Suppose a child is accused of misbehaviour and the parent wants to know what the child has done. Would it be okay to ask the child: "what have you done?" or should they say "what did you do?". Is there a difference in nuance? Does "what have you done?" sound more accusatory?
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4Does this answer your question? Difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple ( I am not a beginner ) Also “Have you seen her?” or “Did you see her?” and “Have you done a poo?” vs. “Did you poo?”, among others – FumbleFingers Jun 20 '21 at 16:25
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1The only reason you think *What have you done?* sounds more "accusatory" is because the *Present Perfect* form implies a strong connection to time of utterance. And very often the reason for asking such a question in the first place is because *something is obviously wrong* about the current situation (so speaker is asking for an explanation from whoever seems likely to have caused the problem). But since the same words are often used in non-accusatory contexts (again, where knowing about a past action is relevant to the present) it doesn't really have negative connotations. – FumbleFingers Jun 20 '21 at 16:35
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What have you done?
does sound as an accusation in this situation. However, I don't think what did you do? is particularly better. If you want to avoid anguishing the child, you could say:
(Can you tell me) what happened?
or, showing more concern
(Can you tell me) what happened to you?
fev
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