I haven't come here to hurt you

[EngLearner]

Some bad people are pursuing John. John hides in an abandoned building so they can't find him. Suddenly, Peter enters the room where John is hiding. John says to him: "Who are you?" To which Peter replies with one of the following sentences:

1. Don't worry. I haven't come here to hurt you, I've come to help.

2. Don't worry. I didn't come here to hurt you, I came to help.

Which of the above versions should be used in this case?

 

[jutfrank]

It's not a particularly useful context for working out the use of the present perfect versus the past simple, which is clearly what you're trying to do.

It makes a little more sense that Peter talks about the present reason why he's here, rather than the past action of coming, so a present tense state verb does the job:

Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help.

 

[emsr2d2]

A point of logic - if John is hiding, why on earth would he reveal his whereabouts by saying "Who are you?" There must be plenty of hiding places in an abandoned building. He should remain hidden!

 

[EngLearner]

Of the two versions presented in post #1, which one is more appropriate in the context given?

 

[Piscean]

Neither is particularly appropriate in this artificial situation.

 

[Piscean]

@EngLearner. You have started many threads with two sentences, one using a present perfect and the other using a past simple, and asked such questions as:

Which of the above versions should be used in this case?

Of the two versions presented in post #1, which one is more appropriate in the context given

I wonder which version British English speakers would use in this context.

Would it be correct to say that sentence #1 is possible in the context of post #1, but less natural than sentence #3?

Does it work the same way in British English, or do you find the use of the present perfect "has gone" natural in this context?

Which of the options is correct in the above two scenarios?

Can "I've hung" be used here instead of "I hung"?

Which tense is appropriate in this particular context?

Which of the above versions is correct in the context given? I'm wondering about the tenses in bold.

Have you not got the feel of these two forms?
Have you not yet realised that the appropriate form often depends on how the speaker views the situation at the moment of speaking?

If you keep asking these questions, some members are simply not going to bother to respond. There is a limit to the number of times we can be expected to give similar responses to similar questions.