Earlier today I had a private lesson with an Italian student—intermediate level, who has been studying the present perfect vs. past simple tense. His teacher had given him an exercise where a list of Italian phrases had to be translated into English. One of the sentences was the following:
Hai sentito che Sally si è rotta una gamba?
It looks deceivingly simple to translate (for a native speaker) but I found myself with five versions, all of which I am certain are idiomatic and grammatical.
- Have you heard that Sally broke her leg?
- Have you heard that Sally's broken her leg?
- Have you heard about Sally breaking her leg?
- Did you hear that Sally broke her leg?
- Did you hear that Sally's broken her leg?
The actual moment when Sally broke her leg happened at a specific time in the past, hence the past simple seems to me appropriate but we also say, Sally's broken her leg to express an action that occurred in the past but whose consequences are still felt in the present so...
- 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?