have found it or found it

[bebe heart]

Is it right to say " I have found the movie that your sister suggested , on YouTube." Or
" I found the movie that your sister suggested, on YouTube "
How do I know and be sure which tense to use when I talk about something that has happened a few hours ago or days ago?

 

[MikeNewYork]

If it was a few hours ago, use the present perfect. I would not use a comma after "suggested" in either sentence. If it was a few days ago, the simple past would be fine.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think you could only use the simple past if 'ago' was mentioned, even if it was just a few minutes ago, but I am not a teacher.

 

[konungursvia]

"Have found" is more BrE, "found" is common in AmE, in such a context.

 

[Oll Korrect]

To add to what Konungursvia wrote, I believe that's the only significant grammatical difference between British and American English. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

American's don't apply the British rule about actions in the past, results in the present-- "I found my keys" sounds fine to me as an American. Also, the present perfect sounds more formal and "significant" to us: "I've found it!" sounds like Archimedes speaking.

 

[emsr2d2]

American's don't apply ...

Americans. No apostrophe.

 

[konungursvia]

To add to what Konungursvia wrote, I believe that's the only significant grammatical difference between British and American English. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

American's don't apply the British rule about actions in the past, results in the present-- "I found my keys" sounds fine to me as an American. Also, the present perfect sounds more formal and "significant" to us: "I've found it!" sounds like Archimedes speaking.

Another is the way the Brits use collective nouns with plural verbs. The head office are pleased. The team are in shape. The army are considering new training methods. We only do so with the police I believe, with any frequency. Another is their use of segmentation in colloquial speech (subject appearing twice): He's a good lad, he is. I think there are others.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The subjunctive comes to mind.