact. It would be connected to something else. For example:

FumbleFingers (Apr 17 at 3.24) was commenting on my question about this sentence, not a standalone sentence.
1. I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life.

Do you think that this is the difference between BrE and AmE?

 

[emsr2d2]

No, I think FumbleFingers is wrong! Without a timeframe, the past simple just doesn't work.

 

[jutfrank]

Am I looking at the same comment as everyone else? FumbleFingers says this:

I visited Thailand twice. The difference in meaning is that Simple Past focuses on the action in the past (that's what I did), whereas Present Perfect draws more attention to the effect of past action on the present (I am a person who has done that).

– FumbleFingers
Apr 17 at 3:24

It seems clear that he/she is saying that the present perfect and past simple forms have a different meaning. They are not saying that the past simple is an acceptable alternative to the present perfect.

 

[LE AVOCADO]

But in another comment in that link, a native said:

 

[jutfrank]

But in another comment in that link, a native said:

That person, like everyone else, is saying that they'd use present perfect, since there's a clear connection to the present. I don't see what the problem is.

Don't worry about non-standard dialect forms.

 

[White Hat]

That person, like everyone else, is saying that they'd use present perfect, since there's a clear connection to the present. I don't see what the problem is.

Don't worry about non-standard dialect forms.

So would some native speakers of English use the Past Simple tense in this kind of context or not? Please tell us.

 

[jutfrank]

So would some native speakers of English use the Past Simple tense in this kind of context or not? Please tell us.

Yes, some native speakers of American English would use a past simple form where to the rest of us only a present perfect form is acceptable.

 

[emsr2d2]

A good example of where AmE speakers sometimes use the past simple where BrE speakers would use only the present perfect is this:

AmE: This is the first time I ever ate roasted cauliflower.
BrE: This is the first time I have ever eaten roasted cauliflower.