took & has taken

[*^^*]

What's the difference between these two sentence:

"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who took it?"
"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who has taken it?"

 

[*^^*]

What's the difference between these two sentence:

"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who took it?"
"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who has taken it?"

 

[5jj]

What's the difference between these two sentence:

"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who took it?"
"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who has taken it?"

In practical terms, very little.

 

[Tdol]

I'd use the second if I thought the person was still in the room.

 

[TheParser]

What's the difference between these two sentence:

"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who took it?"
"I left my pen on the desk and now it's gone; who has taken it?"

*** NOT A TEACHER ***


(1) "We usually prefer a simple past tense when we identify the person

... responsible for a present situation (because we are focusing on the past

cause, not the present result)."

-- Source: Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage (1995). Entry #419 on page 422.

(2) Therefore, I most respectfully "vote" for "took" in your sentence.