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I learned that we should use present perfect while talking about things which happened in the past, but which still hold. However, it sounds weird when I think about using "I have lost my bag" when I tell a police officer about the missing bag. I feel "I lost my bag" is more appropriate.

I feel that using present perfect gives an impression that I have come to terms with the loss. Can someone enlighten me on this?

Peter Mortensen
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Vini
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    "I feel that using present perfect gives an impression that I have come to terms with the loss." As an American, quite the opposite; it might be very different in UK English. – RonJohn Aug 13 '21 at 02:31

4 Answers4

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Either one is acceptable. From the questions on this site, I have the impression that a lot of ELL students think that for any given situation, there is only one appropriate English tense. This isn't even close to being true.

The present perfect,

I have lost my bag,

does not give an impression that you have come to terms with the loss.

If you have just discovered your loss, you are probably more likely to use the present perfect (and if you've just discovered it, you haven't had any time to come to terms with it).

If you are talking about a specific past time frame, you would use the simple past. For example, you might say:

I lost my bag in the train station this morning.

But much of the time, either the simple past or the present perfect would be appropriate in this situation.

Peter Shor
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    Totally agreed about ELL peeps' perspective. Some of that is driven by a mathematical approach to language (only one solution for "x") which never ends well. I remember a Q where the non-native was arguing with 4 native speakers that she was right. – FeliniusRex - gone Aug 12 '21 at 14:40
  • Thank you @Peter Shor. I wanted to confirm if both are acceptable sentences. I got my answer. I had this false impression because in my native language(a Dravidian languaege), it has that sort of interpretation. Thanks for all the replies :) – Vini Aug 12 '21 at 16:05
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    Yes, I have also noticed that many ELL answers try to explain extremely subtle differences in cases where I hadn't really thought there was any difference at all! And I don't comment on those, because perhaps there are unconscious preferences I'm just ignorant of - in German they call those Sprachgefühl, "language feeling". – user253751 Aug 13 '21 at 09:36
  • Just now I tried to write a meta question about that, but I am bad at writing meta questions. Perhaps someone else will decide to. – user253751 Aug 13 '21 at 13:43
  • Of course, either one is acceptable. However, they are not used interchangeably. And that's the hard part. We have tons of explanations on this ELL site about the pragmatics of this. – Lambie Aug 13 '21 at 15:07
  • @Lambie: I'll agree they aren't *always* interchangeable. But I would bet that at least 50% of the time, it doesn't matter which one you use, and they have nearly exactly the same meaning. If you don't like my answer, go ahead and write an answer explaining why I'm wrong. – Peter Shor Aug 13 '21 at 15:09
  • Not at all. It is not wrong. It just doesn't go into the difference between "I have lost my cars keys last week" [buzzer] versus "I lost my car keys last week". Beyond that type of purely grammar thing, what is most difficult for people to get is: It depends on what they want to say. – Lambie Aug 13 '21 at 15:16
  • @Lambie: from my answer: "if you are talking about a specific past time frame, you would use the simple past." So the answer fairly clearly implies "I have lost my car keys last week" is wrong. – Peter Shor Aug 13 '21 at 15:18
  • Yes, you and I know that but a learner would not without guidance. Also, there's stuff like: "I've lost my car keys twice this morning." When the time frame is not yet up (morning). – Lambie Aug 13 '21 at 15:23
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Extending on the answer, that either form is acceptable...

I feel that using present perfect gives an impression that I have come to terms with the loss

Neither (acceptable) form implies that you have come to terms with the loss.

I hope you find your bag!

Peter Mortensen
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cellepo
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“I have lost my bag.”, informs the hearer about your present state, informed by a past event. That is what you want to say to the police — I am here because I am {in the state of} {having lost my bag}. You want the police to do {the thing that they do for people who have lost something}.

If you say to a police-person in the street, “I lost my bag.”, then they have to work out whether you want them to look for it nearby, or write up a report. That is why you do not say to the police-person, at the police station, “I lost my bag.”; it is not exactly the right expression, because it is about the past event, not the present state.

Carsogrin
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  • The gender neutral term is “police officer” not “police-person”. Similarly it is “mail carrier”, not “mail-person”, and senator or representative instead of “congress-person”. – ColleenV Aug 13 '21 at 12:08
  • @ColleenV Congressperson (without "-") is a thing (but usually only referring to a Representative in US context). – xngtng Aug 13 '21 at 13:19
  • @xngtng If you're referring to a specific representative or senator, you should refer to them by their title, not as "Congressperson". Yes, "congressperson" is something some people use, but it's an indicator of poor writing in my opinion. You shouldn't tell people to "contact their congressperson". In the US we have a representative and an senator representing us, not "a congressperson". If you're referring to someone who is either a representative or senator, that's a "member of Congress". – ColleenV Aug 13 '21 at 13:42
  • @ColleenV https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/congressperson https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/congressperson https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/congressperson Maybe you should tell some of these people that they're wrong? – user3067860 Aug 13 '21 at 16:26
  • @user3067860 They aren't wrong, they just write poorly. – ColleenV Aug 13 '21 at 16:27
  • @ColleenV Oh, maybe you should tell the editors for Merriam Webster Dictionary, Collins Dictionary, and Macmillan Dictionary that instead. (And other dictionaries, as well, I just grabbed a few from the top of the list.) – user3067860 Aug 13 '21 at 16:30
  • @user3067860 You can no write good even that you use only words with meanings in a dictionary. – ColleenV Aug 13 '21 at 16:38
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'I've lost my bag' sounds a lot more natural than 'I lost my bag' as an introduction to the topic.

If there is more definition of the circumstances, the past simple becomes the natural choice: 'I lost my bag when we were driving round the Ring of Kerry today, but I don't know exactly where.'

Edwin Ashworth
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    "sounds a lot more natural". Only sometimes, as @PeterShor's answer perfectly explains. – RonJohn Aug 13 '21 at 02:28
  • Doesn't 'as an introduction to the topic' entail 'only sometimes'? Your first words to the person you address won't be "Hello. I lost my bag." An explanation, please. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 19 '21 at 12:58