We have heard (or heard) that you have rooms to let.

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Do American English speakers use the simple past more often than BrE speakers?
I copy my questions into my notes and one of the thread left me wondering. The thread in which I should have used the present perfect instead of the past simple. "I have copied my notes". "I have read that..." I used the simple past according to the rule I have learnt "The difference between the present perfect and the simple past is not always very clear-cut. It often depends on our 'focus': are we thinking mostly about the present relevance of a past event, or about the past details? In some cases both present perfect and past are possible with little difference of meaning." From Swan.
We have heard (or heard) that you have rooms to let.
Has Mark phoned? Did Mark phone?
I've given or I gave your old radio to Philip.

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, I believe so.

"Where are the keys?"

"I gave them to John"


If this happened recently, we could say "I've given them," but we probably wouldn't.

 

[Yankee]

Great thread, Rachael. I never really considered whether I would use past or past perfect prior to uttering a statement. I like Swan's explanation. As an AmE speaker I think I would usually tend to use simple past, but of course, context rules.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

You're right, it's a fuzzy line. I don't know whether Americans and Brits use them differently.

In general, I like simple past if it happened just once and present perfect if it has happened more than once.

- I ate pizza yesterday. / I have eaten pizza in ten countries.

- She starred in Star Trek. / She has starred in several great movies.​

There's another difference. If I say, "He gave me the key," it simply states that something happened. But if I say "He has given me the key," it might mean either:

- I have it now: He has given me the key. Would you like to go in and explore?

- He has given it to me more than once: He has given me the key whenever I asked for it. Shall I get it from him now?
​

Again, these are tendencies, not rules.