He has left vs. He left.

[Boris Tatarenko]

Hello.

I do not have problems with English tenses, but I had a mistake (English Grammar in Use) and I want to understand it.

A: Is David still here?
B: No, I'm afraid he isn't. He ____ about ten minutes ago.

I wrote "has left", because it's a fact than he's not there. If I said "he left" it meant that he left, but he could return.

I would use past simple in this case:

A: Is David still here?
B: I don't know exactly. He left about ten minutes ago (But he was able to return).

Am I right? Can I use present perfect?

If I am not right. Please correct my mistakes and don't give me links with English tenses. :-D

Boris.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello.

I do not have problems with English tenses, but I had a mistake (English Grammar in Use) and I want to understand it.

A: Is David still here?
B: No, I'm afraid he isn't. He ____ about ten minutes ago.

I wrote "has left", because it's a fact than he's not there. If I said "he left" it meant that he left, but he could return.

I would use past simple in this case:

A: Is David still here?
B: I don't know exactly. He left about ten minutes ago (But he was able to return).

Am I right? Can I use present perfect?

If I am not right. Please correct my mistakes and don't give me links with English tenses. :-D

Boris.

You have me a bit confused. In both of your examples, you have the same second sentence in the B parts. I don't know why you would use the present perfect in the first and the simple past in the second. The issue is not whether David could return; he could return in either case. The issue is the specific time reference (about 10 minutes ago). With a specific time reference, we use the simple past.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

I suppose I didn't understand a rule correct.
Thanks for help.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I suppose I didn't understand a rule correct.
Thanks for help.

I know you specifically asked that web sites with rules not be sent to you, but perhaps you have changed your mind.

Read this one: ENGLISH PAGE - Present Perfect

 

[Raymott]

I do not have problems with English tenses, but I[STRIKE] had[/STRIKE] made a mistake (English Grammar in Use) and I want to understand it.

A: Is David still here?
B: No, I'm afraid he isn't. He ____ about ten minutes ago.

I wrote "has left", because it's a fact than he's not there. If I said "he left" it meant that he left, but he could return.

You're using the present perfect tense with a definite past time. You do have at least that problem with tenses. Of course, that's nothing to be ashamed about; you're here to learn. But making a claim such as this can be confusing.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

Mike, thanks for your link. It's really helpful.

I just forgot that I cannot use the present perfect tense with a difinite past time. It was a huge mistake. :-D

 

[Barb_D]

Hardly huge.