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Mari-Lou A
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"Sally broke her leg" “Have you heard?” vs. "Sally has “Did you hear?” and “Sally broke/has broken her leg" Does switching the past simple with the present perfect affect its meaning?leg”

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Mari-Lou A
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"Sally broke her leg" vs. "Sally has broken her leg"? How does Does switching the past simple with the present perfect affect its meaning?

Updated and revised text, deleted irrelevant (today) section.
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Mari-Lou A
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"Sally broke her leg" orvs. "Sally has broken her leg"? How does switching the past simple with the present perfect affect meaning?

  1. Have you heard that Sally broke her leg?Have you heard that Sally broke her leg?
  2. Have you heard that Sally's broken her leg?Have you heard that Sally's broken her leg?
  3. Have you heard about Sally breaking her leg?Have you heard about Sally breaking her leg?
  4. Did you hear that Sally broke her leg?Did you hear that Sally broke her leg?
  5. Did you hear that Sally's broken her leg?Did you hear that Sally's broken her leg?
  • Which sentence tells the reader that Sally's leg is still broken?
  • Which tense is more appropriate; the present perfect, Have you heard? Or the past simple Did you hear? Both sound acceptable to me. How is the meaning affected?
  • Is it preferable for both verbs to be in the same tense? Why or why not?
  • Ignoring the Italian translation and focussing on the five sentences, how would you interpret each one? Do they basically mean the same?

EDITEDIT (updated September 1 2014)
Let me explain, more fully, why I posted this question. There was an Italian phrase which had to be translated (the first line in a short exchange) the rest of the dialogue was easy enough for my student and I to translate but he had difficulties with this first line.

In the exchange we learn that Sally broke her leg while skiing. The following dialogue is taken from memory, with the exception of the first line I have to wait until my student returns on Tuesday before I can be 100% sure this transcript is faithful but this is the essence.

A: Have you heard/Did you hear... etc.
B: How did it happen?
A: She broke itwas skiing when she went skiing this summerfell.

When I thought carefully about how the first sentence could be translated, I came up with five versions. I had a problem explaining to myself why they all sounded equally valid to me, in fairness sentence number 3 sounded the weakest candidate to me because it seems that the news of Sally's accident is very recent and carries aconveys greater intensity.

If the first verb is in the past simple, Did you hear...? does it modifyaffect how I write the rest of the sentence? Is Have you heard...? more colloquial?

Finally, I am NOT asking about translation, nor how to use the present perfect or the past simple. I am not asking anyone to proofread the sentences, and I am not asking which is "correct". And yet this question has already three close votes, which is baffling because first, it was never a translation question to begin with. Secondly, the duplicate question does NOT help me in the slightest. If someone would kindly illustrate which ofpresent perfect or the six answers posted addresses my specificpast simple question, I'd be very grateful.

"Sally broke her leg" or "Sally has broken her leg"? How does switching the past simple with the present perfect affect meaning?

  1. Have you heard that Sally broke her leg?
  2. Have you heard that Sally's broken her leg?
  3. Have you heard about Sally breaking her leg?
  4. Did you hear that Sally broke her leg?
  5. Did you hear that Sally's broken her leg?
  • Which sentence tells the reader that Sally's leg is still broken?
  • Which tense is more appropriate; the present perfect, Have you heard? Or the past simple Did you hear? Both sound acceptable to me. How is the meaning affected?
  • Is it preferable for both verbs to be in the same tense? Why or why not?
  • Ignoring the Italian translation and focussing on the five sentences, how would you interpret each one? Do they basically mean the same?

EDIT
Let me explain, more fully, why I posted this question. There was an Italian phrase which had to be translated (the first line in a short exchange) the rest of the dialogue was easy enough for my student and I to translate but he had difficulties with this first line.

In the exchange we learn that Sally broke her leg while skiing. The following dialogue is taken from memory, with the exception of the first line I have to wait until my student returns on Tuesday before I can be 100% sure this transcript is faithful but this is the essence.

A: Have you heard/Did you hear... etc.
B: How did it happen?
A: She broke it when she went skiing this summer

When I thought carefully about how the first sentence could be translated, I came up with five versions. I had a problem explaining to myself why they all sounded equally valid to me, in fairness sentence number 3 sounded the weakest candidate to me because it seems that the news of Sally's accident is very recent and carries a greater intensity.

If the first verb is in the past simple, Did you hear...? does it modify the rest of the sentence? Is Have you heard...? more colloquial?

Finally, I am NOT asking about translation, nor how to use the present perfect or the past simple. I am not asking anyone to proofread the sentences, and I am not asking which is "correct". And yet this question has already three close votes, which is baffling because first, it was never a translation question to begin with. Secondly, the duplicate question does NOT help me in the slightest. If someone would kindly illustrate which of the six answers posted addresses my specific question, I'd be very grateful.

"Sally broke her leg" vs. "Sally has broken her leg"? How does switching the past simple with the present perfect affect meaning?

  1. Have you heard that Sally broke her leg?
  2. Have you heard that Sally's broken her leg?
  3. Have you heard about Sally breaking her leg?
  4. Did you hear that Sally broke her leg?
  5. Did you hear that Sally's broken her leg?
  • Which sentence tells the reader that Sally's leg is still broken?
  • Which tense is more appropriate; the present perfect, Have you heard? Or the past simple Did you hear? Both sound acceptable to me. How is the meaning affected?
  • Is it preferable for both verbs to be in the same tense? Why or why not?
  • Ignoring the Italian translation and focussing on the five sentences, how would you interpret each one? Do they mean the same?

EDIT (updated September 1 2014)
Let me explain, more fully, why I posted this question. There was an Italian phrase which had to be translated (the first line in a short exchange) the rest of the dialogue was easy enough for my student and I to translate but he had difficulties with this first line.

In the exchange we learn that Sally broke her leg while skiing.

A: Have you heard/Did you hear... etc.
B: How did it happen?
A: She was skiing when she fell.

When I thought carefully about how the first sentence could be translated, I came up with five versions. I had a problem explaining to myself why they all sounded equally valid to me, in fairness sentence number 3 sounded the weakest candidate to me because it seems that the news of Sally's accident is very recent and conveys greater intensity.

If the first verb is in the past simple, Did you hear...? does it affect how I write the rest of the sentence? Is Have you heard...? more colloquial?

Finally, I am NOT asking about translation, nor how to use the present perfect or the past simple.

added a lengthy footnote,
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Mari-Lou A
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Mari-Lou A
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