What did you buy vs. what have you bought?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

Let’s look at this dialogue please.

MARY: Sue, where have you been?
SUE: I’ve been to the supermarket.
MARY: What did you buy?

Right. In the first two sentences we have the present perfect. In the last one the past simple. My question is: wouldn’t it be more correct to use the present perfect in the last sentence too? And so ask Sue "What have you bought?

Thanks for your help. Cheerio

1 Like
2

Mary could as well have said ‘What have you bought’? Both sentences would be correct, especially in American English.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Marketing strategy[YSaerTTEW443543]

3

I think the majority of native English speakers (US and UK) would be very likely to say ‘What did you buy?’ in that scenario.

4

While ‘What have you bought’ wouldn’t be wrong at all.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Promoting the National Bike Week[YSaerTTEW443543]

5

Alright, Bev and Torsten. Thanks a lot. :slight_smile:

6

I would say this:

What have you bought lately/recently?
What did you buy there?

[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Giving tourist information on Toronto[YSaerTTEW443543]

7

Hi Torsten,

The reason of my question was that in the first two sentences of the dialogue, Sue and Mary use the present perfect. In the third one Mary uses the past simple. (I had no doubt that “What have you bought?” is a possible option.) Anyway everything is clear now. Thanks again. :slight_smile:

8

Hi Francesco,

The present perfect is often used to initiate a topic of conversation (about the past or recent past) in a fairly general sort of way, and then as soon as the topic of conversation starts to become more established and/or more detailed and specific, the speakers tend to switch to the simple past. As soon as the conversation starts to get into the details (when, what, where, how, why, etc.) of the (past) topic at hand, then the past simple is typically a natural choice.

You can see this happen very often when the topic of a conversation is introduced with a ‘Have you ever Xed?’ sort of question. In fact, the change-over to simple past will often come even before there is a follow-up question. For example:

A: Have you ever had creme brulee?
B: Why, yes, I have! In fact, I had some just last night! Joe and I went to that new restaurant in town, and I had their creme brulee for dessert. It was absolutely scrumptious.

I agree with Bev that ‘What did you buy?’ would be an extremely likely and natural sort of follow-up question in your mini-conversation.
So, to me the present perfect would very definitely NOT be more correct. Possible? Yes. Likely? No, not terribly.

[color=darkblue]_____________________________________________________
[size=75]“I went to a general store but they wouldn’t let me buy anything specific.” ~ Steven Wright[/size]

9

Hi dear Amy,

I would say that everything is definitely clear now. I’ll give you a creme brulee, some time or other. I promise. :slight_smile:

(I have to add that now I met such an interesting person like you I have one more motivation to improve my English skills.)

All the best!

Francesco