[General] Has the professor forwarded you the recent notes?

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jackson6612

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Hi,

Do the following sentences mean the same? Could you please help me?

1: Has the professor forwarded you the recent notes?
2: Did the professor send you the recent notes?
 

emsr2d2

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You have confused the issue by changing the verb from "forward" to "send". That automatically changes the meaning. I suspect that you are actually trying to find the answer to whether "Has the professor ..." (present perfect) and "Did the professor ..." (simple past) elicit the same meaning.
 

jackson6612

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You have confused the issue by changing the verb from "forward" to "send". That automatically changes the meaning. I suspect that you are actually trying to find the answer to whether "Has the professor ..." (present perfect) and "Did the professor ..." (simple past) elicit the same meaning.

Yes, I did mean to write the following.

1: Has the professor sent you the recent notes?
2: Did the professor send you the recent notes?
 

GoesStation

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Yes, I did mean to write the following.

1: Has the professor sent you the recent notes?
2: Did the professor send you the recent notes?
Notes can't be "recent", but the event they're about can be. Care to try again?
 

jackson6612

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Notes can't be "recent", but the event they're about can be. Care to try again?

1: Has the professor sent you the recent lecture's notes?
2: Did the professor send you the recent lecture's notes?

Do they convey the same meaning?
 

GoesStation

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1: Has the professor sent you the recent lecture's notes?
2: Did the professor send you the recent lecture's notes?

Do they convey the same meaning?
Try this: Has Professor Terwilliger sent you the notes for her recent lecture?
 

jackson6612

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Thank you!

Do they convey the same meaning?

1: Has Professor Terwilliger sent you the notes for her recent lecture?
2: Did Professor Terwilliger send you the notes for her recent lecture?
 
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Tarheel

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It's the same thing. Either way the person is asking for the same information.
 

jutfrank

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The difference between them is the aspect, so I'd say they do differ in meaning (or focus) and use.

The use of the present tense in 1 is a way for the speaker to ask whether the listener is currently in possession of the notes. It's very similar to asking Do you have the notes? The present tense is used because the focus is on the present situation.

Since 2 is in the past tense, the focus is on the past action of sending, not the present state of possession. One could imagine several reasons that a speaker might choose to focus on the past. It could be used by the speaker as a way to raise the possibility that the listener is not currently in possession of the notes, for example. Perhaps the listener has since passed the notes on. Or perhaps there is some kind of doubt about the professor's behaviour or intentions or ability or whereabouts. I should stress that we shouldn't say that sentence 2 means any of this, but rather that it could be used to mean any of this.
 
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