Dora says John broke it.

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

A: Dora says John broke it.
B: But I think Dora broke it.
Why does A use "says" instead of "said" since Dora has finished saying that when A talks about it.
If A says :"Dora said John had broken it", is there a difference in any way?

 

[Rover_KE]

What is the source of this dialogue?

 

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

From a pattern practice of the textbook named "Junior New Concept English" by L.G. Alexander & Julia Alexander.

 

[GoesStation]

The present tense implies that Dora has said this and may do so again. We often use it, as I am in the sentence you're reading, when we talk about repeated or habitual actions. If A had used the past simple, it would imply that Dora had made the accusation once and would not do it again.

 

[jutfrank]

I see the sentence Dora says John broke it not as a way of reporting what Dora said in the past, but as a way of reporting what Dora believes to be true now.

The idea is that she has said it at least once, but possibly several times, and that the speaker believes that if you ask her again, she'll still maintain that John Broke it. In fact, you could replace says with maintains for the same basic meaning. (This is essentially just interpretation, however.)

I don't think the examples in post #4 are quite the same.