Have you asked him about that? - I have, but he refused(es) to answer.

[Alexey86]

Hello! I've made up the dialog in the title. What tense should I use for "refuse"? On the one hand, I used the Present Perfect twice before "refuse'', and the Present Simple would be in agreement with the present time context. On the other hand, I've come across examples from the news like "The plane has crashed in X, 40 people died." It would be wrong to say "40 people die."

 

[Alexey86]

There's a significant difference between a continuing refusal to answer and a one-off event of dying,

Would "refused" be correct if the refusal were a one-off event?

 

[Alexey86]

Would "has refused" be also possible? It sounds wrong to me, but I can't explain that from the grammatical point of view.

 

[Alexey86]

Which option is more preferable/natural ("refused"/"has refused") in the following variants:

- Have you asked him about that?
- I have, but he refused/has refused to answer.

- Have you asked him about that?
- He refused/has refused to answer. (the "I have" part is implied)

 

[Tdol]

I would be more likely to use the present perfect if I thought he might change his answer.